THE FILM

Curses echo at the Nummi crag when 15-year-old Pamu Hammer takes a long fall off the hardest route in Finland. ”You have to keep trying till your fingers bleed. You can curse, but you have to stay focused. You can’t get upset if it doesn’t go well.”

Cold Rock is a documentary film about a life style sport with deep roots. Up until the past few years, however,  it has been virtually unknown to the wider public. Finnish climbing began in 1954, but the diverse history of the sport has not previously been recorded in any form. At the moment climbing is one of the fastest growing individual sports in the country. Numerous recently opened indoor climbing gyms have resulted in tens of thousands of new aficionados, the most talented of which have become world touring professionals.

In the film we hear the stories of, among others, the first Finnish climber Matti A. Jokinen and the young talent Pamu Hammer. Matti’s story is as long as the story of Finnish climbing itself. It begins with a young man hitchhiking in Southern Europe and meanders through ground breaking climbing performances, serious injury, and finally to the present day, where Matti is seen at 81 years of age, still climbing. Pamu, on the other hand, started climbing in the 21^st century, guided by his father. When his class mates focus on upcoming exams Pamu’s thoughts are at the crags. His main goal of the season is to climb ”Syncro”, the hardest route in Finland.

The voices of many other Finnish climbers from different decades are also heard in the film. This chain of climbers connecting Matti and Pamu forms the story of climbing in Finland. Cold Rock reveals the 60-year-old face of Finnish climbing: what kinds of stories and people does it involve? How has climbing become so popular in a country with no mountains?

THE DVD

Cold Rock has been screened in theaters and a shorter version has been aired on the Finnish national TV channel Yle TV2. Now it will also be available as a DVD, which includes the full length theater version (71 minutes) with optional English subtitles, as well as over an hour of exclusive extra material: deleted scenes, known and unknown routes, and new stories from the 60-year timeline.

Extras:

Deleted scenes:

Kilpajuoksu Everestille (The race to Everest)

Boulderit kasvaa (The boulders are growing)

Palmurantojen mies (A man of palm trees)

Eklipsi

Moi, mä oon Juha Saatsi! (Hello, I’m Juha Saatsi!)

Jääkiipeilyä Muikkulassa (Ice climbing in Muikkula)

Routes:

Monument

Kansannousu

Majavan paluu

MDMA Numminen

Finnish climbing stories:

Matin kanssa Taivaskalliolla (At Taivaskallio with Matti)

Vesku

Päivä Lappnorin projektilla (A day at the Lappnor project)

THE CAMPAIGN

In order to publish the DVD we need your help! The funds are meant to cover the cost of printing the DVDs, and the licensing fees for the music and archival film material. The minimum goal of 7000 euros will cover these costs, and the maximum goal of 10000 will guarantee a little something for the filmmakers!

The funding options are:

Basic package (20€) – The Cold Rock DVD

Support package 1 (30€) – A signed copy of the DVD, as well as the film and extras as a HD download.

Support package 2 (50€) – A signed DVD, your name in the credits plus the HD download package.

Deluxe package for a group of 10 (1000€) – We take the group bouldering for a day to a ”secret” location, and Blue Kangoo Films produces a video covering the events of the day. Details negotiable. Signed DVD and download included for everyone!