Apple - Final Cut Studio 2 - In Action - Josh Lowell and Corey Rich

Unless you’re a world-class sport climber (though possibly not even then), you can’t do what Chris Sharma does. But thanks in part to a new rich media project created by filmmaker Josh Lowell and photographer Corey Rich, you are now closer than ever to understanding why.

Sharma, age 26, is generally recognized as the best climber in the world, the king of the king line. “I’ve always been dreaming of finding the biggest, most badass line you can imagine,” he says. “The line that’s just calling out to you, beckoning to be climbed. That’s the king line.”

Sharma challenging a monster line in Ceüse, France. © Corey Rich/Aurora Photos

And for the past decade, Sharma has traveled the world chasing that line, living out of a backpack, cars on two continents, hotels, and the houses of friends, with very occasional stops home in Santa Cruz, CA. In his pursuit he has redefined sport climbing, bouldering, and deep-water soloing by relentlessly attempting “unclimbable” lines and frequently, impossibly, climbing them.

To capture Sharma’s quest, Lowell, his brother Brett, and co-producer Peter Mortimer, worked closely with Sharma for nearly two years, documenting some of his most impressive ascents in the movie “King Lines,” an independent film (now also on DVD) that has played recently to packed theatres of climbing enthusiasts. The film, shot in HD and cut on a Mac running Final Cut Pro, follows Sharma to spectacular locations “covering all different styles of climbing on all kinds of rocks and environments,” says Lowell. Rich’s still photo coverage of some of the same efforts — downloaded and edited on location on MacBook Pros running Aperture — have appeared in Climbing magazine, the bible of the sport.

But to tell Sharma’s story outside the closed circle of climbing enthusiasts, Lowell and Rich decided to collaborate on a mixed media project that would combine the best of each of their digital assets — video, still images, sound — and take the story of Sharma’s vertical exploits horizontal.

“Josh and I are really good at touching that inside-the-game audience,” says Rich. “Our goal with this rich media profile of Chris Sharma is to broaden the scope of our audience so that my mom can watch this piece and sort of get a better feel for who Chris is and what he does and why his life is special.”

Sharmic Karma

Neither Lowell nor Rich doubted that Sharma’s story would carry to a broader audience. Raised a Buddhist in Santa Cruz and discovered as a climbing prodigy at age 14, the freakishly strong, spiritually centered Sharma was seemingly born to the task of finding the toughest way up in a sport notorious for taking down even its best athletes — daily on the face of impassable rocks, or over the course of a career through physical injury and psychological burnout.

“It’s pretty much accepted that he’s the strongest climber in the world,” says Lowell, “known for just phenomenal strength and phenomenal flow in his climbing, but also for single-mindedly pursuing climbs. Sometimes he’s made 6 trips back to his objective over the course of a couple of years, eventually climbing one route that redefines the difficulty for that style of climbing.”

Sharma’s preternatural abilities are fully enhanced by his Zen-infused attitude, which has not hindered his ascension as a literal rock star. “He’s very charismatic, with a laid back attitude that’s unusual for top athletes,” says Lowell. “He’s known for not really having a rigorous training routine. When he talks about climbing he talks about having fun and pursuing your passion and being true to yourself rather than succeed, succeed, succeed. His Zen approach to life and climbing has made him iconic within the sport. People really admire his outlook.”

Friends in High Places

Capturing high-end video, audio, and stills to feed their rich media project required the absolute cooperation of Sharma, with whom Lowell and Rich have enjoyed a long working relationship, as well as some Sharma-like physical adjustments by the crew.

“We’re in an environment that inherently is very challenging to operate in, oftentimes dangling from a rope on a cliff, sometimes after enormous physical exertion to even get to the location,” says Rich. “So it’s not quite as simple as just making great video or great pictures.”

And even arriving at those optimal precarious shooting and recording positions can be logistically difficult for both crew and climber. “If we got up at midnight, Chris also got up at midnight,” says Rich. “If we’re going to hike six miles in the dark, he’s also going to hike six miles in the dark.”

And because he is the generally the sole star of the production, it was on Sharma not only to climb virtually impassable routes but, in a more practical sense, to hit his marks. “For lack of a better example, we’re working with the Michael Jordan of rock climbing,” says Rich. “And we’re asking Chris to perform a slam dunk over and over again at the absolute highest level, jumping to the rim at the limit of where man is capable of doing it. And he’s doing it with cameras rolling.”