The one where the couple is climbing somewhere, and has some spectacular shots, especially at the end where the girl walks along a narrow ridge, then stands on top of some pillar looking rock?
A) Where is that, anyone know?
More importantly (to me, anyway), what song is that playing in the background?
I got vertigo just watching that woman stand up there!
Some googling suggests it could be Fishers Towers, near Moab UT, and the music is apparently LP - Into the Wild.
Hmm, I am humbled by your Google-Fu.
Also, I always forget to Shazam music I don’t recognize.
Thanks, I wait for that lady to slip every time I see it.
Yep, that’s Fisher Towers all right. If you like that kind of scenery, that area is right in the center of some of the most gorgeous places in the world. You find yourself immersed in the kind of landscapes you’ve seen in Westerns all your life. Driving down UT 28 toward Fisher Towers and Moab, it’s very hard to keep your attention on the road.
Yes. And also parts of Route 12.
But—is it real?
Is the climbing real? It certainly could be, that climbing isn’t horrendously difficult. They wouldn’t have needed CGI to film it. I don’t know if they used CGI to reduce costs.
Why wouldn’t it be?
Do a web search for something like…
Ancient Art, Stolen Chimney, Fisher Towers
…and you will find several pics of people standing atop the rock tower.
Nitpick, it’s highway 128.
Yes, it’s real, the climbs vary in difficulty, but the anchors are difficult as the ‘rock’ is basically dried mud. The opening shots of that ad are shot near Dead Horse Point State Park. That commercial doesn’t even scratch the surface of what’s down here.
One question about the climb shown in the commercial. At the end, the woman is shown standing on that rock (the Corkscrew?). But the safety line is anchored below her (although it would have to be, as there’s nothing above her to anchor it). So if she were to slip, how far would she fall before the line caught her?
Twice the distance between the attachment to her harness and the protection placement, plus a bit for the rope to stretch. Obviously, you want to place your protection as high as you can if you are going to climb above it.
MY protection is to watch others do it. Nice and safe for me, and the farthest I have to fall is off the couch.
In college in southern Illinois, I did a lot of (in retrospect, very stupid) free climbing on the small cliffs around there. By ‘free’ climbing, I mean we just climbed without ropes, experience or any regard to our own safety.
I remember leaping about 6-7 feet over a sheer 75 foot or so fall to a pillar like rock once, and sitting awake the next night shivering in fear over how dumb I was.
If you would like to experience a similar vista but want to do it more safely and without climbing equipment, do the Angel’s Landing trail at Zion National Park.
http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm
At the end of the trail you experience the magnificence of the canyon and you are on a sliver of rock with drop-offs on both sides.
And yes, great commercial!
That’s a great overlook of Walter’s Wiggles, the middle section of the Angel’s Landing trail. The first time I hiked it, we got to the flat spot at the top of the Wiggles and thought, “Wow, this is cool, but wouldn’t it be neat if we could get up there?” We didn’t realize the trail continued up that knife-edge, and then we spotted some tiny figures way up on top. Holy Crap, what a “hike”!
Thanks for the tip on the music. I’ve been wondering who that was… it sounds a lot like Neko Case.
So we may have established where the rocks are located, but were the climbers filmed in reality, or added in with CGI? The reason for faking it, as someone asked, would be that the costs, perhaps especially for insurance, would be prohibitive.
ETA: :smack: Ninjaed in the 3rd reply…
I doubt the insurance costs would be prohibitive. It’s scary looking, but the climbing itself isn’t that dangerous. The cost would be from getting all the video equipment into the right places and safely.