A Thousand Ways to Kiss the Ground

Craig McMahon sits down with four people that died and but came back to life or better known as NDE, Near Death Experience. Their stories will shock some and comfort others.

On the heels of a tragedy and the COVID-19 pandemic, a Dallas-based theatre troupe comprised of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are determined to write, rehearse, and perform their 11th annual original musical.

This episode is part of the series "The Conquerors of the Impossible (2/3)". From the 1950s to the 1980s, René Desmaison achieved a large number of "firsts". A specialist in normal routes (west face of Les Drus, Pilier du Freyney, Shroud...), he experienced a tragedy at the Grandes Jorasses, where his exceptional resistance allowed him to survive against all logic. He is the first to claim the practice of the mountain as a high level sport. A man of contrasts, his apparent strength hides great shyness and an unalterable enthusiasm despite the years. Beyond mountaineering, it is the spirit of adventure that has always inhabited him. A whole life devoted to mountaineering.

The true story of Wanda Rutkiewicz, the first woman in the world and the first person from Poland to climb the highest peaks on earth, told by herself.

Romania is on the last place in Europe in terms of highway kilometers, but on the first place in the number of deaths in road accidents. Entrepreneur Stefan Mandachi builds 1 meter of highway on his private property.

It was a sporting feat, a national feat, but also and above all a technical feat: on October 15, 1978, three French mountaineers, for the first time, reached the summit of Everest: Pierre Mazeaud, Nicolas Jaeger, Jean Afanassieff, accompanied by Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer and cameraman. A performance broadcast live on the radio thanks to the France inter teams and filmed for television by TF1. Christian Brincourt, a great French reporter, tells us about this expedition and questions the members of the expedition on their motivations. With Pierre Mazeaud (expedition leader), Jean-François Mazeaud (doctor), Claude Deck, Raymond Despiau, Nicolas Jaeger, Walter Cecchinel, Jean Afanassieff, Kurt Diemberger.

What has four legs, five arms and three heads? The Gimp Monkeys. Craig DeMartino lost his leg after a 100-foot climbing fall. Pete Davis with born without an arm. Bone cancer claimed Jarem Frye's left leg at the age of 14. While the three are linked by what they are missing, it is their shared passion for climbing that pushed them towards an improbable goal - the first all-disabled ascent of Yosemite's iconic El Capitan.

An emotive, intimate film on the life and death of acclaimed young Northern Irish journalist Lyra McKee, whose murder by the New IRA in April 2019 sent shockwaves across the world. Directed by her close friend Alison Millar, the film seeks answers to her senseless killing through Lyra’s own work and words.

REEL ROCK cranks it up to 11 with our latest collection of electrifying climbing films showcasing the sport's biggest stories and athletes. Featuring Ashima Shiraishi, Will Stanhope, Matt Segal, Brette Harrington, Kai Lightner, Mike Libecki and the Wild Bunch.

Mountaineering legend Denis Urubko shares his thoughts on what mountaineering is (or isn't). "It's important to get up from the table before you're full at mealtime. Sometimes people try to enjoy life to the fullest. And I'm afraid of it," he says in this interview given to Dominik Szczepański and produced by Jarek Tokarski for Duży Format.

In 1996, after seven days of extremely difficult ascent, Vanja Furlan and Tomaž Humar managed to reach the summit of Ama Dablam in Nepal on the northwest face. Zvonko Požgaj, their only link to the valley, followed the events from the base camp, led and encouraged them to cross the emetre, and at the same time carefully recorded and recorded everything that happened during those days dramatic. The film about the disappearance, time, mortality, memory and eternity of the human spirit pays tribute to one of the greatest achievements of Slovenian mountaineering in the world and is dedicated to Vanja Furlan and Tomaž Humar .