Five Mountain Films to Watch on Netflix

Looking to take a break from the Olympics to watch a good mountain film? Or perhaps you just crave a breath of fresh air? The editorial team at Montagnes Mag has selected five mountain films to enjoy on Netflix.

Mountain Queen: The Ascent of Nepalese Lhakpa Sherpa

This film is dedicated to a prominent figure in Nepalese mountaineering: Lhakpa Sherpa. Since 2000, she has scaled Everest 10 times, holding the female record for ascents of the world’s highest peak. “Mountain Queen” is a portrait of this woman, detailing her journey from a childhood far from schoolbooks to regaining her independence after a relationship marked by domestic violence, and of course, her many ascents.

The Snow Circle: The Miracle of the Andes

Thirty years after “Alive,” one of the most famous mountain survival stories returns to the screen with “The Snow Circle,” a new film adaptation of the incredible fate of the 16 survivors of the Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya Flight 571 crash in the Andes in 1972. This gripping film is not for the faint-hearted.

The Race to the Summit: The Rivalry Between Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold

In the 2010s, Dani Arnold and Ueli Steck competed fiercely on the great north faces of the Alps to see who was the fastest in the mountains. In a 1.5-hour documentary, Netflix revisits this long-distance duel between the two Swiss climbers, reminiscent, in a different style, of the rivalry between Christophe Profit and Éric Escoffier in the mid-1980s.

Broad Peak: The Story of the Polish Mountaineer Maciej Berbeka

This film tells the story of Polish climber Maciej Berbeka, a pioneer in winter Himalayan ascents with the first climbs of Manaslu in 1984 (with Ryszard Gajewski) and Cho Oyu in 1985 (with Maciej Pawlikowski). In 2013, he returned to Broad Peak (with Adam Bielecki, Artur Małek, and Tomasz Kowalski), 25 years after an attempt he believed was successful. The rest of the story is told in this thriller “based on a true story.”

14 Peaks: Climbing the Impossible

A 1-hour and 41-minute biographical documentary about Nirmal Purja’s ascent of all 14 of the world’s 8000-meter peaks, completed in just six months and six days in 2019. Since the film’s release, the Nepalese climber, a star in his home country and on Instagram (with 2 million followers), achieved the first winter ascent of K2 without supplemental oxygen but now finds himself embroiled in controversy, facing allegations of sexual assault and multiple scandals.

This selection offers a mix of thrilling adventures, personal triumphs, and gripping tales of survival that are sure to captivate any mountain film enthusiast.