[Watch] Jared Leto’s National Park Doc, ‘Great Wide Open’

Great Wide Open is a documentary series directed by Jared Leto celebrating America’s National Parks and the incredible adventurers who explore them. The five-part series features professional rock climbers like Tommy Caldwell, Renan Ozturk, Sasha Digiulian (world champion climber), Alex Honnold, and wolf biologist at Yellow Stone National Park Douglas Smith.

Caldwell has accomplished 11 routes while free climbing Yosemite’s El Capitan. During an historic run in 2014-2015, he completed the first ascent of the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia (a seven-summit climb spanning four miles and 13,000 ft. across snow and ice-covered rock) and the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall on El Cap in January of 2015, which took him 19 days. He is also known for his escape from rebels in Kyrgyzstan in 2000. Caldwell and fellow climbers Beth Rodden, John Dickey and Jason Smith were held hostage and Caldwell ended up pushing a lone captor off a cliff, which led to their escape to government soldiers.

Ozturk is a painter, filmmaker and expedition climber. His cutting edge big-wall first ascents, mountain murals and films have brought him around the globe from the high Himalaya, to the jungles of Borneo and deserts of Africa.

Digiulian is the first and only North American woman, and the youngest woman in the world, to climb the difficulty grade of 5.14d (9a); the hardest climb achieved by a Female Worldwide. She is also the first North American Woman to onsight 5.14a (8b+).

Honnold is known for his free solo climbs; he climbs without a rope. He has broken a number of speed records, most notably the only known solo climb of the Yosemite Triple crown, an 18-hour, 50 minute link up of Mount Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.

The first episode of this docu-series features Caldwell and also shows Leto learning how to jumar, an ascending device, for the first time. Here we learn about Caldwell’s background and why he loves rock climbing and the National Parks so much. Episode two features a climb at Sharkstooth in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Nation Park. This episode features Renan. Episode three features Caldwell and showcases the crew’s climb on Matthes Crest and Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park. Episode four features “The Wolfman” Douglas Smith and gives a tour of the Lamer Valley in Yellowstone National Park. Here we get to see majestic wildlife like wolves, bison and buffalo.

Episode five is not yet available for streaming on Youtube yet. Episodes one through four are available on Leto’s Youtube channel.

The documentary as a whole captures some really beautiful images/footage of our nation’s National Parks. It’s very celestial-like. When watching the series you feel like you are on an entirely different planet. The use of time-lapse in this docu-series really helps showcase the beauty of the parks throughout the day. Preserving these national treasures and the species that inhabit them is vital. Learn more about what you can do to conserve our nation’s National Parks here.