To The Max (La fiera)

THIS FILM IS BASED ON REAL EVENTS

- -

TO THE MAX

I'm not convinced anyone's gonna be interested.

- Why is that? - Because what we do is too dangerous.

People see us as a bunch of lunatics or idiots who are craving attention.

But I assure you, I'm neither. I give lectures on this for a living.

I've been involved with extreme sports since I was young.

BMX championships since I was 20.

I've done some crazy things, but, uh… I'm not irresponsible.

I'm actually… quite responsible.

So… where do you think you want to start?

With Chana.

He's the one who started it.

REINEBRINGEN, NORWAY

- Oh! - Chana was pure energy.

A real force of nature.

The kind who would go to Norway for a solo jump.

Fuck!

And walk two miles through the mountains with a broken tibia.

Hey!

Hey!

My leg is broken.

- Are you okay? - No!

My leg is broken.

I need help.

- Should we call a helicopter? - Huh?

- What? - Helicopter.

No. No helicopter. No.

Call an ambulance.

Please. Helicopter's too expensive. I can't do it.

There's no one like him.

That man's the one who brought us together.

Darío, Carlos, and me.

And the two from Barcelona, Álvaro and Santi.

One day we get a call and he says, "I've been talking to the Catalans

who've been in the Pyrenees for months, trying something called wing suit flying."

"You guys want to check it out?"

It was around my birthday, and what better way to celebrate

than trying something new for a change?

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

No, thanks, Álvaro. I prefer the old-fashioned way.

This doesn't even compare. You get to fall for so much longer.

The wings inflate and you just glide.

- But then, how do you land with it? - There's a chute. Here.

Except for the harness… is on the inside.

I say we give it a shot.

I thought you were nuts, but now, that sounds brilliant.

- -

- It's gonna blow your mind. - That's why we're here.

- That's right! - Okay.

- We're doing this. -

Carlitos.

Whoo-hoo!

Alvarito, here I come!

Time to fly.

Oh shit!

Whoa!

- Holy fuck! - Whoa!

Whoo!

Whoo!

- Carlos, we're flying! -

- Carlos! You like it? - Hell yeah! Whoo-hoo!

Let's go!

Holy shit!

Yeah!

We fuckin' flew! Whoa!

Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!

God damn!

Whoo-hoo!

- Yeah! -

- - That was fuckin' awesome!

- Make a wish, buddy. - A good one!

- Way to go! -

- Happy birthday. - Let's hope it comes true!

Trust me, you're gonna stall if you bank too hard.

- Not if you control your speed. - How do you know what that is?

Look at this guy. He's done it one time, and he's already an expert.

So annoying.

Okay, okay, okay, I have a few things to say before I'm too drunk.

Uh, Carlitos, this is the age you'll have your first existential crisis.

Don't panic, and remember this.

Whenever well-meaning idiots

say only rich guys can afford extreme sports,

I tell them about our friend Carlos.

Who's always lived day to day and free as the wind.

- Took a page out of your book, Dad. - You traitor. I do own three restaurants.

They're nothing fancy. I don't make millions. They're all right.

Yeah. I'll give you that.

- Not quite as much as Armando's place. - No. My mother's .

Of course, so that leaves Darío's cookbooks.

- - Want a signed one?

Our dear little Carlos has made a living climbing mountains!

When I met this kid, uh, five years ago, I was beyond fuckin' jealous!

- No shit. - And then I told myself…

Just wait and see how long this upstart lasts with his cute little backpack on,

beggin' for sponsors.

Let him want to save for a down payment and start paying a mortgage.

No, thanks. I like renting, Chana.

And he says it so casual. Guy is my goddamn hero.

You crack 26,000 in the Himalayas,

then Yosemite to conquer El Capitan, and you go off to Greenland.

With that same little backpack, and you never have to punch in!

- Genius! -

- Hey, I'm turning 35, not 50, man. - Yeah, that's it, kid.

If you didn't understand what I'm trying to say, it's this.

Stay the course, brother.

Don't you ever change.

And don't you dare get nominated for Employee of the Month.

- - I love it.

- I love you. - So good.

- Got it? Yeah? - Only Chana.

I'm telling you this, there will come a time when the pressure is intense.

Doesn't matter who you are. It's gonna come.

You have to resist, Carlos. For yourself and for all of us.

You gotta hold on to that spark and always be yourself.

Stay strong and don't give in, brother. The world needs our Carlos.

It needs the kid and whatever's in his silly little backpack. I mean it.

What fascinates me the most about the Trango massif

is that it rises over a ridge of pure granite.

It's between two glaciers,

the Trango to the west, and the Dunge to the east.

This entire range is incredible.

But the one that really stands out to me is… the Nameless Tower.

The weather there can be treacherous.

I tried climbing it a few years ago, and… a storm forced us to give up.

We were only about 2,000 feet from the summit.

- How high is it? - Just over 20,400 feet.

It has nine routes, with the first one established in 1976 by Joe Brown.

And in my humble opinion, the most impressive route is the...

The Slovenian.

Uh, that's right.

Um, it's on the southwest face and has the cleanest cracks for climbing.

And some fixed ropes, which is huge.

Does the record still belong to Singleman?

Yeah, but it was Singleman and Feteris.

Both BASE jumpers. Australians.

They did a jump from 19,537.4.

The highest to date.

And one of the highest vertical drops in the world.

NAMELESS TOWER

Hi, Carlos. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

I'm Myriam Montañana.

- Is this what you do? - I'm a biologist.

But I love everything about climbing, so your lecture caught my attention.

- Ah. - Do you have a moment?

- Well, I... - Look, I'm not a groupie, okay?

- I have a proposal. - A proposal?

An expedition to beat the record. BASE jumping off the Trango tower.

It's all in here.

Permits and costs, budget, potential sponsors, required resources,

and the filmmakers who want access to the expedition.

In exchange for full funding.

They want a team of five to ensure interaction.

There aren't five guys who can climb Nameless and then jump off it.

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

You?

If you tell me it's guys only, it won't go well.

No. It's not about that. This mountain's not for amateurs.

So, if this is for show, then this is not where...

I'm not an amateur. It's not a show. I've been climbing since I was a teenager.

I've gone to the Sierra de Madrid, the Picos, the Gredos,

I've got sixth- and seventh-grade routes under my belt...

- How old are you? - I've done the Alps as well.

No offense, but the Trango is on another level.

Why don't I prove it?

EMERGENCY EXIT

The owner's a friend, and I can come whenever I want.

The difficulty ranges from six-, seven-, to eight-grade routes.

But we'll start with something easy.

You bring all the girls here to impress them?

You're the first.