Programme - Friday (18 October 2019 - Evening)

This exciting journey into the history of the German Alpine Club (DAV) – and of mountaineering itself – focuses on the example of the Regensburg Alpine Club division. Exposed to the pressure zone between alpinism and tourism, between unblemished nature and commercial playgrounds, the DAV has evolved from a pioneer of mountain sports to an environmental and sports association, and has even become a climbing gym manager and tour operator.

During the 2020 Olympic games, climbing will for the first time figure as a medal-winning discipline. This opens up tremendous opportunities for the sport. However, many athletes are shocked to learn that the so far less exposed sport of speed climbing will be one of the three combined climbing disciplines chosen for the Olympics. How will this affect the development of climbing sports? The search for answers takes viewers all around the world and ends in Moscow, where “speed demons” are well capable of racing up a 15-meter wall in less than six seconds.

Nations come and go – but what does a country really look like? Are not boundaries just stupid? Because no one can own a land, the earth belongs to no one. Or who would come up with the idea of claiming an iceberg for themselves?

The Gotthard Pass is one of Europe’s most important Alpine crossings. Its history fascinates – from humble beginnings as a small high mountain road to becoming the world’s longest railway tunnel. With the help of new technologies people try to make the passage safer and faster. This struggle has claimed many lives, but has also given countless people work and hope for a better life.

After the avalanche disaster in Canada, the mountaineering world mourns David Lama. This moving documentary illuminates the exceptional climber’s extraordinary life. He was discovered by mountaineering legend Peter Habeler at the age of five and went on to make history: on artificial climbing walls as well as on the world’s most difficult summits. A top mountaineer who will be missed in the mountaineering scene.

He has perfected solo climbing like no other and his solo effort on “Path through the Fish” on Mt Marmolada made Hansjörg Auer famous. According to him, however, the hardest part is not the ascent but the way home. A powerful introspective into an unusual life that ended far too early.

In 1978 Peter Habeler became world famous. He and Reinhold Messner were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest without artificial oxygen. However, solely equating Peter Habeler with his Everest ascent would not do him justice. Before and after this deed, he stands out as a top climber who achieved great feats. To celebrate his 75th birthday, he wishes to once again climb the wall which marked a climax in his alpine career: the Eiger North Face. He is joined by one of the world’s best mountaineers: David Lama, who died this spring.

Tamar has grown up up within a strongly religious family in southern Israel. She is always encouraged to forge her own path. She works for the National Service before joining the Israel Defense Forces. Then she discovers the mountains and travels to Nepal. Together with friends, she embarks on a trekking tour around Mt Annapurna, where the group is hit by a murderous snowstorm.

“The Lord’s concrete” is what people in the Allgäu call the local conglomerate rock. In fact, at first glance the Upper Allgäu countryside looks as if someone had scattered chunks of concrete. In order to protect this beautiful, idiosyncratic landscape, the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park was opened in 2008, the first cross-border nature park in Germany and Austria. Everyone takes the endeavour very seriously and it has inspired many locals to care more about nature conservation.

Iceland is characterized by volcanism. Beneath it, the North American and Eurasian plates touch, but drift an inch further apart each year. Tectonic chasms are sometimes filled with coloured, sometimes with crystal clear water. Lakes are cold from glacier water or boiling hot. Rivers change direction and sometimes carry saltwater, sometimes freshwater. The surrounding sea is equally rich in treasures.

.

When the son, who lives in Germany, falls ill, he wants to return home to his father: to the little hut in the mountains. The father prepares everything for the return of the son, who however dies before he reaches home. The father now frets over having abandoned his son when the latter was in jail for drug offenses.

The fact that fighting for the first time in the Olympic Games in 2020 for climbing for medals, opens up tremendous opportunities for this sport. But many athletes have been shocked to know that the rarely used speed climbing is one of the three disciplines of the Olympic Combination Competition. How will this affect the development of climbing sports? The search for answers almost goes all the way to the world and ends in Moscow, where „speed demons‟ are already able to race up a 15-meter wall in less than six seconds.

An exciting journey into the history of the Alpine Club – and thus into that of mountaineering – is illustrated by the example of the Alpine Club section Regensburg. Along the field of tension between alpinism and tourism, between natural idyll and commercial playground, the DAV has developed from the pioneer of mountain sports to the environmental and sports association, the climbing gym operator and tour operator.