# Reel Rock Turns 20: Climbing Film Tour's Origins

> Reel Rock's 20-year journey from Colorado College to global climbing films.
- Title: Reel Rock Turns 20: Climbing Film Tour's Origins · Climbing
- Summary: Reel Rock's 20-year journey from Colorado College to global climbing films. Reel Rock's founders created a film tour that turned climbing from 'watching a…
- Keywords: reel rock, climbing films, sender films, nick rosen, peter mortimer, josh lowell, warren miller, teton gravity research, first ascent, didier berthod, dean potter, david lama
- Source: Climbing — https://climbing.com/culture-climbing/reel-rock-20
- Author: Maya Silver
- Published: 2026-10-19T22:04:22+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: reel rock, climbing films, sender films, nick rosen, peter mortimer, josh lowell, warren miller, teton gravity research, first ascent, didier berthod, dean potter, david lama
## Reel Rock's 20th anniversary
Reel Rock premieres at Boulder Theater on October 22, 2026, marking 20 years of climbing films.
## Founders meet at Colorado College
Nick Rosen and Peter Mortimer met Josh Lowell at Colorado College in the early 2000s to create a climbing film tour.
## First Reel Rock film
First Ascent: The Movie documented Didier Berthod on Cobra Crack (5.14) and Dean Potter on Epitaph (5.13b).
## Early Reel Rock films
Reel Rock captured David Lama's deep water solo FA in Thailand and Timmy O'Neill's urban ape-style climbs.
## Reel Rock's filmmaking ethos
Nick Rosen says Reel Rock defies the analogy that watching climbing is as entertaining as watching a car rust.
## Sender Films' other projects
Sender Films produced award-winning documentaries including The Alpinist and Valley Uprising, and The Dark Wizard on HBO.
## Reel Rock's evolution
Reel Rock films have expanded beyond climbing into social issues like African American climbers in Memphis Rocks and Palestinian climbers.
## Favorite films
Nick Rosen highlights Resistance Climbing and Point of No Return as top Reel Rock films from 20 years of work.
## Tragedy in 2008
An avalanche killed Nick Rosen's close friends Jonny Copp, Micah Dash, and crew member Wade Johnson in China in 2008.
## How often they disagree
Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen have creative disagreements but respect each other's creative contributions.
## Future of Reel Rock
Reel Rock founders hope young filmmakers take over the tour to keep it relevant for future generations.
## Key takeaway

Reel Rock's founders created a film tour that turned climbing from 'watching a car rust' into character-driven stories over two decades.