Maureen Beck

Two athletes. One is a new amputee while the other has been an amputee her whole life. In August 2018, Jim Ewing and Maureen Beck journeyed to the Northwest Territories of Canada to climb the world famous Lotus Flower Tower in the Cirque of the Unclimbables. It would become the first all-adaptive ascent of the peak, if they got to the top.

“I don’t want to be known as just a one-armed climber,” says Maureen Beck. “I just want to be a good climber.” Beck may have been born missing her lower left arm, but she is not here to be your inspiration.

Reel Rock Tour 12 - 2017 - brings you four new nail-biting, hair-raising, and awe-inspiring stories of real rock climbers from around the world. Chris Sharma climbs cliffs solo over deep, churning ocean waters. Margo Hayes, at the age of 19, becomes the first female rock climber to complete a 5.15 route - the top of the difficulty scale. Brad Gobright, an up-and-coming climber, attempts reckless solo routes with a care-free attitude. Maureen Beck challenges herself while defying expectations others set for her and all adaptive climbers.

For nearly three years, director Dina Khreino interviewed world-class mountain climbing athletes, listening to what compels them to leave behind families, friends, and everyday comforts to risk everything for a fleeting glimpse into the unknown. What she found was a tribe, a diverse group of professional adventurers and amateur philosophers forged by the ultimate test of body, mind, and spirit. In the face of shifting winds, sheer granite cliffs, and impossible odds, they climb. Each for their own reason, but every one connected by the vertical world. In this rarefied air, these athletes are fundamentally changed, not just as climbers, but as human beings.

Since a 100 foot fall in 2002 that took his right leg and left him with spinal injuries, Colorado climber Craig DeMartino has led one hell of a life, including lauded First Disabled and In-A-Day Ascents on El Capitan. But his day-to-day life story is the one that should be making headlines.