THR Curates: Tempting Fear

From Merriam-Webster

cu·​rate ˈkyu̇r-ˌāt  ˈkyər-; kyu̇-ˈrāt 

curated; curating; curates

transitive verb

Curate: to select and organize (artistic works) for presentation in (something, such as an exhibit, show, or program)

Tempting Fear

Last season, we began a series THR Curates. What exactly does this mean? We are not the definitive arbiters of the snow sliding scene. In our own small scene, we will at least take a moment to highlight, in this case, videos/films, that resonate with what we’re trying to lay down at The High Route. A theme is beginning to take shape, and it’s one that is probably quite obvious. The curation gravitates toward the more nuanced and quieter side of a statement. 

That seems about spot on here with this THR Curates entry: “Tempting Fear,” a ski film by Bjarne Salen and Mike Douglas about the late ski alpinist Andreas Fransson. There’s been ample time between the film’s release and now—something like 12 years. 

This is a melancholy film that serves double duty by piquing the adrenal glands. You’re likely to feel both somber and stoke. It’s a sweet combination of emotions that celebrates, ruminates, and settles no scores.  

Which is why we want to include this film in our series. We suppose it will make the viewer more in tune, or at least aware that there’s a vast cosmos out there with numerous possible outcomes.

“Tempting Fear” is broken into multiple chapters organized by objectives and ideas centered around Solitaire and Opportunity. There’s Chamonix lines and footage, footage from Denali’s South Face, and several dips into South America’s high alpine. All of it is wrapped around a core of exerpys from Fransson’s diaries and his vivid words that illuminate what he’s up to on these rather unforgiving couloirs and panels. For as much as the footage will keep you viewing, it’s Fransson’s spoken words that will keep you tuned in.     

“There are a thousand questions why. But perhaps everything is just the way it is.”

Or this, when Fransson turns to a selfie camera in the middle of a vast and lonely Denali South Face and states matter-of-factly,

“Life cannot be cooler than this.”

Or this, as Fransson ponders it all while ascending Ecuador’s Chimborazo,

“There are a thousand questions why. But perhaps everything is just the way it is.”

The film was shot and produced after a grim accident in 2010 when an avalanche swept Fransson off his feet and away from the rope’s security while rappelling in the Y Couloir on the Aiguille Verte. He survived, with many broken bones, a 400-meter fall. What makes the film strong is its resistance to falling into the ski film trope, or any sport or adventure film for that matter, of redemption after injury. We are reminded of Fransson’s 2010 fall here and there, but in the moment is where Fransson, Salen, and Douglas plant us.