EL CAPITAN: RISE will be an adventure travel/rock climbing documentary film detailing photographer/climber Marc Pagani's long-standing quest to reach the summit of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park and his effort to bring the beauty of the outdoors to those who view his photographs.
ABOUT MARC: In addition to my wedding photography business in New Orleans, I shoot a lot of adventure travel photography and have been both rock climbing and mountaineering for about 20 years. I have a book out Called “Fearless Photographer: Travel” and there’s an entire chapter devoted to climbing photography. When I started out in photography, I was, and still am, a big fan of Ansel Adams’ early work in Yosemite National Park. The first time I traveled there in 1995, I stood in the middle of the Valley in awe of the huge monoliths towering over me…Half Dome on the right and El Capitan, the Captain, on the left. As I got more into climbing, I marveled at the stamina and courage it must take to climb big walls like El Capitan. Since that first visit to Yosemite, I’ve rock climbed in places like Potrero Chico, Mexico, Cat Ba Island, Vietnam, Joshua Tree, California, in Belize and Patagonia. I’ve been to Mount Everest twice and I’ve climbed mountains in the French Alps, Bolivia, Patagonia, Nepal, The US, Mexico, Argentina, and Iceland.
ABOUT THE CLIMB: Throughout my climbing career, I’ve always had a dream of climbing the ultimate Big Wall, El Capitan. It rises 3,000 feet above the valley floor and is a monster. I contacted my friend and world-renown climber, Timmy O'Neill, to see if he’d be interested in helping me achieve this goal, and he said yes. Timmy has climbed around the world and is featured in many movies about rock climbing and high altitude alpine climbing, is sponsored by the clothing company Patagonia, and is well-known on the motivational speaker circuit. He held the previous record for speed-climbing of the Nose route on El Capitan. We set our start date for October 3rd and I decided that my 4 month long journey to Yosemite and onto the wall should be documented so that others who share this goal, this dream, can get a little taste of what it’s like. I’m shooting a documentary film, focusing on the mental and physical preparation involved in an undertaking like this, as well as plenty of dramatic footage of the 3000 foot climb itself. I also want to focus on the amazing beauty of Yosemite and hopefully remind people that, as our natural environment continues to change, so will our experience of these great outdoor spaces. Inn viewing the movie, I hope that people will not only be inspired to chase a dream, but, on a much simpler level, just to get outside and see some beautiful stuff. We’re anticipating being on the wall for 5 days and 4 nights, with the 5th night spent on the summit, if all goes according to plan. That means I’ll be sleeping on 6 foot nylon and aluminum ledges called portaledges, and trying not to completely freak out about the multiple thousand foot drop below me.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: All of this costs money, of course, and I’ve set my goal at $10000. The money will be used in several ways: some goes to our co-climber that Timmy has invited in order to pay for his expertise and his ability to keep us safe and focused, and the rest will pay for a big wall/aid climbing training course near Seattle in August, specialized big wall climbing gear, lodging and airfare to Seattle and California, and supplies for the climb itself.
WHAT YOU GET FOR DONATING: you may be asking: So what’s in it for me? Good question. I’ve got tons of great perks. They’re all listed on the Indigogo page. Everyone who donates gets a credit in the final cut of the movie, and if you donate a higher amount, you’ll get the opportunity to own a print from my huge travel and climbing photography archive OR an image that will be shot on El Capitan in October. For instance, donate $50, and receive an 8x10 print of your choice with a $200 value.
Whether you donate or not, thanks for your time and send me some good vibes in early October…I can use all I can get. Thanks!