Climbing never die : Wartime climbing in Ukraine, as seen by Matt Groom

It’s a movie that moves oneself. The jury at the last Chamonix Film Festival made no mistake in awarding it its Grand Prix last June. Climbing never die is an on-board report from the heart of Ukrainian climbers, most of whom have remained in their homeland. And so much the worse if they have to live out their passion in darkened rooms, under the sound of sirens and sometimes bombs. They’ll do it. Commentator and now director Matt Groom went to Ukraine to film them. We chatted with him.

It’s the story of a World Cup climbing meeting. That of the IFSC competition commentator, Briton Matt Groom, and Ukrainian speed climber Danyil Boldyrev. The latter, a multi-medal winner in international competitions, asked Groom to accompany him to Ukraine to witness the resilience of the Ukrainian climbing community in the face of the ongoing Russian invasion.

It’s 2023 and the commentator is filming himself in selfie mode from home. He humbly reminds us that he’s more accustomed to testing chalk bags than warfields. But his mind is made up: he’s going to follow Danyil to Ukraine to meet the climbers who stayed behind. And make a film about it. This is Climbing never die.

Matthew Groom and Danyil Boldyrev. ©Coll. Groom

The Ukrainian climbing team continues to train in its war-torn homeland. ©Coll. Groom

It’s a film that evokes the tragedy of war in Ukraine through climbing. With images of destroyed buildings, with the sounds of anti-aircraft sirens, and with