New documentary Climbing Higher maps the life of mountaineering legend Radek Jaroš

There are few sports as physically and psychologically demanding as mountaineering, requiring remarkable commitment, readiness, and experience. In mountain climbing, Radek Jaroš is a legend, the only Czech who has completed the Crown of the Himalayas: conquering all 14 of the world’s tallest peaks – all above 8,000 metres.

'Climbing Higher', photo: Cinemart

He began with Mt. Everest and in 2014 successfully completed the cycle with K2. Jaroš ascended all of these mountains without the use of supplemental oxygen. Only 14 people before him have ever done the same. A new film just out in Czech cinemas, Cesta vzhuru (Climbing Higher) captures moments from the final climbs and the journey to get there; along the way it follows two major threads: the call of the sport, so to speak, and the pull of normal day-to-day life. Mountaineer Radek Jaroš told Czech TV:

“My Himalayan odyssey lasted 20 years, beginning with my original unsuccessful attempts to climb K2 in 1994... K2 stands out [among the 14 peaks] because I had to travel there five times before I reached the summit. In that sense it may seem it was the hardest, but the last expedition, which was successful, was paradoxically, the easiest expedition I ever had.

“In terms of sheer technical skill, when four of us climbed the south face of Shishapangma alpine style, I would say that was the toughest; not least when Petr Mašek and I, on the last 300 metres picked our own route or variant to reach the peak.”

On K2, Jaroš experienced remarkably good form which he joked somewhat hurt the film: climbing with ease perhaps robbed it of moments of greater dramatic tension or dramatic turns. But many of those also came from previously filmed material, from Anapurna, where Jaroš suffered severe frostbite, eventually leading to seven operations and a long period of recovery. The film’s director, David Čálek, says that because Jaroš always filmed many of his expeditions, there were many hours to work with both archive material and footage filmed by him and his crew, who themselves climbed to 6,000 metres – no mean feat.

Radek Jaroš, photo: archive of Radek Jaroš

“The film is 100 minutes, which is long for a documentary of this kind. But we had, including Radek’s material, around 300 hours of material to work with. So it was hard to cut it down to the final length. A single film could have been about Radek as a person, another about how he got to the moment when he could again tackle K2, and the last just about K2. So we had to reel it in.

“As a result, the film focusses most on the last two climbs, with an introduction from the archive material, where you can see how climbing and mountaineering has changed since the 1980s. Then we turn to Radek’s long recovery.”

According to Jaroš, it was not easy to watch some of the archive footage of him waking up in pain after one of his operations and he draws an interesting parallel between the man in hospital and the man on the mountain peak.

“My reaction when I saw the footage of me waking up from anesthesia in terrible pain was to laugh but the moment really got to my girlfriend, who cried, and then it got to me too. But then there are shots at the end of the movie when I am lying in the tent after having summited on K2. “Before, it’s true that I had excellent form and was like a live wire. But the shots at the end of the film show a man who is completely wiped out. I have to say I felt quite sorry for him. The person at the beginning and at the end after returning from K2 are one and the same. Both are at rock bottom.”

David Čálek, photo: Czech Television

The film technically wasn’t easy to shoot not least because the film crew headed by David Calek itself had climb – and work – at 6,000 metres. Calek says he hope that at least some of the sweat and many of the challenges made it successfully onto the screen.

“To get that high up, ahead of Radek, was a very interesting experience, almost beyond description. I hope that something of the exertion and fatigue and difficulty breathing and slow steps at this height, and up and up, are apparent from watching the film. For me it was a beginning and after that we focused on putting it all together in the editing room.”

Asked what he hopes viewers will most take away from Climbing Higher, mountaineer Radek Jaroš said this:

“I can’t know for certain what viewers will take away from the film but certainly, on the one hand, it is about extremes. Only 15 people in the world have climbed all 14 of the tallest peaks. So that’s something. On the other hand, there is a certain motivation.... While really climbing higher requires one to take a certain path, including sacrifices in relationships, grappling with injury and remaining in form… the mountains are for everyone to enjoy.

“They are all beautiful and you don’t have to climb an 8,000 metre peak. You can visit the Krkonoše or Jizerky or Jeseníky Mountains and that can be the peak for some. So if anything, I hope the film inspires people to get outdoors and spend more time in Nature.”

Radek Jaroš, photo: Prokop Havel

And if you think, after all this that, the climber will kick back and get a little rest, you’re mistaken: Radek Jaroš’ next challenge, he says, will be to tackle the so-called Seven Summits. That means climbing the highest mountain on each continent.

“I would like to tackle the Seven Summits project a little differently. Some of the mountains aren’t as difficult to climb, although one the first, Denali in Alaska is hard and no walk in the park. We would like for it be more than just about reaching the peak. Sometimes the journey is just as important.”