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Hi! I'm Alec, an outdoor writer, photographer, and content creator.

These 10 Adventure Documentaries Will Have You Hooked

Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Happy August 1! How it's already August, I don't know. Summer seems to be flying by, though I'm telling myself we still have plenty of time to enjoy the good weather. As for me, I'm in San Diego this weekend at a bachelor party for one of my closest friends. While this isn't a 'quiet weekend,' it's a 'calm weekend' as it won't involve backpacking 15+ miles. I haven't been to Southern California since I moved out of Santa Barbara, and it's pretty nice to be back on the coast.

10 Awesome Adventure Documentaries

I'll preface this with the fact that I have a list of about 25 epic adventure documentaries that I really love. But for the sake of everyone's eyeballs and time, I'm going to keep this to 10. Maybe I'll do another 10 in a few more months.

  1. Deepest Breath: If you struggle with stressful situations, this one might not be for you. But it's a fascinating look at free diving that will have you literally holding your breath.
  2. The Alpinist: This is probably the most mind-blowing climbing documentary ever produced. Marc-André Leclerc will climb anything without a rope. It's 1000% worth a watch!
  3. Meru: Probably my favorite mountaineering doc I've ever seen - and that's saying something. It's one of Jimmy Chin's first productions and is just incredible from a photography and visual standpoint. Then, the climbing will blow you away!
  4. Valley Uprising: This details the beginning of climbing in Yosemite, rivalries, hiding from park rangers, and epic ascents. (You'll even see a baby Alex Honnold... okay, not a baby-baby, just a young Alex, haha)
  5. The River Runner: Scott Lindgren seeks out the four sacred rivers in Tibet and aims to kayak all of them. It's action-packed and moving.
  6. Edge of the Earth: This four-part mini-series on HBO covers intense climbing in Kyrgyzstan, insane snowboarding in Alaska, and much more.
  7. Secrets of Whales: After living in Santa Barbara for a year and getting out onto the water to whale watch, I've fallen head over heels for whales. Visually, it's a magnificent show and you'll learn a bunch!
  8. My Octopus Teacher: This one surprised me but it's the most low-key, yet unique of all of these. This guy befriends an Octopus, and the doc follows his year-plus relationship with it. Very touching.
  9. Grizzly Man: This real-life, self-shot documentary of a man living with coastal brown bears in Alaska will have you yelling at the screen in disbelief. I might have taken the wrong message from it, but it shows that coastal brown bears are actually incredibly smart and peaceful, and if they are fed well and you don't startle them, they pose little risk. (PS: I head here in 15 days for three days of bear-watching. Stay tuned for those images.)
  10. Bertie Gregory Show: This is a broader thing, but Bertie Gregory has a show on Disney+ (NatGeo) that shows off all the wild places he's been. I haven't seen all of them, but the Antarctica ones with whales were some of the coolest videos and photographs I have ever witnessed.

BONUS: I'm sure most of you have seen Free Solo, but if you haven't, queue it up tonight. You'll thank me later.

>> Photo of the day update <<

Many of you were added to my Photo of the Day Substack. I provided ya'll a 7-day free trial to see what it is like. If you like it, I would be honored if you supported my photography work by signing up for the monthly subscription (just $6). If 1/3 of you did this, it would honestly blow me away and provide a foundation to explore incredible personal projects. I promise, not a guilt trip, just straight shooting.

Thanks in advance to everyone who signs up!

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Hi! I'm Alec, an outdoor writer, photographer, and content creator.

Alec Sills-Trausch

Alec is a landscape photographer and outdoors storyteller with a zeal for pushing boundaries in the wild. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, and visiting remote places, allowing him to photograph locations the rest of the world shies away from. In addition, Alec loves to write about his travels and craft articles that help educate and inspire others to find their joy in nature.

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