[nash1]

Anyone care to share a problem list on this film, worth buying??

[Dave Westlake]

Dont bother, its not worth £20 

[richdraws]

It has the wankiest design ever.

It is an amazing film though, the extras and outtakes are worth the 20 quids alone. 

[erm, sam]

I watched this a couple of days ago and enjoyed it. I don't think it is one of the great bouldering videos (The Real Thing, Rampage,West Coast Gimps, Best in the West and  ahem, One Sumer), but it was good. Stengths are the mates out climbing vibe and footage of peak problems you havent seen on film before. Weaknesses are the editing which is a bit random, and the number of times you see some problems eg Autumn is climbed about 6 times by different people. PS havent watched the extras yet. They could tip the balance...

[Doylo]

Watched this recently too and thought it was pretty good. I tend to judge films by how much they cost cos anything with climbing in is worth a look IMO. I would say this is a 15 quider on the scale. The best bit is Tyler pissing the ace and making the holds look like jugs.

[etjoset]

I don't think it is one of the great bouldering videos (The Real Thing, Rampage,West Coast Gimps, Best in the West and  ahem, One Sumer)

One Summer, one of the great bouldering videos??? OK, it was ahead of its time and has good amusement value for Jerry in those shorts and Ben with his blindfold but Winter Sessions has rather more to it.

I think that the super-naff titles add to the "homemade" feel of this film and don't really detract. The best bits are the unusual selection of off-the-beaten-track problems, the broad spread of grades featured, the fact that everyone is clearly having a great time and the fact that equal attention is given to pretty much everyone involved, regardless of the grade that they climb.

£20 for a specialist film like this with a limited production run is fine by me. Well done to all involved.

[Houdini]

Homemade films should have a homemade RRP.  I didn't enjoy winter sessions and wouldn't pay £20 for it anymore than I would for the current Birkett DVD/hagiography which despite being beautifully shot pissed me off to the hilt.

The Alberacin DVD, now this I am looking forward to watching. 

[al]

all i can say is this fillum inspired a few long in the tooth/jaded old skoolers to re-asses the peak and walk that extra mile to climb stufff they didn't even know existed before - in my book that is job done

[Lostboy]

Winter Sessions is a good first effort from Crabstix productions. It is full of a lot of problems being sent in the Peak and this on its own inspires the viewer to make an effort to get out and try things they didn't know existed before,  with the highlight of the film clearly being the Tyler Landman section.  However, technically the film is let down by the camera work and editing; these are things which are not easy to pick up and can take quite a while to master.  The use of a variety of different types of text graphics leaves the film disjointed and adds to the amateur feel. Unfortunately it must be said that in comparison to other DVD's on the market such as Dosage 4, Winter Sessions does not stand in the same league.  The question of whether it is worth £20 is I feel dependent to some extent on where you live, for those who live near to the Peak the film does inspire you to get off your arse to go try other problems but for those who live elsewhere the film may not be worth the expense.   

[Ena]

Well I like it. Yes it's not as slick (!) as some, but the basic question is:

do you want a film of bouldering in the Peak?

If yes then get it. I have no interest in American films! But to my mind the best bouldering film has to be Emotions, I've even got it on my phone now!

[Scouse D]

Kim will be super psyched you said that!

[Dave Flanagan]

From my website

"Winter Sessions is the second video dedicated entirely to bouldering in the Peak District, the first was Ben Pritchard and Ben Moon's 1994 classic "One Summer". While technology has moved on considerably since One Summer Winter Sessions shares the same homemade look and feel. Winter Sessions was filmed over two winters by Crabstix Productions and is an accurate representation of what it is like to go out bouldering on any given weekend on any given crag. People fall off, say stupid things, wobble and slap their way up problems.

One of the highlights is Ben Moons first ascent of Voyager, 8b which is followed by hotshot Tyler Landman's second ascent. Unfortunately we never get to see a close up of the holds - maybe this is because it is assumed that all the viewers will have seen them at first hand? The film also features Sam Whittaker, Jerry Moffat, Jon Fullwood, Ben Bransby, Adam Long and Leo Houlding among others.

On the plus side in the 1 hour 45 minutes of this DVD there is huge amount of bouldering, about 120 problems are climbed, some are well known classics others a bit more esoteric. The camera work is very straightforward but in spite of this the problems look excellent. However I'm not sure that seeing a few climbers do the same problem in succession really adds anything apart from length to this DVD. The main film is 70 minutes long with 20 minutes of extras and 15 minutes of outtakes.

The graphics are ugly but maybe this is ironic. Either way I didn't like them. The sound track is low profile and unobtrusive electorica. This low key approach to the soundtrack is best as you can never satisfy all tastes.

Winter Sessions pales in comparison with other recently released DVDs (Dosage) in terms of a professional polished product. It will be best appreciated by those looking for inspiration for or beta on mid to hard Peak District bouldering. Considering the popularity of bouldering in the Peak this is probably not as small a niche as it might appear. Others should look elsewhere.

Verdict: AVOID. "

[Pantontino]

I really enjoyed this film. I liked the light hearted feel of it and the absence of pretentious bully,  and I thought it captured the Peak scene very well.

Well worth £20, especially with all that extra material.

[richdraws]

Dosage 4

"Dave can definitely do it"

by Randy Puro with the most sickeningly obsequious grin ever. I bet Dave Graham slept with the light on that night.

Or

Winter Sessions

"I'm just at Burbage Soooouth"

"With Ben Moon and Jerry Moffat"



Besides I still haven't forgiven Josh Lowell for the pan pipe moods shite with Ron Kauk.

[Jim]

Besides I still haven't forgiven Josh Lowell for the pan pipe moods shite with Ron Kauk.

If I ever meet him I'm gonna beat him to death for that crock of shite.
Listen to the frogs. yeah right

[Stubbs]

In defense of Josh the Ron Kauk bit is an excerpt from a full length film of Kauk's 'philosophy' over pan pipes produced by someone else, although I guess Josh has the final say what goes on his videos.

I think winter sessions is brilliant, and it's certainly get better with watching.  And I do hope the graphics are meant to be funny, especially the gigantic burning 8b after voyager.

[Sam]

my 2 pence: had I paid £20 for this, I would have felt like someone was having a laugh at my expense 

[chappers]

ive seen just part of this vid.If i had paid 20 quid for it i would be well pissed off and taken it back to the shop.
it is not a professional job (like dosage (same price)) so does not warrent the heafty price tag. it is filmed on poor quality cameras and is badly edited (looks like the titles were done by just going down the list in live type and using each animated title in turn)why no close ups of the holds of voyager for example?

there is nothing wrong with an underground amature effort but, amature efforts like doyles west coast and stoned love vids or Kims beardown vids are FAR better and cost so little/free to get from them.
these efforts are worth the money, winter sessions is not.

[Doonbar billy]

I thought Winter sessions was GREAT, its a fun film with loads of problems and good music. The titles are a bit special but that doesn't make it bad a bad film. You cant compare it with Dosage IV, that's like their 7th film this is their first. IMO its well worth the money i could watch this plenty of times and still see stuff i had missed. I hope they make another one soon...

[Gritlover]

Chappers, I'm sure you'd like it better if you had your own section like the rest of us?

There are no close ups of the Voyager holds cos they're too small to see.  I have checked.

Support amateur productions, otherwise they'll never get any better! 

[chappers]

Chappers, I'm sure you'd like it better if you had your own section like the rest of us? 

If i buy a copy could you sign it for me? 

Don't get me wrong, i am in full support of amature productions, i just don't think that it is good enough to warrent the 20 quid price tag. sorry. thats my opinion.
i gave a good honest report of the product avaliable, i know no one in the film and have no hidden agenda with my comments on the film.

my comment re. dosage was about the price, i fully accept that you need a massive budget, full time effort, equiptment, and the biggest names in climbing etc ect... to produce something of that quality.

[Bonjoy]

 I don't really feel I can give unbiased comment on Winter Session firstly cos i'm in it and secondly cos Ryhs is a good mate. What I would say though is that it took a lot of time and effort to put together and obviously Ryhs is trying to get back at least enough to pay for some of that time and effort. Any film maker will price their product according to what they think will give the best return on their effort. I don't know the sums, maybe a 20 quid tag will have made more profit overall than a 15 quid tag, who knows, it depends on the sales at each price and the overhead costs. Maybe given the naturally small circulation a higher price works out best. I don't think you can be too critical of someone trying to get something back for what they put in, in the best way they see fit. If it's too expensive don't buy it, if you already did then just think of all the useful beta to be harvested.

[SA Chris]

You cant compare it with Dosage IV, that's like their 7th film this is their first.

How does it compare to Dosage I then?

[Stubbs]

Or Big Up more to the point, which I haven't seen.

[kireipan]

it seems a lot of you failed to pay ANY attention to the opening credits of this film....don't take it seriously! Why waste your time trying to compare it to Dosage you idiots, bejesus! you climbers love to have a moan about anything. Winter Sessions never set out to be anything more than something for friends to enjoy. Having no experience of editing programmes etc I think crabstix has done an amazing job, ok the graphics may not be to everyones tastes but if you can't see past that then you need to have a word with yourself. Like the Boy says, even if the only thing you get out of it is some beta then I think its well worth the money. p.s the soundtrack is ace