Wampler's Ascent

Buried among the Reelabilities: Boston Disabilities Film Festival screenings is the story of Steve Wampler, born with Cerebral Palsy, who commits to rappelling the face of the 3,000 foot granite monolith known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. It would make him the first person with a disability to accomplish such a feat.

The film serves as a fundraising tool on behalf of the Wampler Foundation, which provides wilderness experiences to physically disabled children nationwide. But it is also a moving, well-told story, a celebration of a truly remarkable exhibition of will power and physical endurance. Wampler was accompanied by two experienced guides — Tommy Thompson and David Lane — in his dizzying 6 day ascent, which required Wampler to pull up, inch-by-inch, a custom-made climbing chair (the equivalent of some 20,000 pull ups). The nimble camerawork by cinematographer Corey Rich jumps from the vast expanses of the cliff face and park landscapes to close-ups of Wampler as he pushes his body past cramps, hypothermia, and delirium from exhaustion. All the while the climb is being followed on Facebook and watched by crowds on the ground.  read more...