"The 46ers" Movie

 Robert and George Marshall were the first people to hike all the summits of the 46 peaks in New York that were over 4000 feet high. Between 1918 and 1925 the brothers hiked all the peaks, starting the tradition of the 46ers. Since then, over 8,000 people have followed in their footsteps. A recent documentary called “The 46ers” publicly premiered at the Lake Placid Center for Arts on September 4^th, 2015. Blake Cortright—the director of the production—said the film sought to discover what “transforms ordinary men and women into the legendary 46ers”.

            Cortright first came up with the idea for the film after hiking Mt. Marcy in August 2012. The view from the Adirondack’s highest peak inspired him to create a movie about the high peaks. After Marcy he hiked Tabletop, and Wright Peak. It was then that he wondered why people did this, why they hiked all 46 peaks. In October of 2012 he began to make preparations for the production. Over the course of two years, his team of filmmakers interviewed more than twenty 46ers and aspiring 46ers, capturing everything from humorous to inspiring stories. The filmmakers hiked over 100 miles and filmed over 100 hours of footage. In September of 2014 the last shot was captured from a helicopter. The film provides history and education about stewardship and environmental conservation along with the stories of the hikers. The official website for the film says the documentary will “highlight the inspiring beauty of Upstate New York, educate the public about environmental conservation and safety, and encourage people of all ages to explore the beauty of these natural wonders”.

Link for the trailer:

http://www.the46ersfilm.com/home/#welcome

            Originally, the title of the film was “The 46ers: Conquering the Adirondacks”. However, after a year of interviewing people and hiking with 46ers, the crew felt that the line ‘Conquering the Adirondacks’ did not reflect the spirit of the people who hiked the peaks, and did not reveal the message they hoped to capture in the film. For this reason, they shortened the title to just “The 46ers”. It’s interesting how the team came into filming thinking of hiking as ‘conquering’ and came out realizing it was far from it. Since the earliest settlers in the Adirondacks, humans have had the tendency to view nature as something to be control and exploited. In reality, nature does not exist solely for human use. The wilderness is not something we can or should ‘conquer’, but something we should connect with and protect.

Sources:

http://www.the46ersfilm.com/home/#whats-a-46er

http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2015/08/46ers-documentary-film-to-premiere-in-lake-placid.html