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# Life on the ‘bivy’ Film fest celebrates all things climbing
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/life-on-the-bivy-film-fest-celebrates-all-things-climbing/
- Published: 2006-10-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T21:44:40.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*TICKET INFORMATION Getting their piece of the rock*

JOHN ADAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL — Timmy O’Neill’s life changed forever the moment he reached the top of a cliff at Joshua Tree National Park 17 years ago.

“This is as good as it can feel,” O’Neill remembered thinking at the time he concluded his first rock climbing experience. “I can’t wait to feel some more.”

He didn’t. O’Neill went on to become one of the world’s top rock climbers, living life out of a backpack, one day at a time, while traveling the world from the southern tip of South America to the Karakoram ranges in Pakistan.

The extreme sport enthusiast is featured in the documentary “First Ascent,” which chronicles the experience and psychological battle that rock climbers experience when they venture into unknown territory. It is one of two feature length films being shown Wednesday at John Adams Middle School during the “Reel Rock Film Tour.”

One of the largest adventure sport documentary film tours in the country, the first Reel Rock tour kicked off in September with simultaneous premieres in different locations in Colorado. It will have traveled to about 60 cities in the United States and Canada before it wraps up the North American leg of its tour next month.

The tour features films produced by two well-known rock climbing documentary filmmakers -- Peter Mortimer, who created “First Ascent,” and Josh Lowell, who directed “Dosage: Volume IV.”

The event is expected to find an audience not only in Santa Monica, but throughout Southern California, which has some of the best rock climbing locations in the world, according to Mortimer, who called Santa Monica home for five years.

“There are definitely a lot of climbers in Southern California and a lot of famous climbers have come from this area,” Mortimer said. “It’s neat to come to an area where there is established climbing and outdoor communities for people to get together.”

Mortimer said some of the more popular rock climbing locations include Joshua Tree, Rockreation Sport Climbing Center on LaGrange Avenue and Stony Point out in the San Fernando Valley.

Coordinator Nick Rosen said the film tour makes the genre more accessible to those people who are not typical rock climbing fans.

“Nobody has ever done a rock climbing event like this,” Rosen said. “It’s the first time anyone has tried to do a big national tour.”

> “Nobody has ever done a rock climbing event like this. It’s the first time anyone has tried to do a big national tour.” — NICK ROSEN COORDINATOR

Some of the personalities from the two films are scheduled to make an appearance at John Adams on Wednesday, including O’Neill and female climber Lisa Rands.

The outdoor gear store Adventure 16, which is sponsoring the event, will raffle off some apparel at the middle school.

“First Ascent”was filmed in locations around the world, from cliffs overlooking oceans in Thailand to the peak of the Himalayas to the Los Angeles skyline — O’Neill’s uncharted territory.

“My first ascent is much more esoteric than the first ascent a lot of other guys were doing because mine took place on buildings and around sculptures,” O’Neill said.

Filming and editing took more than a year and a half with a crew of six cinematographers.

“It is something that is often not documented because traditionally in rock climbing and mountaineering movies, a lot of stuff is staged,” Mortimer said. “Making this film, we really wanted to capture the actual ascent.”

“Dosage Volume IV” is the fourth installment in a series of compilations of short rock climbing films produced throughout the year. The idea came from a web site that showed, or gave a “dose,” of a new rock climbing film every month.

“At the end of the year, we compile all of it on DVD and release and call it ‘dosage,’” said Lowell, whose father is a cinematographer.

Lowell has been climbing for the past 18 years, since beginning in high school. The outdoor enthusiast fell in love with the sport instantly.

The filmmakers hope their works will inspire others interested in rock climbing to try the sport, and to encourage those who are already active to try something new.

“The difficulty in the challenge in climbing is a pretty universal theme,” Lowell said. “When you do succeed, there is a moment of elation.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/102406-03_01.jpg)

CLIFFHANGER: A climber featured in ‘Dosage Volume IV’ catches a fingerhold. (Photo: Brett Lowell SPECIAL TO THE DAILY PRESS)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/102406-03_02.jpg)

CHALK IT UP: A climber featured in ‘Dosage’ keeps a grip. (Photo: Josh Lowell SPECIAL TO THE DAILY PRESS)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102406.pdf?ref=smdp.com)