Aerialist- Timeline
May 7, 2006 Dean solos the Delicate Arch
This was one of the first shoots we did for Aerialist, and certainly the most beautiful. We had no idea what a big deal this would become. If you don’t know the story, check out the link to NPR below.
June 2, 2006 NPR news story
See video of Ivo Ninov’s arch commentary
July 2007, Dean solos heaven, the hardest free solo ever done in Yosemite. This awesome roof crack soars over two thousand feet above Glacier Point. A fall at any point would have sent Dean scraping down and endless slab to his death….with cameras rolling.
See the video
December 29,2007 Dean sends Hong Kong Phooey. Named after his childhood cartoon hero, this three hundred foot enduro fest sports Indian Creeks hardest pure crack pitch- a rope stretching 165 foot rattling finger nightmare-the “Kong” pitch. Just to get to the crack, Dean had to send a sick bolted face pitch, the “Hong” pitch, named after Steve Hong, who first spied the line. Finally the rout climbs the spectacular “Phooey” pitch- ultra thin and hard as hell.
Rock and Ice Article
See Video by Jim Hurst
March 18, 2007-Alpinist film festival. Aerialist “festival cut” premier. We cut a thirty- minute preview segment of Aerialist just for the festival, and it was awarded the People’s Choice Award. Inspired, We entered it into more film festivals where it has continued to win awards and praise from audiences around the world.
May 12, 2007 Boulder film festival. Aerialist takes the award for “Best Adventure Biography”. Check out the Denver Post article here.
May 30, 2007 Telluride Mountainfilm- Aerialist wins the “Must See” Award
June, 2007 Dean sends King Air and high lines over Yosemite falls.
In a massive creative streak, Dean climbed the stunning arête on LeConte boulder next to his 2004 thin crack test-piece, Sasquach, calling it “King Air” after the aircraft used at Lodi to shuttle skydivers into the heavens. The name also emphasizes the huge falls Dean took working the problem, now rated V10. He then sent his scariest and most beautiful highline to date above the thundering Yosemite Falls. Many Monkeys cameras were nailing every minute of it.
See Video-King air
See video-Yosemite Falls
October 27, 2007 Aerialist appears at the Banff Mountain film festival as a finalist in the climbing film category. It was selected to tour with Banff, and will be seen as part of this prestigious festival throughout the world in 2007/08.
November 18, 2007 Aerialist wins Best Climbing Film at Kendal. Leo Holding, an honorary Monkey, was on hand to accept the award on our behalf.
Feb 7, 2008 Dean sends Zen Garden, Moab’s hardest roof crack. I filmed this send by pure chance. I just happened to be in town rigging for another shoot (more on that later!) when Dean sent this monster after two months of sporadically working it. The route cruises out a beautiful cave behind a frozen pond in a mystical desert grotto. Too thin for most of its 35 feet to get proper jams, Zen Garden features a crux of campus moves to a highball top out above a gnarled, lone tree necessitating a thoughtful spot to avoid impalement.
See video-coming soon
Much more news to come
On March 17, after two weeks of scrambling to dial in the final edit, we presented the world premier of a segment of Aerialist (as a last minute surprise) to an enthusiastic audience at the New Center for the Performing arts in Jackson Hole, WY. As it turns out, we were the one being handed a surprise-the Peoples Choice Award! We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Christian Beckwith and the entire team at Alpinist for inviting us.
What an incredible event!