To The Max (La fiera)

THIS FILM IS BASED ON REAL EVENTS

TO THE MAX

Honestly, I don't know if anyone will care.

Why not?

People think we're crazy.

They go for the easy cliché, the attention-seeking lunatic.

That's not how I see myself.

I'm not crazy. Not even close.

I became a BMX world champion at 20.

And I've always been into extreme sports.

I've done wild stuff, but… I consider myself…

a level-headed person.

Responsible.

So?

Where do we start?

With Chana.

It all started with him.

REINEBRINGEN, NORWAY

No!

Chana was pure energy. Pure strength.

A guy who'd go to Norway alone.

-Fuck! -To go jump.

Then hike 1.5 miles through the mountains with a broken tibia.

What?

No thanks.

He was amazing.

He was the one who introduced us all.

The Madrid crew, Darío, Carlos, me. And Álvaro and Santi from Barcelona.

One day Chana called us and said, "Guys, I spoke to the Catalans."

"They've been testing wingsuits in the Pyrenees for months."

"I told them to come show us."

It was my birthday.

It seemed like a good time to try something new.

-It's so thin. -It's nylon. Super light.

I'll pass, Álvaro. I'll stick to a parachute.

It's different. You stay in the air much longer.

The wings inflate and keep you up.

-Okay, and how do you deploy it? -Same way.

The only thing is that the harness is inside.

We've gotta try it, right?

Chana, if you can do it, we're all in.

-You're gonna be amazed. -That's why we're here.

Carlitos.

Alvarito, I'm coming!

Let's have some fun!

-Holy shit! -Wow!

Carlos!

We're flying!

Carlitos, how are you doing?

Whoo!

Holy shit!

Oh my God!

Damn!

Yeah!

Holy crap!

-Addictive, right? -Hell yeah!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear Carlos

Happy birthday to you

Come on!

-Go on, make a wish. -Come on.

Yeah, Carlitos!

Good jump!

If you turn too hard, you'll stall.

-I control the speed. -You don't know how fast you're going.

This guy has been flying for a day, and he thinks he's an expert.

He's so annoying.

Wait, I want to say something before I forget.

Carlitos, at 35, you start questioning everything.

Huh? Careful.

And when people say,

"Extreme sports are for rich kids," I always bring up Carlos.

He's always lived day to day, doing his thing.

Just like you, Dad.

Hey, I've got three restaurants.

Set menus for blue-collar workers, but I'm still a businessman.

-Like Armando, who inherited a venue. -My mom did.

Or Darío, who sells cookbooks.

Son of a bitch.

But Carlos has always made a living climbing mountains.

When I met him five years ago, I was jealous as hell.

Damn.

But I thought, "Let's see how long this lasts, with his backpack,

chasing sponsors."

"Wait till he wants a house, or has to pay a mortgage."

I'm fine renting, Chana.

"Fine renting." You're my hero.

You climb a Himalayan eight-thousander.

You scale El Capitan in Yosemite.

You go to Greenland… Always with that backpack.

-And no real job! -Come on!

Hey, I'm 35, not 50, man.

-You're the man, Carlitos! -What I mean is, Carlos…

Keep it up, brother.

Never change.

And never become employee of the month.

That's beautiful.

-Okay? -He's the man.

I'm telling you, there will come a time when the pressure hits.

Because it will. Stay strong, Carlitos.

Strong. Stay strong.

Never lose that spark, brother.

Never lose it.

What fascinates me about the Trango massif

is that it rises above a ridge that is pure granite.

It lies between two glaciers, the Trango to the west,

and the Dunge to the east.

Climbing there is…

It's incredible.

Especially

the Nameless Tower.

But if the weather turns…

I tried it years ago.

We had to give up and come down.

We were 700 meters from the top.

-How high is it? -6,239 meters.

First climbed by Joe Brown in 1976.

Nine routes to the summit.

TRANGO TOWER

If you ask me my favorite--

The Slovenian.

Yeah.

It's on the southwest face and has the cleanest cracks.

Plus fixed ropes.

Does Singleman's record still stand?

Well, Singleman and Feteris.

There were two of them. Australians.

They did a BASE jump from 5,955 meters.

The highest to date.

The biggest vertical drop in the world.

NAMELESS TOWER CARLOS SUÁREZ

Excuse me, Carlos. I'm Myriam Montañana.

-Nice to meet you. -Is this your job?

No, I'm a biologist.

But I love climbing, and I signed up for this talk three months ago.

Got a minute?

-Well, I… -I'm not a groupie, okay?

This is serious.

Serious?

An expedition to the Trango massif. To break the Australians' record.

It's all here.

Budget, travel, possible sponsors, gear.

And a TV production company would fund the expedition.

They want to make a documentary.

They want a team of five so there's interaction.

There aren't five guys who can climb that and do a BASE jump.

Not everyone has to jump. I'm not planning to.

You?

It's the 21st century. It won't be all guys.

No. You've got the wrong idea. This mountain's no joke.

-If this is some stunt-- -No. What are you talking about?

I've been climbing since I was 17.

The Sierra de Madrid, the Picos, Gredos…

I climb grade 6 and 7 routes.

-How old are you? -I've done alpine climbing too.

The Nameless Tower is much tougher than all that.

Put me to the test.

EMERGENCY EXIT

The owner's a friend of mine. He lends me the keys so I can train.

There are grade six and seven routes.

Even eight.

How many female climbers have you brought here?

None.

I'm serious.

So, the producer is your friend's boyfriend, right?

Yeah.

But he loves sports,

and seeing the crap he does on TV, I told him,

"Do something like National Geographic."

-Oh, really? -Yep.

-I get restless. -Yeah.

Should've studied something else.

Biology sounds like spending eight hours a day looking through a microscope.

Maybe that's why I climb.

Careful!

Good foothold on your left.

-Step on it. -Relax.

Relax.

You're heading straight for an 8a.

I know.

Nice!

Trying to show me up? You'll need a real mountain.

Did I really say that?

No. That's not me. No way.

Yeah. She did. She said it.

And I thought, "If she wants a real mountain,

let's give her one."

If a helicopter drops me at the summit, I'm in.

The climb is amazing, Chana. We'll train hard.

-Listen, Carlitos. -What?

You're not doing all this just to hook up with her, are you?

-What do you mean? -No?

You know me. How often do I talk about the Nameless Tower?

And now you want to climb it? With everything going on?

-They're covering everything. -It's not about money.

-Armando and Darío have their own issues. -What issues?

Well, Armando's brother wants to renovate. Darío's getting divorced…

I'm not saying we go tomorrow.

We can plan it for… six or eight months from now.