Directing a Rock Climbing Film in Yosemite

In Yosemite’s breathtaking Tuolumne Meadows, four climbers from different generations and backgrounds come together for an all-women climbing trip that redefines what it means to lead. Legendary climbers Steph Davis and Katie Lambert anchor the group, sharing their wisdom and mentorship with up and coming climbers Cail Soria and Erika Moncada. Created for Mammut.

Passing the Crux was field produced, directed, filmed, and edited by Roo Smith

Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows is a place where stories seem to rise out of the granite domes themselves. The high country of this iconic national park, perched at over 8,000 feet, offers a world that feels separate from the rest of Yosemite - a land of smooth granite slabs, sweeping vistas, and crisp alpine air. It’s the kind of place that invites connection, not just with the landscape but with the people who share it with you.

On the first day Katie Lambert shared, “We all love rock climbing. I think it gives us something different, but we can come together over this one thing.” That spirit of unity and shared purpose set the tone for the entire trip.

The Climbers…

Leading the group were Steph Davis and Katie Lambert, two legends of the sport. Steph, renowned for her groundbreaking ascents and BASE jumping, has spent decades redefining the limits of what’s possible. “Climbing has given me purpose,” she shared. “It’s become part of who I am, as a person and as a climber.”

Katie, a longtime Bishop local and granite expert, brought her deep connection to Yosemite to the group and acted as a guide for the athletes during their time at her familiar crags. “I learned to rock climb the summer I was 16,” she said. “I was just looking for something to hold on to, and climbing happened to be that thing.” Now, 29 years later, Katie reflects on how the sport has shaped her life, saying, “Even though I’m 45, I’m probably the strongest I’ve been in my 28 years of climbing.”

Joining them were two rising stars in the climbing world, Cail Sori and Erika Moncada. Cail, a competition climber experiencing Yosemite for the first time, came with fresh eyes and boundless energy. “When I had the opportunity to come to Yosemite and climb, I was over the moon excited,” she said. “I just really wanted to experience it in its true form, which to me is climbing rock.”

For Erika, a climber and a nurse, climbing is about balance - between work, life, and the outdoors. “When I go climb, it’s just my way to let off steam,” she said. “You don’t own climbing. No one does. It’s for everyone.”

Mentorship and Connection

This trip wasn’t about competition or proving oneself on a specific route. It was about connection, mentorship, and the joy of sharing experiences in the outdoors.

Katie and Steph naturally took on the roles of mentors, guiding the group not just up the rock but through the emotional and personal challenges that climbing often brings to the surface. “The more life you live, hard stuff happens. And you make it work - it always works out,” Steph said, reflecting on the resilience that climbing has taught her over the years.

For Cail, climbing her first multi-pitch route under Steph’s guidance was a transformative experience. “It was such a great group of people to do it with,” she said. “The fact that Steph was my partner was pretty sweet. I just felt really comfortable and fun and flowy. Our dynamic is really fun - I think we all hit it off.”

Erika, too, found inspiration in the group dynamic. “I think it’s really awesome to see how everyone has made climbing fit into their life because we all come from way different backgrounds,” she said. “It’s really awesome to all figure out how to mesh together.”

Bonding Through Climbing

Throughout the trip, the bonds between the climbers grew stronger. Whether it was Cail tackling a challenging boulder problem or the group sharing laughs over dinner, the sense of camaraderie was palpable.

“All women’s climbing trips are different,” Katie said. “You have to kind of step up and take charge. But I love climbing with women because you can push each other in a way that’s supportive, not competitive. You resonate with one another. It’s supportive, but it also helps you push each other.”

For Cail, the encouragement she received from the group made all the difference. “I’m a pretty anxious boulderer, but the environment and the encouragement - and just knowing that they had my back - really made me feel comfortable trying things I wouldn’t normally try,” she said.

The Bigger Picture

As the trip came to an end, the climbers had a chance to reflect on what the experience had meant to them. For Steph, it was about rediscovering a place that had been so formative in her climbing journey. “It’s been really special coming back here, especially after lots of time away and lots of life lived in that time,” she said.

Erika, balancing her busy life as a nurse, spoke to the importance of holding onto moments like these - peaceful, grounding, and full of meaning. Collectively, their reflections painted a picture of how climbing, beyond being a sport, becomes a medium for connection, self-discovery, and shared experience. This trip in Yosemite was more than the routes climbed but about the bonds formed and the mentorship lessons that can be carried forward.

In the quiet beauty of Tuolumne Meadows, these athletes found something lasting: the joy of climbing together and the bonds that form when we share what we love. These are the moments that stay with us, long after the climbs are done.

My Director’s Statement:

This film is about inclusivity and the unique power the outdoors has to connect us. A lot of the stories I’ve told over the years center on the impact that outdoors can have on people, and this project really brought that same sentiment to life through the lens of some legendary climbers. Even when working with these four exceptional professional athletes, it was clear that regardless of your prestige and achievements in the climbing community there is still space for all sorts of emotions in nature. It becomes a space where egos are set aside, and what matters is the shared love of climbing and community.

We went into this trip with very little pre-production, which meant the story had to unfold naturally. My goal wasn’t to overly plan or control the narrative but to capture what was real - the emotions, the laughs, the challenges, and the triumphs. Spending time in Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows with these four women felt incredibly special, and I wanted to make sure the film matched the feelings we experienced while we were there.

For me, this project is a celebration of connection and community. It’s about how mentorship and shared passion can break down barriers, whether it’s on a multi-pitch climb, around a campfire, or while bouldering for the first time. Making this film reminded me why I love what I do - getting to document those raw, human moments that show how the outdoors brings us together. My hope is that this story inspires people to embrace their communities, seek out their own adventures, and find joy in the connections that come from being in wild, beautiful places.

What Happened Behind the Lens…

Filming a climbing documentary in Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows came with its own set of challenges as we navigated the logistical puzzle of filming athletes on these massive granite domes while still maintaining an organic, immersive feel. From the outset, my goal was to create something that felt lived-in, something that reflected the raw, unscripted moments of mentorship, community, and adventure.

To pull this off, I brought along my best friend and longtime filmmaking partner, Noah Kane, who acted as co-cinematographer while I took on the roles of producer, director, lead cinematographer, and editor. We approached the project with a distinct division of focus:

• Noah focused on the unstaged moments, capturing candid interactions, breathless laughter at the belay, and the quiet concentration before a crux move.

• I concentrated on the visual beauty of Yosemite and the more intentionally composed shots, ensuring we had the cinematic grandeur of the setting to complement the intimacy of the story.

This combination of perspectives of his vérité style mixed with my structured, more visually designed approach created a balance that let the film feel both intimate and epic at the same time.

The Camera Gear

Filming in Yosemite’s high country meant everything had to be light, fast, and efficient. We weren’t just documenting a climbing trip, we were taking part of it ourselves. We were actively climbing with the athletes to get the angles we needed so carrying a full cinema rig simply wasn’t an option for our run and gun style. Instead, we relied on two cameras that could handle the demanding conditions while still delivering high-quality, cinematic footage:

• Sony A7siii (my primary camera) – Known for its incredible low-light performance, this was essential for early morning starts and golden hour climbing sequences. The high dynamic range also helped maintain detail in the bright granite and deep shadows of the alpine setting.

• Sony FX30 (Noah’s camera) – As a Super 35 cinema camera, the FX30 gave us a slightly different aesthetic while keeping the setup nimble. Its similar sensor technology and color science matched well with the A7siii, allowing for a seamless blend between our footage.

This setup allowed us to stay ahead of the climbers without being weighed down. In traditional climbing films, the camera crew often have to move around the walls to capture the best shots so we had to climb ahead and be nimble. This meant thinking two or three moves ahead, positioning ourselves in places where we could capture the action without interfering with the climb itself.

Lightweight Sony lenses gave us the versatility we needed, with a mix of wide shots for landscapes and telephoto zooms to capture intimate details of their fingers on feldspar knobs of Tuolumne. The ability to shoot 4K at high frame rates (sometimes 120fps) also meant we could slow things down to emphasize the delicate movements of climbing without sacrificing image quality.

Finding the Story Through Interviews

Since the film was built around mentorship and shared experiences, the interviews had to feel natural and conversational rather than overly polished or staged. Instead of a formal sit-down interview setup in someone’s house, we conducted most of the interviews outdoors, using Yosemite’s landscape as a backdrop to subtly reinforce the themes of connection and belonging.

Our goal was to create a space where the athletes forgot about the cameras, letting them speak honestly about their experiences. To achieve this:

• We used lav mics to ensure clear sound, even in the unpredictable alpine wind that can often negatively impact boom audio.

• Interviews were kept relaxed and recorded after a mellow, slow morning when the athletes were more reflective and open.

• Some in-the-moment interviews were conducted while the athletes were still in their harnesses, maintaining the energy and authenticity of the moment.

Post-production became an exercise in restraint as I was trying to let the athletes’ words lead the narrative rather than forcing a script onto their stories. This meant combing through hours of dialogue, looking for those unscripted, emotionally rich soundbites that best conveyed the film’s core message.

How I edited “Passing the Crux” - Building a Narrative from Unscripted Moments

The edit was where everything truly came together. Because we shot the film with minimal pre-production, the story had to be found in the footage. I knew I wanted the film to have an organic flow that mirrored the rhythms of a climbing trip rather than following a rigid documentary structure.

The editing process followed these key principles:

• Letting the landscapes breathe – Yosemite is a character in itself. By using wide establishing shots and slow-paced cinematography, we gave the audience a sense of place, setting the tone for everything that followed.

• Interweaving candid moments – Noah’s handheld, observational footage of the climbers laughing, tying knots, and supporting each other became just as important as the action shots. These moments gave depth to the relationships forming on the wall.

• Balancing action with reflection – Instead of cutting straight from a climb to another climb, we let the athletes' voices guide the transitions allowing for some depth and reflection during the trip.

• Sound design as a storytelling tool – The natural sounds of the wind through the trees, the clipping of Mammut’s carabiners, and the soft voices of encouragement were layered into the mix to create an immersive experience.

The hardest part of the edit was finding the right balance between climbing and conversation. Too much climbing footage, and it would become just another adventure film; too much talking, and it would lose its sense of movement. The final structure reflected the trip itself with a mix of big moments, quiet realizations, and everything in between.

Final Thoughts: A Film That Feels Like the Experience

One of my biggest takeaways from making this film was how fluid documentary filmmaking needs to be in the outdoors. We didn’t go into this trip with a tight storyboard or a clear narrative arc. Instead, we had a loose idea to explore what the outdoors and climbing meant to these athletes and let the moments shape the final product.

Having Noah on board on this projects was essential to capturing that dual perspective - his documentary-style eye let the raw, unscripted interactions shine, while my focus on crafting cinematic, intentional visuals ensured the film still felt artfully composed.

This was a film that was shaped by the environment itself the unpredictability of weather, the way light shifts in the high country, and the natural rhythm of a climbing trip. And that’s what makes it special. Like many of my films, I didn’t want this to just focus on the climbing. I wanted to create a portrait of what it feels like to be out there pushing yourself, learning from those who came before you, and holding onto the moments that matter.

Let’s Connect!

Roo is a Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has directed documentaries for Patagonia in California, produced films for Outside Magazine throughout Europe and Africa, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, photographed among indigenous communities in South America, and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.