The Road from Karakol
Kyle Dempster points his bike east from Karakol and into the backroads of Kyrgyzstan with a trailer of climbing gear, a couple mostly-reliable maps, and just enough local vocabulary to keep moving. Filmed entirely by Dempster in summer 2011, The Road from Karakol follows two months of pedaling, pushing, and wading through wild rivers and checkpoint hassles on a solo journey toward remote alpine walls—where he’s not just traveling alone, he’s also climbing alone, recording the days when the camera is his only companion. What makes this one stick is its unpolished honesty: the long stretches of effort, the quiet conversations with nobody, and the sudden snap from dusty road to high-stakes soloing on unclimbed mixed and rock terrain. Shaped from raw expedition footage into an award-winning 25-minute story, it’s equal parts road trip, adventure diary, and climbing film—an invitation to embrace uncertainty, earn every view, and start plotting your own far-off line.
Outdoor Research · 25:00
In summer 2011, Outdoor Research athlete Kyle Dempster took off on his bike across Kyrgyzstan with a couple mostly-accurate maps, a trailer full of climbing gear, and a vocabulary of 10 Kyrgyz words. He spent two months pedaling and pushing the bike more than 1200 km on roads of variable states of neglect, wading through wild rivers, dealing with corrupt military checkpoint staff, and soloing a handful of unclimbed alpine rock and mixed routes. He recorded the journey, his camera his only partner, friend, and sometimes the only receiving end of his conversations for days at a time. In 2013, Kyle's self-shot footage of his journey in Kyrgyzstan made it to the desk of filmmakers Fitz Cahall and Austin Siadak, who were asked to look at the footage and see if there might be enough to chop together a 4-minute climbing film. They saw a lot more potential in it, and turned it into the 25-minute "The Road From Karakol," which debuted at the 5Point Film Festival and took home the Best In Fest award. The film premieres online today, and we hope it will inspire you to start dreaming up your next adventure. Film by Duct Tape Then Beer Music Artist: Lemolo Song: Open Air Artist: Exit Music Song: Modern Age Original score by Amy Stolzenbach