Original subtitles

[Narrator] Somewhere out there

in the oceans and mountains

is a place where time does not exist.

When we get to that place,

there is a voice in us that challenges us to go one step further.

[thunder rumbles]

[man chanting in native language]

[Narrator] And those who find that place

and then return to the presence of others

become the speakers.

They are the messengers.

[Man] The ocean talks to us in different ways.

It talks to everyone in different ways.

For me, because of my culture,

because of who I am, because of being Hawaiian.

Our ancestors have taught us to read the elements--

to read the wind, to read the earth, to read the ocean,

the waves, the water, the reefs,

the fish, the marine life,

because there are signs that tell you what is happening

or what is about to happen.

When there are certain currents that's moving,

certain tidal currents,

it's telling you that the surf is coming up.

When the clouds are moving in a certain direction,

or the color of the sunset is telling you

of different storms that's moving across.

There's so many different signs that the ocean,

the skies that will communicate to you

if you know what you're looking for.

Tow-in surfing is using a jet ski

to be towed into waves that is too big to paddle into.

It's a sport of a team, of a group.

You can only survive by your teammate,

from the man who's pulling you into the wave

to the man who's safetying you from the side.

When that lifeguard has to respond

to a worst case scenario,

it's a life and death situation.

These people are pulling into the biggest barrels

and the biggest waves in the deepest zone

and the hardest impact area

in the most extreme conditions.

There's no way humanly possible

you could paddle into these waves,

so when you wipe out

into these massive volumes of surf,

you're under for just a long, long time.

You really need to train not only your mind,

but your body and your soul

to get ready for that intense wipe-out.

What I've been doing lately

is I grab this 80-pound lava rock,

and we'll go running in the channel.

We'll just go back and forth and just keep going

until we pretty much just tire ourselves out.

My biggest strength is knowing my weaknesses

and try to strengthen my weaknesses in whatever I do.

[man chanting in native language]

[dialing telephone]

[Surf Report Announcer] Now the Wave riders, GQ here

with your special edition update,

your forecast for Big Wednesday.

It'll be the biggest swell we've seen all year.

Some spots could reach 30 feet,

and it's going to be an epic day for tow-ins and Waimea Bay.

[Man] We knew this day was coming.

This is the first time that anyone on the island of Oahu

has ever attempted to ride waves of this size.

We've been out there on 30-foot days before.

And this was bigger.

This was much larger.

January 28, 1 998--

the first time 35- and 45-foot waves were ever ridden.

It's a milestone that will be measured from now on.

[man chants in native language]

[Man] When I am going out

to push against what l am capable of doing,

I have to have fear.

Fear is the thing that, uh, keeps you sane.

Without fear, you'd do something insane.

20 tears of climbing have taught me

to use that fear as kind of a friend and let it focus my concentration

and just bring me into the moment of what I'm doing

and really concentrate on the climbing and perform better.

[Catherine Mulvihill] I realize

that I've got to control that fear

and select from that fear

and determine what's real and what's imaginary.

There's a learning curve there,

and over time you get acclimated

to more technical steep terrain,

and you grow into it.

[Barry Blanchard] I like to get out into places

that no human has ever been before

and who knows what's there,

and often, that can take everything you've got

to get through the face

and up to the top or down to the bottom or halfway up and down.

Soloing's climbing without a rope,

climbing by yourself without a rope.

If you fall, you're going to fall all the way to the ground.

It's just you and the waterfall, and you're climbing.

The feeling is, uh, freedom.

It's just freedom.

When you're soloing, you're alone,

and that has rewards,

but l think you probably glean more rewards

from interacting with your partner,

or, in my case, going climbing with my wife.

[Mulvihill] I think the self-reliance aspect of climbing

can make you aware of the possibility of doing things you never imagined,

and I think it just makes you realize

how far a human being can push themselves.

If you do something like that with style and control,

that's a perfect day.

[Woman] Yeah, I think

that the feeling of the mountains

is something that you have within you,

and I don't think I could ever live away from that.

I know that there are lots of powers and spirits.

I feel that every day.

The mountains in Alaska are just something spectacular.

You're just surrounded by mountains

as far as you can see,

and then you have the chance to be able to ski all that--

I mean to pick up a line

and say "I want to ski this" or "I want to ski that,"

and that's just incredible.

[Man] It's a weird feeling

in the pit of your stomach when you are out there,

and you feel like it's time travel,

and you could have been there millions of tears ago

and it wouldn't have been much different.

The snow quality up here is incredible.

The mountains are just really beautiful

and steep, very steep.

[Woman] Earth, my body.

Skiing is an expression of style.

It's how you interpret the mountain.

It's how you use the mountain.

It's how you flow down the mountain

and what you choose to do with whatever's in front of you.

Earth, my body.

Water, my blood.

Wind, my breath.

Fire, my spirit.

Earth, my body.

Water, my blood.

Wind, my breath.

Fire, my spirit.

Earth, my body.

Water, my blood.

With snow safety,

I always check-- first of all, wherever I go,

I check with the people who are in the know,

the most knowledgeable people in the area,

and I find out from them what the snow pack's been doing.

Those are the people that are going to save your life

because if you don't check with someone

and you go out there on your own,

you can get smoked.

[Francine Moreillon] No, I don't think

you want to beat the mountain

because, again, you know that the mountain

will always be stronger than you.

But you just have to be in harmony with the mountain,

and once you can achieve that,

it means that you've understood a little bit,

Like a very little bit, of how the mountain functions.

[Gordy Peifer] Sloughing is one

of the finer things in Alaska.

It's when snow moves with you while you're skiing,

and it's not really an avalanche

in the sense that the slope fractures

and the whole slope starts moving with you.

It's more that the snow that you're skiing starts moving with you.

And once that snow starts moving,

it takes all the rest of the snow below it with it,

and then eventually it's this huge mass of snow

moving all around you,

and either you're in front of it, you're behind it, or you're in it.

If you're in it, you don't want to stay in it.

lf you're in front of it, you want to stay in front of it,

and if you're behind it, that's probably the safest place to be,

but it's not always the most fun because you have to go slow then.

It's an amazing feeling

skiing when the snow is moving.

I guess I got some firsthand knowledge

of how good a helmet is for you.

It wasn't a serious exposure on that line

that I was risking death.

I knew I could tumble,

otherwise I wouldn't have aired that top air.

I tried to recover as hard as I could,

and for a split second I thought I had it--

I guess that's what usually happens--

and l just couldn't pull it off,

and I knew the rocks were coming.

I also knew I could clear the cliff band,

so I was basically hoping I wouldn't hit my head,

and as it happened, I did hit my head,

and the helmet was there for me.

[Man] The addiction to adrenaline

is what gets most people into these action sports,

and once you get hooked on that adrenaline

that comes pretty easily

through snowboarding or through surfing,

you get fueled up. You do a run, and you get this adrenaline feeling,

and then the endorphins flow,

and you get addicted to that feeling.

But after a while, that feeling,

I don't think it's really enough

to keep you fully stoked as a lifestyle,

but the things that go with it--

the people you meet

and the attitudes that they have

and just your integration with the environment,

the mountains, with the ocean--

that whole lifestyle environment

is what keeps me going.

I think the best part about snowboarding

is that while I'm doing it, there's nothing else on my mind.

When I'm snowboarding and I'm really in tune with myself

and in tune with the run,

I feel like I'm experiencing the moment

for exactly what it is--

no distractions, no hindrances.

It's just that next turn in front of me.

And when that happens, it's a really calm sort of feeling.

It's like I'm in the right place.

I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be

and everything is all lined up.

It's just a natural flow

just with the rest of the mountain.

[Women singing in Middle-Eastern language]

I've had somebody explain it to me

that what I do, it's an escape from real life.

It's a way that I can go out there

and just be on my own terms

and escape the harshness of really.

And to me, it's-- rather than an exit from something else,

it's really an entrance.

It's like you're really in tune

with the type of person that you want to be

and you're comfortable with who you are

and your position in the environment

and the world and everything that defines you,

it seems to be all lined up where it should be.

And it doesn't last long.

It's usually over by the time

you make the last turn in your run

and you take your bindings off

and you look back up the hill and you see the tracks.

Your mind slowly wanders back into some sort of really.

But for a while there, while you were coming down the hill,

it seemed just right.

[Woman] For me to have

the same excited feeling of learning and accomplishment

that I had my first day of snowboarding,

I have to continue to push myself

and do things I didn't think I could do

so that l have that feeling

of overcoming a fear or accomplishing something.

I do get that feeling

that I had my first day from pushing myself,

doing something I didn't think I could do.

[Woman] ? Flocking to the sea ?

? Crowds of people wait for me ?

? Seagulls scavenge ?

? Steal ice cream ?

? Worries vanish ?

? Within my dream ?

? I left my soul there ?

? Down by the sea ?

? Lost control here ?

? Livin' free ?

? I left my soul there ?

? Down by the sea ?

? Lost control here ?

? Livin' free ?

? Fishin' boats sail past the shore ?

? No singing ?

? Mayday anymore ?

? The sun is shinin' ?

? The water's clear ?

? Just you and I walk along the pier ?

? I left my soul there ?

? Down by the sea ?

? Lost control here ?

? Livin' free ?

You feel very tiny on a mountain,

and I know that I have to be smart and pick my lines carefully

and that I can enjoy the mountains

and experience maybe the best times of my life there,

but l have to do it with a lot of respect

because we're so small

and those big mountains

could just take you out in a second.

[Craig Kelly] I'm not really out there

doing things or changing things

or making a big impact on Mother Nature.

I'm just a part of it,

a really small part of it.

And it's sort of calming to know

that all that exists in a really pure state,

whether you're there or not.

[Man] I realized

right from the very first time l windsurfed

that I was hooked.

The first time l got on a board and lifted up that sail

and just started moving 5, 1 0 feet and fell,

I knew I was hooked right off the start.

Whenever I'm in the ocean, I feel no worries.

So if l go windsurfing for a few hours,

I can forget everything.

There's a thing called manna,

which is your spiritual power, tour force,

and for many Hawaiians, their manna comes from the ocean.

Their power is derived from the ocean.

All of the athletes from the nature sports

share something very common.

And it's because we're all out there

where we feel our strongest.

And I think all of these athletes do it

because they feel that manna.

[Man] The feelings that you get

even just preparing to go out on a big day

are what drive you to do it.

And it's that excitement and that adrenaline

and that anticipation that makes it such a rush.

Just rigging up and getting out there,

the whole preparation.

Getting out on the water, seeing it--

the first wave, you know, moving in.

It's an amazing feeling

just being close to that much power.

The core of the whole thing is fun, it's enjoyment.

It doesn't matter how good you are,

how great a waterman you are, how great a swimmer you are.

You have to respect the amount of power that's there.

People in any sport that have done well

and maintained a grounded position

and continue to do it because they love it

never really let it get to their head.

l really respect that, no matter what the sport.

[Woman] Each different rock type

has a different way of climbing on it.

You have to be sensitive to the forms on the rock,

and you have to adapt yourself to that shape

and that's what's nice about climbing.

You're in a beautiful place,

and it's really inspiring.

There's no better way to learn about the nature of life

than to try to go with that flow and do the best you can each time.

When you step off the ground on a climb,

you know it is going to be an adventure,

and you have to deal

with everything that comes your way.

Climbing is very simple,

and you have to rely on yourself,

and you have to figure it out for yourself.

You have to be responsible for making decisions

and being a little bit creative.

[Woman] ? Love, love is a verb ?

? Love is a doing word ?

? Fearless on my breath ?

? Gentle impulsion ?

? Shakes and makes me lighter ?

? Fearless on my breath ?

? Teardrop on the fire ?

? Fearless on my breath ?

It's about the relationship with nature

and also human nature

because I'm usually with a climbing partner.

And that's one of the things

that gives meaning to my climbing,

is having fun with my friends in beautiful places

and discovering things all the time.

? Light, light up the day ?

You learn so many things about yourself in climbing

and how to relate to other people,

how to solve problems, how to avoid problems.

If you go to sleep

and you're dreaming about some climb or some beautiful place

and you get up and you go out there and do it,

that's sort of what it is all about.

? Teardrop on the fire ?

? Fearless on my ?

Everyone climbs for different reasons.

People take different things away from climbing,

whether it's just the beauty of the environment,

the feeling of the movement, being with your partner.

Some people just climb

because they want to sat

they've done the hardest route.

[Lynn Hill] I climbed everything.

I climb trees,

and I just like being active.

I like being engaged in the environment

and playing outdoors,

so it was a natural for me.

The imagination is really key, especially in climbing,

because you look at the form of nature

and you're trying to adapt to it and flow with it,

and kids do that very well. They don't think about it.

They just look at the situation,

and they try to imagine what's possible

instead of being told what's possible or not possible.

[Man chanting in native language]

When you're in a beautiful place,

you can connect with that energy

in that place in the world.

When you're there,

you're opening up your vision to the rock,

and you can't really think about other things

when you're climbing.

You're just thinking about what you're doing

and trying to bring a certain lightness to it.

You don't want to feel heavy.

You want to feel

like it doesn't take any energy at all.

You're just flowing up this beautiful rock.

[thunder]

Climbing has changed me.

In some ways, it's taught me

what works and what doesn't, really,

and when I rely on my intuition

and I do what I believe in,

what l feel, it's usually right.

And I think you need to develop that

so that you can pay attention to it more,

and that's why, when you go climbing,

you bring it back to simplicity

and you rely on a little bit of equipment,

but mostly yourself, your own decisions,

and feeling about being in that place at that time.

You learn respect

when you are sensitive to nature and all its forms and beauty,

and you can stop and listen and be open to perceiving it.

Nature is the best form of art to me.