Climb Blind

Climb Blind (2020) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s impossible not to compare this documentary about a blind climber (yes, you heard me right!) with the Oscar winning nail biting “Free Solo”. The film -makers probably know too they can’t compete, so the documentary focuses on the climbing and the climber in equal measure. The more intimate moments with him spreading butter on a piece of bread are just as successful as the final climb of red sandstone on the west coast of Hoy (the Old Man of Hoy).

Originally mad for tv by the BBC (though the version I saw was a slightly longer one), “climb Blind” is mainly one for the mountain lovers out there, but it’s also made for people who know nothing about climbing, making sure the techniques are explained step by step.It’s one of those life affirming film showing people who will not be defeated by their disability.

The surprising thing about “Climb Blind” is how much humour you’ll find. Jesse Dufton is an extraordinary person, as well as a very skilled climber. There’s never any sense of self-pity from him (actually at some point he even says that if he did have his sight back he wouldn’t be as good as climber) nor from the people around him (trying themselves to climb blindfolded) or even his parents (laughing about how he used to bump into things when he was younger).

The last lines of the film says it all: “I’m not disable, I’m blind and able”.