Editor’s Pick: The Homemade Rock Climbing Wall
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Every week on this blog we will feature one video that Smithsonian.com selects as an “Editors’ Pick.” In the weeks since the contest launched, we’ve already been blown away by the high quality of the submissions. Note: these videos are not selected by the contest judges and have no bearing on the final result of the contest.
The featured videos are meant to inspire and encourage.
A month before moving from Massachusetts to Colorado, 8-year-old Kathrin Houston posed a simple question to her father about their new house.
“Do you think we could build a rock wall in the side we don’t use for the car?”
Inspired by a magazine photo showing a professional climber with a rock wall in his house and fueled by her passion for the sport, Houston set out to build her own custom rock wall. But it wasn’t until her father showed her where the wall would go that she actually believed it would happen.
The narrative of the video is driven by Houston, who is very entertaining—my favorite parts of the video include her losing track of the question or going off topic (“I like bacon…”). This is a great example of how you can find a story anywhere. The editing makes you forget that nearly the entire video was filmed inside of a garage.
Feeling inspired? Head over to our submission page and upload your video for a chance to win our grand prize.