Summit Fever is now available on Digital Platforms
- Tuesday 18th October 2022
A whole new level of realism: the climbing film that actually filmed atop some of the world’s most dangerous mountains
“EVER see a shot of someone climbing a mountain on film and think, ‘that just doesn’t look real?’ Director Julian Gilbey certainly knows the feeling. His latest film, Summit Fever, sees young climber Freddie Thorpe spending a hedonistic summer in Chamonix whilst attempting the world’s deadliest trio of mountains – here’s the twist; Gilbey and the cast really filmed atop the mountains that Thorpe ascends.
Gilbey has an extensive history with climbing, having previously directed A Lonely Place to Die as well as having summitted the Matterhorn back in 2011, and thus wanted to create a climbing film that truly encapsulated the singular experience of being atop such incredible peaks.
He assembled a lightweight crew which included Thorpe to shoot on the faces of the Eiger, Matterhorn and Mont Blanc for Summit Fever – Thorpe even learned how to climb from scratch specifically for the production. ‘Filming doubles in close up on the real summit will never be as effective as having an actual cast member standing 14,692 feet above sea level with an ocean of cloud below,” Gilbey said. Thorpe and Gilbey join the ranks of the few to actually film on the face of the Eiger, including Clint Eastwood in the 1975 thriller The Eiger Sanction.
As a result, everything you see in Summit Fever is truly shot on-location atop some of the most dangerous mountains in the world – nothing beats the real-life thing.
See the trailer below: