Indigenous model and activist Quannah ChasingHorse grew up in a tiny Native village in Alaska just south of the Arctic Circle, where she saw the effects of climate change firsthand her entire life. This experience and her deep connection with the land made her become an activist at a young age and use her platform as a model and actress to bolster Indigenous land rights and the climate.

In seventh grade, she fought to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in her school district in Fairbanks. At 17, she became a member of the Gwich’in International Youth Council, lobbying against oil leases to protect native lands such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and participated in climate rallies. Before she was 18, she was helping the Alaska Federation of Natives Climate Task Force push to declare a state of emergency on climate change.

ChasingHorse鈥檚 powerful energy protesting against oil drilling caught the eye of a casting director for a Calvin Klein campaign in 2020. After she was scouted, her modeling career took off, and she used her visibility as a fashion model to bring more awareness to Indigenous communities and the climate crisis.

In 2023, ChasingHorse graced the fall 国产吃瓜黑料听cover as a new face of adventure storytelling. She opened up to us about the 鈥�long walk from rural Alaska to the runways of Paris鈥� and what it’s like living in two different worlds鈥攆ashion and activism, which was also chronicled in a documentary from The North Face called .

This year ChasingHorse lent her voice to The American Southwest, a documentary by Ben Masters, which he describes as both a love letter and a plea to protect these landscapes and wildlife. The film is a wild ride down the mighty Colorado River, exploring the region鈥檚 extraordinary wildlife, cultural history, and precarious future, and ChasingHorse narrates.

翱耻迟蝉颈诲别听caught up with ChasingHorse while she was home in Fairbanks, Alaska. The activist tells us what drew her to听The American Southwest, the most pressing issues for Indigenous communities right now, and what gives her hope in these uncertain times.

OUTSIDE: What drew you to narrating the 2025 film The American Southwest?

Quannah ChasingHorse: What drew me to narrate to The American Southwest was, knowing that there was not a lot of representation when it came to nature documentaries, whether that be film or TV shows, and also knowing the premise of it, understanding that the story is being told for a reason, and that it has to be told. It’s an important story, learning about water management and how that’s affecting so many life ways across, in,听and out of the Colorado River.

I felt very called to lend my voice for all the different lifeways, whether that be the river to the animals to the landscapes of the American Southwest. There is a beautiful story there, and also to really share the history, and the importance of including that history, because Indigenous people have been stewarding these lands for generations, for thousands of years.

So to be an Indigenous person who听has a connection to the Southwest, and to step into this role of being a voice for this region, it’s an honor, but also a responsibility.

What issues do you feel are most pressing for Indigenous communities today?

ChasingHorse: Every community has its own individual struggles, but overall, it is the lack of awareness anytime there’s anything happening in a Native community, you don’t hear about it on national TV. You don’t hear about it at all, unless someone close to you who is Indigenous knows what’s going on and informs you.

So the lack of awareness around these issues, whether that’s climate change, and how it’s affecting so many of our people, even here in Alaska and in the Southwest, we’re feeling heavy and hard. The water management in the Southwest is really playing into why the climate crisis is affecting the Southwest as far and as hard as it is.

When we talk about one thing, it’s hard not to听talk about the other, because they are so interconnected. So all of these extractive industries, oil and gas and mining, and seeing the mismanagement of water and how all of that we as Indigenous people are the least to contribute to these issues, yet we are the most affected by it.

There are so many pressing issues, but right now specifically, I would say there is an ecocide and multiple active genocides happening, and we have been living in a dystopian reality. We have been overcoming this ongoing genocide for hundreds of years, and it is still happening today. So even just acknowledging that this is what’s happening, and we as Indigenous people need to be included in all spaces. That is what’s most pressing and most important, because then we can really help our communities when we’re included, and we can really bring forward solutions to a lot of today’s issues.

Why is it important to include Indigenous voices in conversation when it comes to the climate crisis?

ChasingHorse: In the last few years, we have also seen a lot of representation, but it is all very tokenized, so we need to really normalize Indigenous people in every space. We need to be听included in these conversations, at the table when they’re making decisions on what is happening environmentally, to the economy, to water management.

All of the conversations surrounding this one pressing issue [of the climate crisis], we see so many people being put on pedestals whohad to find their way to that conversation. When us, as Indigenous people, we didn’t have a choice.

When it comes to climate change, we are at the forefront. We are affected the most. We are the ones who are on the forefront really being affected by these issues, by the climate crisis, yet our voices are not included in these conversations, and so every single panel, every single conference, every single conversation鈥攚hether that’s politically to communally鈥攚hen our communities come together to talk about these issues, it is so important that there are Indigenous people who have the lived experience of what [the climate crisis] is like firsthand.

As an Indigenous person, I’ve seen way too many people who have so much privilege, but want to stay relevant, try to overstept, really take up space, and really try to step into this activist role. We do need more activists. We do need more people to care. We do need more people to speak up and say something, but they’re then overshadowing the Indigenous people who need to be heard, who听have stories that need to be told.

It’s disheartening, because it makes us feel again, small, and makes us feel as though our stories are not important enough. Then he person who doesn’t quite know exactly what they’re talking about, and even if they do know what they’re talking about, they seem to be more important than the people who are directly being affected by these things.

How can we talk about these things without recognizing that, as much as this is a worldwide struggle, and everyone is feeling it, to some extent, a lot of those people can just go home and turn on their AC, or go home and turn on a hot shower and be in there for hours? A lot of us from our communities don’t have that luxury.

What’s your version of a perfect day outdoors?

ChasingHorse: A perfect day for me in the outdoors is getting bundled up, if it’s winter time, getting real bundled up, 听and spending time in my mom’s dog yard with her and her dogs, hooking up the dog team and heading out on a trail. Then, usually on our long runs, we’d stop and start a fire and have a little tea. And that’s one of my favorite things to do: building a fire and having some tea and sitting around and telling stories and spending time outside with my mom’s dogs.

When I’m not in Alaska, and I’m in the Southwest, in LA or in Arizona, then it鈥檚 going on hikes. There are so many beautiful trails all over the Southwest.

If you have access to hiking trails and beautiful spaces,听 and hot springs, go. It reconnects you with your spirit and your body. When I’m outside and doing these things and going on hikes and building fires and telling stories, I go back home feeling so much better.

I go home feeling like my cup is 100 percent full and overflowing like I can. I have so much more to give. I hope that when people do experience those things, that they then feel like they have enough to give, that they are overflowing with love and joy and happiness and clarity and groundedness, that they can just pour into other people and other things.

And the last question: How do you maintain hope as an activist?

ChasingHorse: Maintaining hope as an advocate these days can be challenging, if I鈥檓 being 100 percent honest. But then I go home to my communities, and I see young people really educating themselves, learning, engaging in these conversations.

That’s what gives me hope, seeing that our future leaders are going to be strong and knowledgeable, and will make decisions that will benefit everyone, not just themselves.

That is what gives me hope. And also knowing and seeing when all of us come together, seeing people protesting, seeing people speak up, and not being afraid to tell the truth, that gives me so much hope,

It reminds me that there is still humanity out there, that there are people who are still so grounded and connected to their humanness that they didn’t forget that or ignore that there are so many things that need voices, that need support, and need us as advocates to be there, to stand in solidarity with them.

These young people, especially children, shouldn’t have to do that. They shouldn’t have to grow up working their entire lives doing the right thing. It is our job. It is our parents’ and our grandparents’.听 It has been their job to create a future for us that is sustainable, that is livable and that is healthy. So I also hope to see more and more of our trusted adults and our aunties, our uncles, our moms, our dads, our grandparents, see a future for us and make the right choices on our behalf.

Editor’s note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.

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Ben Masters and his team spent 80 days at the edge of the Vermillion Cliffs in Arizona, their cameras trained on a condor nest as they waited to capture footage of a chick taking its first flight.

Instead, they caught the moment when the gawky bald bird slipped, then tumbled hundreds of feet off the sheer rock face. The bird survived, and clips of its day-and-a-half struggle to climb back to its nest mark one of the most riveting scenes in听The American Southwest,鈥� the fourth feature-length wildlife documentary produced by Masters and Fin and听Fur Films.

The documentary traces the green ribbon of the Colorado River nearly 1,500 miles as it flows through forests and canyons near its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains and into the diversion tunnels and irrigation canals of Southern California before vanishing onto a sunbaked stretch of dried mud in Mexico.

The 107-minute film includes plenty of how鈥檇-they-get-that-shot moments, from a cutthroat trout leaping from the river to gulp a giant salmonfly to a beaver looking expectantly up at a tree it鈥檚 been chewing on just as it teeters over. But beyond the captivating images of wildlife lies a deeper message鈥�humans are bleeding the Colorado River dry.

The river, the most litigated in the world, supported about 2 million people in 1900. Today 40 million rely on it as their main water source.

Masters teamed with , a non-profit organization that works to restore and protect wild rivers, to create the documentary, and its call to action. The film opens in theaters around the Southwest U.S. on September 5.

The documentary highlights charismatic animals and behavior from each ecosystem along the river鈥檚 pathway. 鈥淚t鈥檚 told from the perspective of the land and the wildlife,鈥� Masters tells 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淎nd it’s an objective look at our society鈥檚 relationship with the world.鈥�

The film features footage of bugling elk, shape-shifting giant salmon caddisflies, which look like something from a horror show as they crack out of their exoskeletons, and water-hoarding saguaro cactus鈥攁s well as a family of charmingly industrious beavers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 cool watching (the beavers) chop down trees, but it鈥檚 a lot more than a cute animal doing something interesting,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hese animals are providing an invaluable service throughout these wetlands by slowing down water and purifying water.鈥�

Getting the footage took time鈥攖hree years in all.

鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of pre-production planning and understanding species and developing relationships with biologists to get those scenes,鈥� Masters says. 鈥淭hen you just never know what nature鈥檚 going to throw at you.鈥�

Quannah ChasingHorse Lends Her Voice

The film鈥檚 narrator, Indigenous model and activist Quannah ChasingHorse (featured on 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 September/October 2023 cover), adds the voice of the Indigenous people who have long lived along the Colorado River. She was born in Arizona and raised on Navajo Nation land in Arizona and Alaska.

鈥淭oo often in nature films and documentaries, Indigenous people are excluded, even though we have lived in, stewarded, and fought to protect these lands for generations,鈥� ChasingHorse said in a prepared statement.

Masters, who grew up in Amarillo, Texas, where he hunted and worked as a ranch hand and oil field worker before earning a degree in wildlife biology from Texas A&M University, made his first full-length film, Unbranded,听in 2015. It followed the adventures of Masters and three friends as they adopted, trained, and rode a string of wild mustangs from Mexico to Canada.

Next, Masters and four others hiked, rode, pedaled and paddled along the Texas-Mexico border to film The River and the Wall, which examined the potential impact of a border wall on the region鈥檚 wildlife and humans. Most recently, Masters produced ,听narrated by Matthew McConaughey, which highlights the wildlife of Texas, from black bears and mountain lions to whale sharks and bison.

The Colorado River Plan Is Up for Renegotiation

Masters timed the release of The American Southwestto raise awareness about the upcoming renegotiation of Colorado River鈥檚 management plan in 2026. The plan was last updated 20 years ago, and today the river鈥檚 water is over-allocated and it runs dry before it reaches the Gulf of California.

鈥淭here鈥檚 more paper water than wet water,鈥� Masters says. 鈥淪tates have to try to figure out how to progress into the future, so water management is decided cordially among states instead of in the courts.鈥�

Today, about 25 percent of the Colorado River basin鈥檚 water feeds California鈥檚 Imperial Valley, where farmers use it to irrigate crops, including water-hogging alfalfa.听鈥淎 third of that alfalfa is shipped overseas to feed livestock in foreign countries,鈥� Masters says. 鈥淚s that the greatest use of water? In my opinion no, it鈥檚 not.鈥�

The film ends with a glimpse of a tiny portion of river delta that remains where the river runs out in Mexico. In the scene, huge flocks of birds soar over a lush landscape. It鈥檚 a reminder, Masters says, of how the entire delta once looked鈥攁nd how it could look again if the river was better managed.

鈥淲e want to influence negotiation so there鈥檚 a greater value on nature-based solutions. It鈥檚 bullshit to drain the river dry,鈥� he says.

A Love Letter鈥攁nd a Plea

Masters, 37, says he wanted to make the documentary because of the impact the American Southwest has had on him. He calls it a 鈥渓ove letter to the landscapes and wildlife that shaped him.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e just been in love with landscapes of the Southwest for my whole life,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hose landscapes and public lands, the big vast unfenced freedom that still exists, have shaped my values and my land ethic and I wanted to give back,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is my attempt at inspiring people to conserve the landscape and wildlife of the southwest.鈥�

The credits include a QR code that links to the , where Masters says he hopes viewers will send a message to their political representatives that we need better management of the river.

鈥淚t is not OK to use the river and exhaust it so completely that it literally goes dry,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 insane that we continue to manage the river like it’s 1922, when the management plan was devised. There needs to be a vast update that reflects the reality of the water crisis we鈥檙e facing.鈥�

It鈥檚 also important to recognize there鈥檚 not a shortage of water in the Southwest, Masters says.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so much water that hundreds of acres of acre feet are exported in the form of alfalfa that鈥檚 shipped overseas. And if there鈥檚 enough water to export overseas, there鈥檚 for damn sure enough water to give to the river to provide for wildlife, habitat and economies that rely on the river, and for ourselves to enjoy through recreation.鈥�

Masters, who lives in Austin with his wife and two young children, is already working on his next project鈥� a river-focused sequel to 鈥淒eep in the Heart,鈥� due in theaters in fall 2026.

鈥淚 was born in Texas. This is my home, and I had the duty to tell the story of its wildlife and its rivers,鈥� he says. 鈥淭exas is also changing so rapidly that a lot of species and landscapes we鈥檙e filming may be forever developed or extirpated. I wanted to capture those images so my children can see what it looked like before it was developed.鈥�

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There’s something about witnessing someone doing what they were born to do that stops you in your tracks.

Maybe I’m thinking of my own kid athletes, but I couldn’t help but feel inspired talking to ten-year-old Wes Lukens, who answered my call from Whistler, Canada, on his dad’s mobile phone in the middle of a ride.

When Wes says, “mountain biking is life,” he isn’t exaggerating. His parents, Shawn and Katie Lukens, have been on the road with he and his two siblings since March, and don’t plan to return home to Florida until September. Wes is homeschooled, and spends most of his time exploring and competing all over the world.

“We just got back from China,” he told me.

“To mountain bike? I asked him.

“Yeah, just to ride.”

Wes was recently crowned the second-best freerider in the world after crushing it in Reno, Nevada, at the , an all ages mountain biking event that “blends the biggest freeride lines, slopestyle-inspired trick jumps, and technical challenges into one all-encompassing test of skill, style, and guts.”

The winner was a 20-year-old rider who has already gone pro.

“He keeps getting better for ten, and for, anyone,” Cam Zink, professional freerider and X Games athlete, and host of the Invitational, said at the opening of the short film, Launch, my reason for catching up with Wes in the first place.

Launch was shot and edited by Scott Gaffney, a freelance filmmaker and legendary cinematographer in the ski world, who followed Wes as he competed in Reno. Barely double digits, Wes is seen soaring over his competition, stunning some of the best freeriders in the world.

国产吃瓜黑料 was given an exclusive first release of the film, which will later be released on YouTube. You can view the full film above.听

Here’s what Wes shared with me about the experience.

“I Love That Being Good at This Doesn’t Come Easy”

I asked Wes to expand on a powerful statement he made in the film highlighting his win.

“I love that being good at this doesn’t come easy,” he shares in it, and this is the message Wes wants other kid athletes to remember. “You have to work every day, as much time as you can. Work on the things that you need to improve but also the stuff that you really like, to get better at it. You need to know what you’re capable of so you’re not always so out of control.”

Wes has been riding since age two alongside his siblings Camden (now 14 years old) and Emery (now 6 years old.)

When Wes gets discouraged, his family reminds him that this started as a fun thing to do, and as a way for he and his family to connect. At the core, that’s what it’s all about.

“I just want to ride every single day,” Wes told me.听鈥淚 wake up and I鈥檓 thinking about riding. I crave the feeling of being free in the air. I crave hauling as fast as possible. I crave the sound of my tires hitting the dirt.”

“What is your wildest dream though?” I asked him.

“To be the world’s best mountain biker,” he said.

Well, Wes may have to dream bigger, because he’s nearly there.

You can keep up with Wes and .

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Ocean Ramsey spends more time with sharks than most people spend with their coworkers. For more than 25 years, she鈥檚 been studying, swimming with, and advocating for sharks鈥攃reatures she calls 鈥渨ildlife, not monsters.鈥�

Her high-visibility free dives with great whites have earned her the moniker Shark Whisperer, the title of a new Netflix film from the Academy Award-winning director of My Octopus Teacher, James Reed. Premiering June 30, the provocative documentary makes clear the soft-spoken Hawaiian marine conservationist doesn’t let her critics distract her from her mission: to use her voice and platform for shark conservation, not demonization.

Watch an exclusive clip of Shark Whisperer 产别濒辞飞.听

Ramsey鈥檚 social media following over 2 million across and features up-close encounters with dozens of different shark species (including 20-foot-long great whites), as well as frequent calls for policy changes to help promote shark protections around the world.

鈥淧eople look first and listen second,鈥� Ramsey tells 国产吃瓜黑料 about using her social media to challenge听our perceptions of sharks. Ramsey’s peaceful shark encounters caught on film go against Hollywood’s demonization of sharks and unwind our cultural frenzy that these creatures are to be feared.

Shark Whisperer doesn’t shy away from the controversy these close interactions also stir. Ramsey gets incredibly close to the animals while freediving, sometimes touching them. While Ramsey says these moments challenge negative perceptions of sharks and raise awareness about their importance in marine ecosystems, some in the scientific community say that type of interaction stresses the animals, alters their natural behavior, and sets a poor example for the public. On the other hand, world-renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle, “our era’s Jacques Cousteau,” advocates for Ramsey in the film (and in the above video clip), applauding her fearless efforts to change the public perception of sharks.

Outside caught up with Ramsey to talk about the criticism, the dangers of getting too close, and how she hopes Shark Whisperer will shift how we view the ocean’s top predator.

OUTSIDE: How do you hope the encounters you share with the world changes public perception of sharks?

Ocean Ramsey: I’m really hoping that it’ll shift the Hollywood fictitious portrayal of sharks as mindless monsters into the reality that we can coexist. We need to learn to adapt to their behavior. Because the reality is there are over 100 million sharks being killed every year for wasteful things like shark finning for shark and soup, shark fishing, shark culling. And deep sea sharks being killed for the pharmaceutical and souvenir and cosmetic trade.

I hope to inspire people to get involved in marine conservation because we really need more people speaking up for those without a voice. A lot of people don’t go diving; they don’t get to see the amazing underwater world. Maybe they don’t feel a connection. I hope that with this film we can show the reality and the beauty and the importance [of sharks].

Your activism can be polarizing. On one hand, you鈥檝e contributed to passing protective shark regulations. On the other hand, people sometimes get heated when they see your close interactions with sharks. What do you have to say to critics who say your media is more about spectacle than science?

I think it is undeniable by this point that we’ve been able to help pass laws because we’ve been able to bring millions of people to the table. But I understand that there’s always going to be critics. The way that I handle it is staying focused on my mission. Who really deserves my time? The sharks.

I do also try to look for gratitude in moments like that as well. I have noticed in the past that while this isn鈥檛 their goal, [the critics have] actually brought more attention to the subjects, and that can be a really good thing to keep sharks in the news.

You spent six years advocating to make shark fishing illegal in Hawaii, which was ultimately adopted in 2021 and went into effect in 2022. Tell me more about the role you and your platform played in passing that ban.听

Since we have built this online social media presence, we can reach potentially millions of people a day. By utilizing our social media platforms, when we do a call to action during the legislative process, we have a little bit more educated of an audience, and people who are more willing to speak up, lend their voice, send in a听 letter, write to a politician.

And then for people that are on the Island, we put out other calls to action; filming ourselves going down to the capitol and saying , 鈥淧lease come join us. You can do this too.鈥� I know that for some people, it could be nerve-wracking to go and sit in front of a committee and testify again and again and again, as we did year after year after year. And a lot of times for these committee schedules, you get like two days’ notice, and so we had to drop everything and drive across the Island to go into the capitol.

The nice thing was, year after year after year, we fine-tuned our approach, we made more connections and we gained more support. There’s people that come there and they’re not necessarily even caring about sharks鈥� they care about corals and turtles and dolphins. But protecting sharks helps the whole ecosystem. We got those people on board, too.

Let鈥檚 talk about warning signs when you鈥檙e diving with sharks. How do you know when to call it and get out of the water? What are the signs to you that the shark doesn’t want an interaction right now?

It’s called agonistic, territorial body language. If you’ve got two cats, when they come together maybe they don’t like each other and they need to sort out their social hierarchy. They arch their back. When you have two dogs who might be territorial, maybe they smell each other first, then maybe they flatten their ears back, they lower their tails, they may bear their teeth.

Because of domestication, most people are more attuned to cat behavior, dog behavior, bird behavior. But it’s the same thing in the water with sharks and my team, because I train [the team] them to notice this. There are subtle, small behaviors, and you can see the way that they’re interacting with one another, and that’s precursory behavior towards a physical confrontation.

Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t occasionally get a wild card. A wild card is a shark that randomly swims in, from out of your field of vision. Maybe they’re moving from one aggregate site to another. Maybe it’s a highly migratory species. And they might be a very dominant individual, and they might come right up to you. And so with this [shark] approach, I train people on redirection methods and techniques, which doesn’t harm the shark. It’s just a gentle redirection off the side of them.

But most of the time, 99% of the time, the sharks don’t really care that you’re around, if you’re being quiet, if you’re not wearing bright, flashy, colorful things. If you’re looking around and any of them start to swim towards and you acknowledge them, they’re going to treat you a little bit more like a predator.

Again, not trying to encourage anyone to just jump in. Please go under the guidance of a trained professional who are very sensitive to their body language, to their swim patterns.

What policy efforts are most urgent for protecting sharks right now? What can people do?

The EU shark fin ban is currently under the environmental assessment, so stay tuned for when that’s going to be back open to public comment. At that time, it would be great if people could re-engage in that one, because that’s the entire European Union, and Europe is responsible for with Spain being the top exporter to Hong Kong.

And then if people could also potentially try to reach these companies that are still shipping shark fins. The U.S. removed themselves from the global fin trade, but there’s still a lot of companies out there on the global market, including FedEx, that are still shipping shark fins. And there’s a lot of companies who have banned it, and a lot of airlines who have banned it. It’s just that we haven’t gotten all of them on board yet.

And for the U.S., I would say banning shark fishing should be like the next really big one, because states like New York, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Texas, are still running shark fishing tournaments and doing recreational shark fishing.

So if anyone reading this is from those states, if you could talk to your legislators and send them a letter letting them know that this is important to you, and to rally your communities. If you’re from those areas, politicians are more likely to listen to you. But we can all help, collaborate and support each other.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Visit for information about ongoing advocacy campaigns.听

鈥淪hark Whisperer鈥� premieres on June 30, exclusively on Netflix.听

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Fifty years ago, Jaws hit theaters with the force of a tsunami, and proceeded to scare the living daylights out of millions of viewers.听Beach attendance in the months following the film鈥檚 release, and more than a third of viewers reported feeling an increased sense of fear while swimming. The 鈥淛aws Effect鈥� was so powerful during those days that some people even .

Decades later, surprisingly little has changed. In 2015, four decades after Jaws premiered, to swim in the ocean because of sharks, and more than half admitted to experiencing galeophobia, a general fear of sharks.

I see this fear firsthand as a scuba diver. The first question people inevitably ask me is: What would you do if you saw a shark?

I don鈥檛 have to wonder. I鈥檝e encountered hundreds. And they’re beautiful. I watched dozens of hammerheads swirl around me in the Red Sea, and I’ve听drifted through French Polynesia鈥檚 legendary 鈥淲all of Sharks,鈥� where up to gather in a single day. One of the most incredible moments of my life came at a remote dive site off Mexico鈥檚 Baja Peninsula, where I floated peacefully above a river of 100 silky sharks.

I consider myself lucky that I didn鈥檛 see Jaws until my mid-twenties, after many real-life shark encounters. The New York Times calls Spielberg鈥檚 film a听 鈥攂ut it鈥檚 fiction. Sharks don鈥檛 crave human flesh. Most attacks on humans are likely cases of mistaken identity; from below, , which are on sharks鈥� menu. There were only 47 unprovoked shark bites worldwide last year, according to the . Just four of them were fatal. To put that in perspective, around .

And humans pose a much bigger threat to sharks than they pose to us. We kill roughly 鈥�a major problem for us when they are key to maintaining the stability of ocean food chains that feed billions of people around the world.

After decades of fear, a new generation of social media activists hopes to reverse the narrative. They鈥檙e flooding our feeds with peaceful, viral encounters aimed to replace terror with awe and understanding.

But can influencer-driven messaging truly repair decades of damage? Or does it present new, unintended risks for sharks?

How Jaws Scarred (and Inspired) Generations

Jaws didn鈥檛 invent a fear of sharks. By the sixties, occasional scares prompted short-lived panics. After one shark scare near Coney Island, the New York World-Telegram that city police 鈥渢riggered several bursts of machine gun fire, aiming into the water for the benefit of photographers.鈥� Such theatrical responses were typically enough to reassure beachgoers鈥�or a time.

But when Jaws hit screens in 1975, it etched these fears into our collective consciousness. Virtually overnight, the great white shark鈥攁nd by extension all sharks鈥攚ere perceived as ruthless killers prowling the coasts.

鈥淥ne of the great things, in movie terms, about a shark as the villain is that you can’t anthropomorphize it,鈥� Linda DeLibero, a film lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, said in a . 鈥淚t doesn’t seem to have any personality or feelings.鈥�

A great irony of Jaws is how difficult it was for even the filmmakers to even simulate a shark attack.

鈥淭hey had the rather ridiculous notion that for the shark shots, they could just get a real shark and a trainer and have the shark learn some tricks,鈥� said DeLibero. 鈥淭hey quickly realized that that was absolutely ridiculous, and so they built these mechanical sharks鈥� that rarely worked. 鈥淚f you’re paying attention, the shark is invisible until that amazing moment鈥攑robably the biggest shock in the film鈥攚hen Brody is throwing the chum overboard and it pops up out of the water. The shark worked that day, and they weren’t happy with the way it looked, but it didn’t really matter.鈥�

This engineered portrayal had real-world consequences. Shark-fishing tournaments surged in the late seventies, with eager to reenact the heroics of听Jaws’ shark hunter, Captain Quint.

While public fear itself didn’t cause the global decline of shark populations, it severely undermined early conservation efforts. Sympathy for sharks was effectively crushed by their portrayal as relentless monsters. this has made it difficult over the years to get public or political support to regulate shark fishing or reduce accidental catches (bycatch).

鈥淲henever I say 37 percent听of all named species of sharks and their relatives are threatened with extinction, there’s always someone who says, 鈥楪ood. How can we get that to 100%?鈥欌�� says Dr. David Shiffman, a marine conservation scientist at Johns Hopkins and author of .

鈥淭he fact that so many people are absolutely terrified of sharks鈥攚hich many of them trace back to Jaws鈥攎akes it harder for us to care and lobby or and to elicit public support to lobby for conservation. That is a big problem, not only for sharks, but for the oceans as a whole and for humans. Sharks play vital roles in keeping coastal and oceanic ecosystems healthy.鈥�

Even now, public officials invoke the film to justify anti-shark measures. Fictional Amity Island mayor Larry Vaughn, who notoriously kept beaches open despite shark attacks, remains a shorthand for political mismanagement of shark incidents. Nobody wants to follow in his footsteps. In 2023 George Gorman, the Long Island regional director for New York State Parks, explained drone patrols and beach closures after five shark bites in two days by saying 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be the mayor of Amity.鈥� And between 2000 and 2014, officials in Western Australia repeatedly ordered controversial shark culls by claiming there was an 鈥渋mminent threat,鈥� of rogue killer sharks.

Jaws also shaped legions of imitators. A found that 96 percent听portrayed sharks as threatening to humans. Finding Dory was the only exception. Some of such media is just absurd fun, like Sharknado and Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus. But even those films resonate precisely because sharks are ready-made villains. It鈥檚 like putting Nazis in your film: it鈥檚 an instant shorthand for evil.

Then there鈥檚 the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week, which Shiffman calls 鈥渁 dumpster fire of lies, pseudoscience, and nonsense.鈥� After analyzing 206 hours of Shark Week programming, his team concluded it primarily reinforces existing misconceptions of sharks as mindless threats, and rarely discusses threats to sharks or how they can be addressed.

A dive operator in the Bahamas once told me, allegedly, that a Shark Week production crew that chartered his vessel filled a faux pig with fish guts to emulate sharks attacking pigs from Big Major Cay, where tourists swim with the famous wild pigs.

Yet for all its harmful impacts, Jaws paradoxically inspired a legion of ocean conservationists. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a generation of marine scientists who became scientists because they saw Jaws and wanted to be Hooper,鈥� says Shiffman referencing the oceanographer that is brought to Amity to help deal with the shark. Indeed, The American Elasmobranch Society (AES) was founded in 1982, just seven years after Jaws premiered.

Sharks Enter Their Influencer Era

Jaws is enduring proof that media has a strong influence on how the public views sharks. Today, shark influencers like and are hoping to use the power of social media for conservation, not demonization.

All over Instagram and TikTok, influencers swim beside tiger sharks, calmly redirect an approaching reef shark, and reach millions of followers. Their graceful footage, often accompanied by educational conservation captions, frequently gets shared across the Internet. These peaceful shark encounters directly contradict the idea that sharks will eat anything on site. This may help unwind our cultural shark frenzy.

鈥淧eople look first and listen second,鈥� says Ramsey, a freediving shark conservationist with a combined audience of over 4 million on and who stars in the upcoming Netflix documentary Shark Whisperer. 鈥淧hotos and videos transcend language barriers鈥hey directly challenge the Jaws archetype, and are reality. Jaws was a fictitious film.鈥�

It鈥檚 also an opportunity to highlight the ways sharks are threatened by humans.

鈥淚 also will share videos where you can see the human impacts on sharks,鈥� says Fragola, a marine biologist and with a audience of 2.2 million. 鈥淚f they have a broken jaw, or there’s a fishing line hanging from them, or they’re entangled in something, that’s all caused by humans鈥eople write comments like 鈥榃ow, I feel really bad for this animal having these human impacts.鈥� And I think having that direct connection is something that’s really important for conservation.鈥�

Of course, influencer content can cross a line: 鈥淎 video of someone riding a shark, of someone hugging a shark, of people flipping sharks over鈥攖here was one guy who used to kiss sharks,鈥� says Shiffman. 鈥淭hat does not prove that sharks are cute, cuddly animals. It shows that if you annoy a wild animal, it’s gonna bite you. And I’m not sure how much that helps anyone or anything.鈥�

Not everyone agrees where that line is. In 2019, Ramsey went viral听for swimming with and touching the fin of a 20-foot pregnant great white. The footage immediately听sparked from marine scientists, who accused her of interfering with the shark鈥檚 critical feeding opportunity.

鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to inspire people to interact鈥� with sharks, insists Ramsey. 鈥淚’m trying to inspire people to get involved in shark and ray conservation.鈥� She encourages people to, for example, pressure FedEx to stop shipping shark fins, purchase beauty products that use the vegan squalane instead of shark-based squalene, eat sustainable seafood to reduce shark bycatch, and advocate for states like New York, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Texas to end shark fishing competitions. Ramsey also was heavily involved advocating for Hawaii鈥檚 2022 shark fishing ban and an EU shark fin ban currently under parliamentary review.

If somebody does want to encounter a shark in their natural habitat, they should go with a specialist, not only to be safer, but to maximize the amount of learning, she advises.

While influencers may be giving sharks some much-needed good PR, not all of them are trying to erase the risks of interacting with an apex predator.

鈥淪harks are not mindless eating machines鈥攂ut they鈥檙e also not puppies,鈥� cautions Fragola,听whose show sharks as both risk (coming so close she must redirect them) and victim (a shark with severe jaw damage, likely harmed by fishing). 鈥淚f people only see sharks being peaceful, they think that鈥檚 how they always are. If they only see aggression, they think it鈥檚 always dangerous. Neither is true.鈥�

Come 2075, our perception of sharks will reflect how well today’s storytellers wield their influence.

Alexandra Gillespie dove with reef sharks in Belize on her first assignment as digital editor of Scuba Diving magazine, and she’s jumped at the chance to do so ever since. With about 170 dives under her belt, she is a freelance journalist covering water and travel. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic, NPR, Afar, and U.S. News and World, among other national publications.听

The post Shark Influencers Are Calming Our Fears Post-‘Jaws’. But Do They Take It Too Far? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Sailors have been known for telling tall tales. So when Terry Kennedy, a now 83-year-old sailor, would talk about swimming with his friend off Mexico鈥檚 remote Revillagigedo Islands in the late 1980s, it鈥檚 understandable why some questioned if it was all true. The charismatic friend he was always going on about was, after all, a 22-foot giant manta ray.

This extraordinary bond between man and manta is the focus behind the new film , premiering at Tribeca Film Festival on June 8th, World Oceans Day. If The Octopus Teacher could change the way the world sees cephalopods, this film will surely move you to care more deeply about mantas. The documentary follows Kennedy on a final expedition, a 鈥渄ying wish,鈥� to swim with his friend Willy one last time.

An ex-Hells Angel and Vietnam vet sailing Baja鈥檚 Sea of Cortez on a boat named Erotica in the 80s, Kennedy is a local legend with no shortage of stories. But the one that forever changed his life鈥攁nd the lives of the Pacific manta rays in these Mexican waters鈥攚as how he became friends with 鈥淲illy Wow.鈥�

It all began one morning in 1988, when Kennedy was on his sailboat off San Benedicto, a tiny uninhabited volcanic island in the Revillagigedo Islands chain, 210 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

鈥淎ll of a sudden, there’s a big old bang on the side of the boat. The boat actually moves about a foot in one direction. I thought we got hit by another boat, but looking around we were the only ones in the [area],鈥� Kennedy shared with 国产吃瓜黑料.

鈥淚 look over the side and here’s this giant manta ray half the length of the boat. And the boat’s 46 feet long. Well, I can’t pass this up,鈥� he recalled. An expert diver who鈥檚 clocked more than 14,000 dives, Kennedy has taken a lot of chances in his life. At this point, he had only seen a massive ray in the distance; he had never been in the water with one before. Not wasting a moment, Kennedy grabbed his tank and his fins, and jumped over the side. But once in the water, saw the ray was gone.

鈥淗e just vanished. As I looked down to make sure I had my fins on, there he was right below me, about four feet down. Nothing but massive black coming up right underneath me. There’s nothing I could do鈥ut hang on.鈥�

And off they went. Kennedy says he hung on, gently, to the back of this gigantic manta ray while it took him for a ride. 鈥淎fter about 15- 20 minutes, he brought me right back to the boat. And then he did the same thing the very next morning.鈥�

So began a nearly 20-year-long friendship between Kennedy and Willy, his name for his new friend (鈥淲illy Wow鈥� being his full name). 鈥淲henever he’s feeding on the south end of the island, he recognizes the bottom of the boat,鈥� Kennedy believes. With a gentle slap of his wing on the hull of the boat, Willy signals him to come take another dive.

An Unlikely Conservationist

Some of you reading this are likely thinking no one should be touching鈥攁nd especially riding鈥攁 . But these encounters happened over 37 years ago, when little was known about the lives of manta rays, even by marine biologists.

Since no one believed Kennedy鈥檚 encounters of riding a magical manta, he started to film them. From then on, when he talked about Willy, he’d be able to prove that these incredible moments happened by pictures and video. It was also Kennedy鈥檚 quick camera skills that documented what would become a catalyst to protect these same mantas.

On February 14, 1994, fishermen aboard two Mexican boats moved into the waters around San Benedicto Island with nets, baited hooks and harpoons seeking to catch and kill anything they could鈥攊ncluding Kennedy鈥檚 friends, two other giant manta rays he swam with other than Willy. Mexican law prohibited commercial fishermen from fishing within two miles of Revillagigedo Islands; these fishermen were only 200 yards from shore.

As eyewitnesses, Kennedy and his then partner, Joyce Clinton, were horrified yet managed to document on video and camera what later would be called . What they captured on camera attracted international news, and the swift attention of the Mexican president to intervene and soon after declare the Revillagigedo Islands a Biosphere Reserve, which increased the no-take zone to 12 miles around each island.

In 2016, UNESCO declared the islands a World Heritage Site, and in 2017,听 it become the largest marine protected area in North America. These islands are now known as the 鈥�,鈥� and home to one the largest aggregations of manta rays, and sharks, in the world.

The Last Chance to Find Willy

Kennedy鈥檚 incredible encounters with manta rays defied everything that was known about ocean life at the time, and changed irrevocably our understanding of mantas. After , founder and director of the and one of the leading authorities on the species, saw the sailor鈥檚 footage, he secured funding for one of the first major manta ray research projects. This work led to an entire field of manta research that tracks over a thousand individual mantas at these islands. The affectionate names Kennedy gave to his manta friends in addition to Willy鈥擱osy, Chevy, Tippy鈥攕cientists still use today.

Kennedy鈥檚 bond with Willy goes beyond research, suggests The Last Dive director Cody Sheehy: 鈥淲illy wasn鈥檛 just tolerating Terry鈥攈e was engaging with him, leading him through underwater canyons, protecting him from sharks, or just playing.鈥�

Terry Kennedy and his wife Dawn, watch the sunrise before the last dive. (Photo: Chance Falkner)

For nearly two decades, Willy always found Kennedy, who would then climb onto his back and the two would communicate on a level no one else could understand. Willy could read his mind, Kennedy believes鈥攚hat Dr Rubin says 鈥渋sn鈥檛 an unreasonable thought.鈥� Rubin鈥檚 research suggests that manta rays can identify us by the unique signature of our bioelectric field.

It was another chance encounter that brought Kennedy鈥檚 friendship with Willy to the big screen. Sheehy, a sailor as well, met Kennedy while he was anchored off Loreto, a coastal town on Baja California Sur, nine years ago. One evening over sundowners, Kennedy鈥檚 stories started to flow. 鈥淚t became clear that this man wasn鈥檛 just another cruiser鈥攈e had lived a life most people couldn鈥檛 even dream of,鈥� states the filmmaker.

Sheehy, admittedly, was also a bit skeptical at first of Kennedy鈥檚 stories about Willy鈥攗ntil he saw the footage. 鈥淲hen I found out about the massacre, and the role that Terry played in bringing attention to it, especially at the level of the Mexican president and the protections that came from it, that’s when I realized this is a great human story, a story of redemption.鈥�

鈥淭he reason why the mantas are still there is because of [Terry]. It just shows what one person can do,鈥� says the director. 鈥淭hink of what else people will be inspired to do [after watching the film].鈥�

As Kennedy aged, his life moved to land. Now in his 80s trips to the islands are more challenging, and maintaining a boat that can make the journey is expensive and tiring. So Sheehy saw a way he could take Kennedy back home to see his long lost friend. The last recorded Willy sighting was in 2012, and giant manta rays have been reported to . So it鈥檚 not unreasonable to think Willy could still be around. Kennedy hasn鈥檛 stopped thinking about Willy in all these years; he worries his old friend thinks he forgot about him.

Kennedy had a troubled past, but none of that mattered under the surface. He not only found redemption in the ocean, but healing. Blue therapy is a growing body of research that shows time in or near water reduces stress, anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD. Scuba diving, in particular, has proved transformative .

How to Swim With Mantas鈥擡thically

While Kennedy was the first known person to ride a manta, it鈥檚 now considered harmful and extremely discouraged. But the close connection Kennedy made with Willy and all the footage he captured proved there is so much we don鈥檛 know about manta rays and ocean life in general. The sailor鈥檚 unusual bond ultimately became the catalyst for protecting manta rays and all life around Revillagigedo Islands.

What are the dangers today for the mantas around these islands? And is there still an ethical way to swim with them?

Today, the biggest threats to mantas are overtourism and boat strikes, both around the islands and on their migratory travels. 鈥淎s Revilla is a remote location, technically protected by both a National Park and the World Heritage Site, it’s largely a safe space for these animals,鈥� says Karey Kumli, project manager at Pacific Manta Research Group. 鈥淗owever, there is the occasional illegal fishing, primarily at night; we know this as the liveaboards keep their AIS scanner on and watch for lights.鈥�

Yet tourism plays a powerful role in protecting the manta rays. 鈥淚t wasn’t until all the tourist boats came [to Revillagigedo Islands] that the fishing really was enforced. So it’s crucial that there’s tourists there,鈥� says Sheehy. 鈥淭he money and the jobs brought to those islands show the Mexican government could justify their position on keeping it in the national park and [staving off] fishing,鈥� he adds.

Now the issue is how to keep tourism here ethical and responsible. Mantas like to come to the surface, but getting hit by boats is one of the biggest threats to them right now.

“The tourism operators are really good about understanding that too many people in the water, and touching and riding mantas, is not going to be good for mantas,” notes Sheehy. “The film, and our team really, is behind the idea of sustainable diving with the mantas.鈥�

In the 10 days they were filming the documentary around the islands, a manta got hit by another boat, adds Sheehy. 鈥淚f [mantas] get hit too many times, they’re not going to want to be around tourists, right? And then all those diving experiences that the operators are getting money from will disappear, because the mantas won’t come anymore.鈥�

Kennedy鈥檚 final chance to find his long lost friend is no fool鈥檚 errand. Individual mantas have been identified through photo-ID for up to 33 years鈥攖he worldwide age record for the oceanic (giant) mantas. When they look back at photo sets taken 10-40 years ago, ninety-five percent of those animals have made at least a second appearance, shares Kumli.

If you think you spotted Willy or any other manta ray, you can submit photos to the 鈥淲hen divers submit manta images from Revilla to us, we do a quick scan for re-sighted animals. We’d recognize Willy in a heartbeat,鈥� adds Kumli. Willy has four signature black dots in the shape of a diamond on his right shoulder.

Will Kennedy find Willy? You’ll have to watch the film to find out. While their encounters changed so much of what we know about mantas, so many mysteries remain. Why did Willy pick him to be his friend? What is certain is that an unlikely conservationist became a hero for the ocean鈥攔eminding us of how much we have yet to discover鈥攁nd that anything is possible. But bring a camera if you want anyone to believe you.

_________________________________________________________

Kathleen Rellihan is the Senior Travel and Culture Editor at 国产吃瓜黑料. She听swam with mobula rays (Willy’s smaller cousins) in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and seeing a manta ray while scuba diving Australia’s Great Barrier Reef was a lifelong dream. Now another one is spotting Willy herself.听

The post 鈥楾he Last Dive鈥� Follows a Diver鈥檚 20-Year-Long Friendship With a Giant Manta Ray appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Yes, Girl Climber has an oversimplified title. But it鈥檚 also the complex, vulnerable, and deeply inspiring story that adventure-obsessed audiences deserve.

Directed by Jon Glassberg, this 83-minute documentary describes how Emily Harrington鈥檚 life and two-decade-long climbing career culminated in one audacious goal: to become the (5.13b) on El Capitan in a day. Stymied by exhaustion, hailstorms, rope burns, mental fortitude, and sometimes one single move, Harrington persists through four attempts on the route in 2019 and 2020.

Glassberg, owner of the production company and the man behind dozens of shorter climbing documentaries, says that he didn鈥檛 want his first feature-length film to feel like a beta video. With nearly ten years of footage, Glassberg is able to expand beyond the one or two side plots that typically decorate shorter adventure documentaries.

鈥淭his is a holistic look at an incredible woman鈥檚 life in the adventure world,鈥� he says, 鈥渇rom the top of Mount Everest to crazy expeditions in Myanmar and ultimately climbing Golden Gate in a day.鈥�

Harrington鈥檚 Dream Team

Braided within Harrington鈥檚 narrative are three pivotal, developing relationships: her mentor-mentee relationship with , who passed away in 2022; her friendship with ; and her relationship with her husband, high-altitude mountain guide . All three support her during her attempts on Golden Gate through constant belays (Honnold), gentle pep talks (Ballinger), or healthy debriefs (Nelson).

It鈥檚 through these close relationships that we learn so much more about Harrington than we would through just climbing footage and interviews. When Harrington falls on the Freeblast in November 2019, we experience it through Honnold, whose normal expression breaks into wide-eyed alarm.

Something we haven鈥檛 seen in other feature-length climbing films is the consistency of a female mentorship like the one Nelson extended toward Harrington. After every one of Harrington鈥檚 self-described failures, their text conversations fade into the screen. It鈥檚 almost like we鈥檙e living Harrington鈥檚 recollection through what she shares with Nelson.

The most powerful moment in the film comes when Harrington falls on her fourth attempt, smashes her un-helmeted head against the granite, and all but gives up. She sobs openly, looking up at the summit, and gathers her grief into one brave statement: 鈥淪omeday, I鈥檒l do it.鈥� Ballinger, however, is unfazed. He corrects her gently: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to do it today.鈥�

A Unique Addition to the El Cap Canon

With references to , a cameo from , and, of course, Honnold, Girl Climber adds Harrington鈥檚 story to the existing El Cap cinematic universe for mainstream audiences, which primarily consists of Valley Uprising, The Dawn Wall, and Free Solo. The film鈥檚 goal of building upon this oeuvre echoes Harrington鈥檚: to join the elite group of heroes who have sent Golden Gate in a day. At the time, that list only included Honnold, Caldwell, and the late Brad Gobright.

On each attempt, Glassberg captures Harrington鈥檚 failures, and the resurrection of her self-confidence, with unbelievable clarity. One of the most inspiring parts of the film, however, is rather mundane: watching Harrington鈥檚 discussions with Honnold about gear and supplies. Despite Honnold鈥檚 good-natured sandbagging, Harrington confidently prioritizes her own needs and comfort on the wall.

鈥淚 think it would be tough to make this more comfortable,鈥� he jokes before her final go, looking at everything she planned to haul up the wall.

鈥淵up, that鈥檚 the whole point,鈥� she replies, unbothered.

In another scene, she insists on bringing her extra chalk and breakable ice packs, even though Honnold thinks it鈥檚 too much. She鈥檚 sitting across from the most famous climber in the world, and instead of trying to impress him or apologizing for needing extra gear, she鈥檚 reminding him to bring up her extra things. Her goals and comfort matter so much more than his assumptions. And that鈥檚 something every female climber truly needs to see.

Girl Climber does have some misses. For example, the movie鈥檚 title suggests an arc about sexism that the plot doesn鈥檛 necessarily deliver. But ultimately, the authentic and vivid storytelling in Girl Climber creates several layers of inspiration for both a climbing and mainstream audience.

The Emotional Tension Stays High

From the start, Girl Climber does an incredible job building the stakes. Five minutes in, a montage of Harrington winning five National Championships and climbing Everest condenses into one powerful belief: 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of my career so far, but if you want to call yourself a successful all-around climber, you鈥檝e got to be up on El Cap.鈥�

As a film,听Girl Climber听skillfully avoids several climbing tropes and common pitfalls. While the plot inherently involves Honnold, Glassberg avoids overly relying on him for narration. Instead, the film deftly lets him provide side-character comic relief as Harrington bangs her head against the wall鈥攕ometimes, literally鈥攁s she rehearses the route.听Girl Climber听also does not shy away from vulnerability; Harrington grieves her failures openly and carries no air of defensiveness or overconfidence. And even though we know she eventually sends,听Golden Gate鈥榮 five cruxes act as one, shapeshifting villain and bring an unpredictable tension to each of Harrington鈥檚 attempts. At each sequence, we鈥檙e still looking for clues to whether she鈥檚 going to send听right now. If she holds on through a crux sequence, the music crescendoes; if she falls, the music halts, like a dream popped.

A Closer Look at the Title

While听Girl Climber听captures mainstream audiences with a plain and to-the-point description, its title hints at an insult that is never actually delivered. Harrington alludes to the mansplaining she experienced during her project, but doesn鈥檛 elaborate much beyond slightly condescending comments. Nor does this theme rise to the fore. Glassberg had good intentions and sharp marketing instincts, but having听Girl Climber听as the title overexaggerates the role of sexism in the film.

One could argue that tiles are always reductive, especially short ones. But when a brief label embodies the heart of the story, such as听Free Solo,听The Dawn Wall,听and听The Alpinist, the glory of the accomplishment casts itself back onto the subject. Honnold鈥檚 free solo of听Free Rider, Caldwell鈥檚听Dawn Wall听redpoint, and Marc-Andr茅 Leclerc鈥檚 bold alpinism each defined their legacies; their movies are appropriately named. But听Girl Climber听doesn鈥檛 add anything to Harrington鈥檚 legacy besides the most straightforward biographical info. It鈥檚 trivializing; it might as well be about a five-year-old in the gym instead of a world-class professional athlete in her thirties.

The movie鈥檚 title and its asterisked subtitle, 鈥淪tronger Than Stereotypes,鈥� remind us that female climbers face stereotypes. However, the film鈥檚 only example of this is the media鈥檚 treatment of Harrington as a 鈥渄amsel in distress鈥� after her viral accident in 2019.听Good Morning America鈥榮 portrayal Harrington as reckless and lucky to be saved by Honnold is most definitely a combination of sexism and the post-Free Solo听deification of Honnold. But it also represents a misunderstanding outside the climbing world of just how normal Harrington鈥檚 simul climbing really was. Overall, the flash of sexism in听Girl Climber fades in comparison to the film鈥檚 real, dynamic antagonists: Harrington鈥檚 own expectations, gravity, slippery granite, and time.

For her part, Harrington says that she did not choose the title. 鈥淚 actually really hated it at first, and kind of laid into Jon about it when he told me,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃hat is this? It鈥檚 diminishing. I don鈥檛 like it at all.鈥欌�� But after talking it out, Glassberg convinced her that the movie would turn the demeaning phrase 鈥済irl climber鈥� into something that means strength.

鈥淭he movie was pitched many, many times as flipping the script on the male-dominated climbing scene,鈥� says Glassberg. 鈥淲e really wanted to draw attention to the fact that Emily鈥檚 doing this remarkable achievement that very, very few people are capable of doing, and that she has this extra layer of stuff that she has to face because she鈥檚 a woman.鈥� To Glassberg, the extra burdens Harrington faces include her ticking biological clock and the additional scrutiny she faces as a woman on El Cap. 鈥淲e just kind of saw it from the way the media latched onto things, with the 鈥榙amsel in distress鈥� idea,鈥� he says. Calling attention to sexism, he explains, is the goal.

I don鈥檛 doubt that Harrington, like all female climbers, has faced misogyny and stereotypes in climbing. However, as a female climber myself, I cringe at seeing one of the most accomplished climbers of our generation summed up in this reductive phrase, especially a hypothetical one. If anyone has ever lobbed 鈥済irl climber鈥� as an insult at her, the film does not show it. Perhaps Glassberg intended that, but the discomfort is still there.

Harrington confirms that I鈥檓 not alone in feeling this way. 鈥淚 asked a lot of climbers what they thought of the title, and they had the same reaction as I did,鈥� she says. 鈥淎gain, this is the mainstream versus the core. I asked a lot of people who didn鈥檛 climb, and they were just like, 鈥淥h my god, that title鈥檚 amazing, I love it so much.鈥�

For that reason alone, even if a core audience of female climbers dislikes the name, calling the film听Girl Climber听was a smart business decision, and one that鈥檚 likely to pay off with millions of eyes on Harrington鈥檚 plot. In the long run, if a movie name disliked by a niche audience is what causes mainstream audiences to experience the story and know that women, too, climb El Cap, I understand why Glassberg would take it. After all, the general public has different understanding of rock climbing than climbers themselves. To someone whose only exposure to the sport is听Free Solo, female climbers with Harrington鈥檚 grit and r茅sum茅 might as well not yet exist. What feels insultingly obvious to climbers like me might be, in fact, a necessity to break into the public鈥檚 collective consciousness. But if that鈥檚 true, let鈥檚 admit it right here鈥攁nd acknowledge that male climbers have never had to infantilize their story鈥檚 names in order to achieve broad recognition. In an ironic and meta way,听Girl Climber鈥�s title does more to prove that female climbers still face sexist barriers than the movie鈥檚 actual storyline.

Want to catch a screening of听Girl Climber? The film is screening at the 国产吃瓜黑料 Festival in Denver, Colorado, May 31鈥揓une 1, followed by a Q&A with Emily Harrington and Jon Glassberg. Tickets available听.

Catching Up with Harrington

The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Climbing: What鈥檚 it like to watch this movie four and a half years after freeing Golden Gate in a day?

Emily Harrington: I didn鈥檛 anticipate it would take this long to create the film. I鈥檝e learned a lot in the process about how hard it is to create a documentary film, and honestly, it was really scary. I was pretty nervous to watch it. You鈥檙e your biggest critic, and I can barely listen to my voice message machine because I don鈥檛 like the sound of my voice. It was really stressful, actually, to watch it and see the story unfold. As human beings, we evolve and we change so much. In the last five years. I鈥檝e had a child and been through that transition, so it鈥檚 just an interesting experience to see who you were and what you cared about.

Climbing: When you announced the movie on Instagram, you wrote that your quiet moments of struggle, fear, and self-doubt gave way to stories of heroism and sensationalism that only the mainstream media could drum up, and none of it felt like your true experience. What aspects of your story do you feel were twisted into heroism and sensationalism?

Harrington: It was just the sensationalism of climbing up on El Cap. People think it鈥檚 this crazy, death-defying, adrenaline-fueled endeavor, and it鈥檚 just not that for me. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 like that for most climbers. It was putting someone on this superhero-level pedestal and making them seem like they鈥檙e not a human, and it made me feel a little bit sensitive about it all. It happens with any achievement, when you have the greatest, the hardest, the first鈥攁ll of these things.

Climbing: When Girl Climber was in production, did you have any other movies in mind that you hoped it would be similar to?

Harrington: I hoped it would be more of a female story on El Capitan, a little bit similar to The Dawn Wall, because they鈥檙e both free climbing. They鈥檙e both the kind of niche achievements that the mainstream doesn鈥檛 totally understand, but I thought that The Dawn Wall did a really good job of explaining what it was that those guys did, and how much effort and commitment it took. I just wanted it to be an inspiring female story on El Cap, because women also climb up there. And we don鈥檛 have that many female climbing stories, honestly.

Climbing: Jon told us that he saw a renewed psych in you during COVID. How did your thinking about Golden Gate change throughout early 2020?听

Harrington: There were multiple reasons. I had this bad fall, and I knew immediately that I could go back. I remember Jon being like, 鈥淣o pressure, you could be done with this project.鈥� And I was like, 鈥淣o, I know that I made a mistake.鈥� It wasn鈥檛 this random occurrence that I can鈥檛 control. I felt really grateful that I was okay and I walked away from it. It took a while to mentally recover, but I immediately knew that I could go back and I could be better. Then COVID was helpful, because a lot of us during COVID felt a little bit aimless. This was this thing that I could hold onto and be like, 鈥淲hen Yosemite opens back up again, I鈥檓 gonna go back.鈥� Right now, I have nothing better to do than really think about how to prepare for it and how to train for it. Thankfully, climbing is such a complicated sport. You can really creatively train for rock climbing in your house.

Climbing: What kind of advice or support does the sports therapist give you? And do you talk with them through every major project, or was this specific to Golden Gate?

Harrington: I work with a sports therapist, like a mental health coach, and I have since 2019. It鈥檚 been wildly helpful for me. It wasn鈥檛 just for that project; I still talk to her probably twice a month. It鈥檚 really about leading into your feelings, validating your feelings, and understanding that body-mind connection. A lot of athletes can neglect that mental side. In the past few years, I鈥檝e really learned how important it is to train that side of things. It鈥檚 work. It鈥檚 training, and you have to think about it like that. It is something that we have to train, like a muscle, and it is very intimately connected to our physical bodies and our performance, as well as, our well-being and happiness. So, that鈥檚 another reason why I think it鈥檚 super important. But a lot of what we do is about how I鈥檓 feeling鈥攆ear, anxiety, failure, and motivation. It鈥檚 just a lot of letting those things come up and not judging them, but being really aware of them, and of how to work through them and move forward.

Climbing: What advice do you have for people who want to free climb El Cap in a day?

Watch the video below for Harrington鈥檚 response.

Climbing: What鈥檚 your current focus in climbing right now?

Harrington: All of it. I trained really hard this year, probably harder than I have since Golden Gate. I wanted to climb 14c, and I went to Spain with that specific objective. I fell short of my goal, but it鈥檚 okay. I ended up climbing a 14a that I was really excited about and really proud of. It was kind of my first big thing away, with Adrian gone, and bringing our son with us, and having the chaos of single parenting and trying to do a big trip. I succeeded in that, and it made me more motivated and excited to keep going and see what else I can do. Now that I have a kid, I鈥檓 a little more deliberate and focused. I actually think that鈥檚 helped me a lot in my climbing, so I鈥檇 love to climb harder sport routes. I鈥檇 love to climb my hardest grade. I think that鈥檇 be really cool.

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There鈥檚 a certain magic that hits when the days get longer, the air feels lighter, and the soundtrack shifts to something more sun-soaked and whimsical.

For us at 国产吃瓜黑料, the 听is the official place to kick off that summer vibe in Denver, May 31-June 1. With live music, world-class speakers, gear demos, outdoor clinics, and a community of adventurers ready to celebrate all things outside, the festival is the ultimate signal that summer is on.

As school lets out and mornings are made for trail runs, the evening stretches on endlessly with time for mountain bike rides, dinner outside, and catching the sun set around a campfire. It’s the season of s’mores, sleeping under the stars, and road trips.

This summer, get ready to take a long walk down a winding trail with this 听from none other than , the indie-pop duo known for weaving electronic pulses with organic emotion. Their live shows are electric鈥攊ntrospective and ecstatic all at once. And their music is the perfect bridge between the natural and the modern.

This playlist听is sure to set the mood for summer. It鈥檚 uniquely introspective and earthy. These tracks blend ambient soundscapes, folk, and meditative rhythms鈥攑erfect for slowing down and tuning in as you wander.

Track List:

1. eiko ishibashi – deer blood
2. tenzin choegyal – mountain
3. walt mcclements – a painted ship
4. hans reichel – could be nice too
5. m煤m – green grass of tunnel
6. cool maritime – temporal dryft
7. jeremiah chiu – seawater swell
8. autechre – altibzz
9. carlos ni帽o & photay – c u r r e n t
10. sam amidon – never
11. phil cook – i made a lover’s prayer
12. mary margaret o’hara – when you know why you’re happy

So get ready to get outside鈥攕ummer鈥檚 here. And if you’re in Denver, you can join us for the 国产吃瓜黑料 Festival in Civic Center Park May 31-June 1 where you can catch Sylvan Esso playing alongside headliner , , and Tickets are available .

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Remaining Native begins with a warning: This is a film that doesn’t shy away from abuse, violence, or any of the other crimes that darken Native American history. But that’s also the film’s strength: The feature-length documentary captures what it means to be a , balancing joys and tragedies in a way that will resonate with any athlete鈥攁nd any human being.

Remaining Native, which will be screening alongside a curated lineup of other top adventure films at this year’s 国产吃瓜黑料 Festival, is a beautiful, powerful, and important documentary by filmmaker Paige Bethmann, a Haudenosaunee (Mohawk/Oneida) woman. Bethmann鈥檚 great grandmother was stolen from her reservation as a girl and taken to an abusive Catholic boarding school. Tragically, Bethmann鈥檚 ancestral story is common to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans, including the subject of Remaining Native, Kutoven (鈥淜u鈥�) Stevens.

The film鈥檚 opening lines explain:

For over 100 years, the United States made violent efforts to strip Native American children of their languages, spiritual beliefs, and culture through federal and church-run boarding schools.

Many children resisted this assault on their Native identity by running away.

From this prelude, the viewer knows to take a deep breath and buckle up. But then, beauty: scenic shots of the desert landscape. A hawk high in a tree. The rhythmic sound of a runner鈥檚 footfall on an open dirt road. And we鈥檙e introduced to the boyish face and voice of the film鈥檚 hero, Ku Stevens.

Ku is a runner鈥攐ne of the best in the state of Nevada, having clocked the fastest time across all divisions in the high school state cross country championships. Through interviews, voiceovers, and scenes of Ku living with his parents on the Paiute Indian Reservation in the small town of Yerington, we get to know the teenager. We learn that he鈥檚 always wanted to run for the University of Oregon and pushes himself to be the best he can be.

Like most runners, he says that when he runs, he thinks about his breathing and his body. But, he adds, he also imagines running for his life.

Stevens’s great-grandfather ran away from the Stewart Indian Boarding School three times. His last attempt was a successful escape. That legacy is often on Stevens’s mind.

The film does a fantastic job of weaving together inspiring action scenes that any sports fan can appreciate with sepia-toned historical images set to haunting tribal music.

鈥淭his land I was raised on, it feels heavy,鈥� says Stevens. Through shots of barren landscape and close-up faces of those who live here, we feel it.

Parents of teens will appreciate the internal struggle of Stevens’s father, who loves and supports his son, but fears he鈥檒l lose his ancestral heritage by moving off the reservation. Still, he and his wife do everything they can to help the young runner reach his goals.

One of the most exhilarating scenes of Remaining Native takes place at a high school track meet, where Stevens attempts to run the 3200-meter under nine minutes鈥攁 benchmark that’s become the recruiting standard for distance athletes hoping to run for the University of Oregon. The racing drama is on-par with any Olympic final or Disney sports movie.

Among the most poignant moments of Remaining Native鈥攁nd there are many鈥攃omes with a slow pan of a black-and-white image from the Stewart Indian School. Native American children sit with pained faces, hair cut short, sadness in their eyes. A drumbeat plays, as if to hammer into our awareness that this bit of American history, when thousands of Native American children were stolen from their families and died or survived abuse, happened. It actually happened. And yet, people like Ku and his family keep fighting for their culture while trying to heal from their past.

At one point in the film, Stevens says, 鈥淚 really just want people to understand鈥攏ot just to know what happened, not just to learn from our history鈥攂ut to fully understand why we feel the way that we do.鈥�

At one point in the film, the teen explains that his name, 鈥淜utoven,鈥� refers to 鈥渢he eagle bringing the light from the darkness鈥� and that he doesn鈥檛 yet feel he lives up to its meaning. Viewers of Remaining Native will beg to differ.

See Remaining Native鈥攁nd other captivating documentaries from top adventure filmmakers鈥攁t the 国产吃瓜黑料 Festival, May 31-June 1 in Denver. This year’s festival will also host a group run and talks from top endurance athletes from across the country. .听 听

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One of the biggest highlights of the inaugural was its program of riveting adventure films. And this year promises to be even better. Curated in partnership with Mountainfilm, the lineup revolves around three core themes鈥攋oy, unity, and renewal鈥攁nd captures some of the most gripping personalities and narratives in the outdoor world.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a clich茅 to say you鈥檒l laugh and you鈥檒l cry and it鈥檚 better than Cats, but in this case it鈥檚 really true,鈥� says Micah Abrams, 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 VP of content development. (He鈥檚 not much of a musicals guy, anyway.)

The stacked roster includes everything from a heartwarming, semi-animated short by watercolorist Max Romey, to a documentary about the struggles of a young Pauite runner coming to grips with his people鈥檚 history. In between, viewers will switch continents several times over, darting from Brazil to the Arctic Circle, and from the Hawaiian surf to the mountains of Pakistan. It鈥檚 a globe-trotting journey that captures all the joy, triumph, and heartbreak of a life spent outdoors.

The screenings will be held at Denver Public Library on Broadway, which just reopened after a state-of-the-art renovation. 鈥淲e鈥檙e 国产吃瓜黑料, so there needs to be a good reason for us to encourage you to come inside, but this year鈥檚 new film festival venue qualifies,鈥� Abrams says. The building鈥檚 purpose-built Park View event space鈥攃omplete with soaring ceilings and carefully designed acoustics treatment鈥攊s at once intimate and sophisticated. Plus, after a long day of festival revelry under the Colorado sun, the library鈥檚 air-conditioned quiet is a welcome respite, Abrams adds. 鈥淲e hope folks come in to cool off and leave inspired for their next outdoor adventure.鈥�

Here鈥檚 what viewers can expect from this year鈥檚 film lineup.

A Little Film About Forever

This short film about forever unfolds from the POVs of father (Max Romey) and son (Kip) as they attempt to write a book about what forever means. The father feels overwhelmed by all of the threats to forever, like forever chemicals, and calls an unlikely hero 鈥� Mark Ruffalo 鈥� to ask for help seeing the big picture.

Runtime: 10.2 minutes

Director: Max Romey

Showing: Saturday, 3:10pm

About Damn Time

In 1983, Cindell 鈥淒ellie鈥� Dale talked her way onto her first commercial river trip through the Grand Canyon. Like many women in the industry at the time, her place was in the kitchen. But determined to push against the tide of a male-dominated river-running world, she earned her spot on the oars and became one of the Grand Canyon鈥檚 legendary dory guides. Inspired by the trailblazing women before her, Dale is now proudly passing the oars to a new generation, declaring, 鈥淚t鈥檚 about damn time.鈥�

Runtime: 24 minutes

Director: Dana Romanoff

Showing: Sunday, 1:15pm

Arctic Alchemy

Arctic Alchemy follows renowned Alaskan adventurer and climate scientist Roman Dial and his team on a 112-mile research expedition above the Arctic Circle. Traveling by packraft and foot through Alaska鈥檚 mighty Brooks Range, their goal is to find the source of a mysterious phenomenon poisoning watersheds in the Arctic. Along the journey, Dial reckons with fatherhood, personal tragedy and the power of wilderness to both break us and bring us fully alive.

Runtime: 25 minutes

Directors: Colin Arisman, Zeppelin Zeerip

Showing: Sunday, 3pm

Beyond Beliefs

A young woman from Cleveland, Ohio earns a scholarship to attend a four-day river trip through the wild Green River鈥檚 Gates of Lodore Canyon. The only catch? She doesn’t know how to swim and is terrified of water. Join Danielle and her peers on this wonderful journey, and bear witness to her inspiring first-hand account of what it took to go beyond her beliefs about water, and how that expanded the vision for her future.

Runtime: 5 minutes

Director: Quamae Hall

Showing: Sunday, 3pm

Butterfly in a Blizzard

Butterfly in a Blizzard shares a deeply personal look into professional snowboarder Kimmy Fasani鈥檚 extraordinary journey into motherhood and what this new phase of life reveals about her past. Fasani and her family opened all doors to capture her metamorphosis from globe-trotting winter sports icon to mom, while exploring matrescence, a newly coined term that encompasses a woman鈥檚 transition into motherhood. Throughout the film, the blizzards hit again and again, coming in waves of identity shifts, childhood trauma, relationship struggles and a cancer diagnosis. Through raw and intimate footage captured over five years and supported by leading expert voices in maternal health, Fasani fights through life鈥檚 storms while maintaining her place in a sport she loves and evolving to become the mother she strives to be.

Runtime: 99 minutes

Director: Rose Corr

Showing: Saturday, 1:15pm

David Blaine Do Not Attempt: Brazil

From National Geographic and Imagine Documentaries, David Blaine Do Not Attempt is a thrilling six-part series that follows world-renowned magician and endurance artist David Blaine exploring the world through the lens of magic. David takes viewers on a fascinating cultural exchange and a jaw-dropping journey through extraordinary cultures, where he meets with performers and masters鈥攌indred spirits who inspire and share with him exceptional skills (and secrets)鈥攊n Brazil, Southeast Asia, India, the Arctic Circle, South Africa and Japan. David is widely recognized for his epic stunts and illusions. Through intimate documentary storytelling, the series also reveals a surprising and more personal side to David, which has rarely been seen before. In Brazil, David meets daredevils, artists, explorers and athletes who unite to help execute an audacious leap of faith that he鈥檚 long dreamt of.

Runtime: 44 Minutes

Director: Toby Oppenheimer

Showing: Saturday, 3:10pm

First In, Last Out

When competitive swimmer from Colorado Christa Funk joined the Coast Guard, she found herself stationed on Oahu, Hawaii for five years, where she discovered the world of surf photography. Inspired by the memory of her father and his parting words, Funk pushed herself into the world鈥檚 most dangerous and crowded surf lineups, becoming one of the best surf photographers in the world, and notably, one of the few women out there.

Runtime: 25 minutes

Directors: Keith Malloy, Andrew Shoneberger

Showing: Saturday, 3:10pm

Girl Climber

Professional climber Emily Harrington has summited Everest, completed numerous first female ascents of 5.14 routes, scaled 8,000-meter peaks and dominated the competition circuit. But her greatest challenge extends beyond the physical. To cement her legacy in the male-dominated world of elite rock climbing, she sets her sights on a career-defining 24-hour ascent of Yosemite鈥檚 El Capitan. Caught between the pursuit of personal ambition and the ticking biological clock of life, Harrington grapples with what she鈥檚 truly willing to risk. Equal parts gripping survival story and intimate portrait of a woman who deals with self doubt, Girl Climber isn鈥檛 just about breaking records. It鈥檚 about breaking barriers. Among Yosemite鈥檚 legendary boy鈥檚 club, Harrington doesn鈥檛 prove she is the best female climber ever 鈥� she proves she is one of the best climbers of all time.

Runtime: 83 minutes

Director: Jon Glassberg

Showing: Sunday, 5:00pm

Momo

From the humble beginnings of a small African village to the dazzling heights of Cirque du Soleil, Momo shares the story of a man who defied gravity and destiny. This short film is a celebration of resilience and the magic of flight, where Momo doesn鈥檛 just perform 鈥� he transcends.

Runtime: 2 minutes

Director: Mike Schwartz

Showing: Saturday, 3:10pm

OUTLIER: Common

OUTLIER: Common follows three Latina leaders chasing summit perfection. On an emotional journey through mountain ranges, a scientist, a filmmaker and a disruptor share the deeply personal, turbulent stories of their lives 鈥� while pushing toward the summits that define them. At personal crossroads, these women turn to the mountains for clarity and an exploration of mind, heart, body and soul. From British Columbia鈥檚 deep backcountry to the Tetons鈥� towering peaks, their journey reveals hard-won lessons on tenacity, joy and solidarity 鈥� even when the world feels like it鈥檚 crumbling.

Runtime: 26 minutes

Director: Dani Reyes-Acosta

Showing: Sunday, 3:00pm

Remaining Native

Kutoven (Ku) Stevens (Paiute), a 17-year old Native American high school runner, with the skill and drive to become an elite college athlete, strives for his goals. Even though he doesn鈥檛 have access to a coach, cross-country team or recruiters, he is determined to get a running scholarship. When the remains of thousands of Indigenous children are discovered across Canada and the U.S., Stevens鈥� painful family history re-emerges: His own great-grandfather Frank Quinn escaped an Indian boarding school by foot at age 8. In an act of reverence, Stevens sets out to run the same 50-mile escape route his great-grandfather took, interweaving Quinn鈥檚 story with his own journey to run a collegiate qualifying time. Will Stevens outrun his history or will he learn to run alongside it to achieve his dreams?

Runtime: 88 minutes

Director: Paige Bethmann

Showing: Saturday, 5:05pm

The Life We Have

What would you do if death felt just steps away? For Rob Shaver, who has faced multiple stage-four cancer recurrences over the past two decades 鈥� death has felt like an ever-present shadow. The Life We Have captures Shaver鈥檚 resilience, wisdom and deep appreciation for life, as he navigates his latest battle with the disease.

Runtime: 24 minutes

Director: Sam Price-Waldman

Showing: Sunday, 3:00pm

The North Face Presents: Trango

After a two-year attempt, renowned ski mountaineers Jim Morrison and Christina 鈥淟usti鈥� Lustenberger, joined by Nick McNutt and Chantel Astorga, attempt the first-ever ski descent of Pakistan鈥檚 formidable Great Trango Tower. What begins as a test of skill evolves into a profound emotional journey. They navigate risk, grapple with grief and face physical danger as they push the limits of human experience. At 6,000 meters, constant exposure and unexpected avalanches test their resolve, but it鈥檚 the unspoken trust and support within their expedition team that allows them to face the unimaginable together. Trango transports us to otherworldly places and reminds us that the best way to honor those we have loved and lost is to find the courage to truly live.

Runtime: 45 minutes

Director: Leo Hoorn

Showing: Sunday, 1:15pm

As one of America鈥檚 longest-running film festivals, showcases documentary films that celebrate adventure, activism, social justice, environment, and indomitable spirit. Hosted annually in Telluride, Colorado, the festival brings inspiring stories to communities around the globe with Mountainfilm on Tour. 鈥�

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