History Main / ClimbingTheCliffsOfInsanity

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Film/TheNakedSpur'': Anderson repeatedly scales large rock faces to get the jump on Ben.
* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. The Sicilian Crowd climb the Cliffs of Insanity to escape pursuit, mostly being Fezzik holding Inigo and Vizzini, (thinking no one else will be able to climb them), but of course the Man in Black [[{{Determinator}} isn't ready to give up that easily.]]
* Played for laughs in "Film/ErikTheViking" Where Erik uses grappling hooks to scale the tower where Prince Aud lives, only to have her ask, "Why didn't you take the stairs?"

* The Statue of Liberty in ''Film/RemoWilliamsTheAdventureBegins''.

* In ''Film/ThreeHundred'', Leonidas has to climb one in order to reach the Temple of the Ephors, because as we all know Spartans are too manly for Handicapped Access. It is not said if this is the only route, or Leonidas is just showing off.
* In ''Film/{{Troy}}'' similar to the above example, Achilles proves he is no slouch by climbing up the side of the Trojan citadel while all the other Greek troops use the main entrance.
%%* ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}'', of course. The protagonist is even a mountain climber.

%%* ''Film/TheGunsOfNavarone'' (see below).
* ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' film series:
** ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' has Ethan Hunt (Creator/TomCruise) climbing an Utah mountain barehanded before he gets his mission briefing. Keep in mind he was doing that ''for fun''. He was on vacation.
** In ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'', Ethan has to climb up the outside of the Burj Khalifa (828 metres / 2,717 feet tall) in UsefulNotes/{{Dubai}}, using adhesive gloves, cut his way in through a window, then come back down again. And this isn't part of a mission he's had time to psych himself up for either, but an IndyPloy when something goes wrong.
* In ''Film/BeyondSherwoodForest'', Robin has to climb an almost sheer cliff in order to obtain the fruit that will allow Alina to regain her mortality.
* Frank and Nails climbing up to Holli's apartment in ''Film/CoolWorld'' is presented like this, especially since Cool World architecture operates on ToonPhysics with odd curves and spirals everywhere. Later, Holli's underlings are shown stacking furniture and other odds and ends to reach the top, too.

* In ''Literature/TheGunsOfNavarone'', a commando team has to scale a steep cliff to get onto an island and destroy the German artillery emplacement that is fortified there.
* ''High Citadel'' by Desmond Bagley. When their plane crashes into the Andes after a failed hijack, the survivors have to fend off communist rebels while three of their group attempt to scale a previously impassable mountain using improvised climbing equipment in order to get help.
* [[spoiler:Duncan Idaho]] scales a cliff several miles high in ''Literature/GodEmperorOfDune'' with no gear at all, a feat so impressive that one female onlooker reacts quite ''enthusiastically'' when he reaches the top.

* The classic children's story ''We're Going on a Bear Hunt''.

* There's only one way out of the isolated seaside village in ''Literature/{{Son}}'', and that's by climbing the tremendous cliffs that surround it. Only one person has ever made it to the top, and he came back with a crippled foot. [[spoiler: Claire becomes the second person to reach the top and the first to leave the community. Her training for, and the torturous climb itself, is the subject of nearly an entire section]].
* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'':
** One of the few major challenges Dante and Virgil find traversing Hell are steep cliff-faces that they have to find their way down. The first time, they hitch a ride on the flying monster Geryon and the second, they convince a chained giant to lower them by its hand.
** Especially early on, the mountain of Purgatory is one of the most physically taxing obstacles on Dante's journey. Canto IV of ''Purgatorio'' in particular focusing mostly on the difficulty Dante has climbing the extremely steep base of the mountain.

* This is a common task on ''Series/TheAmazingRace'', where teams have to climb to the top of something to retrieve their clue.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Honest Hearts'', in addition to being a RiverOfInsanity expedition, has a lot of cliff climbing.
* You climb some high cliffs at two points in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. When you're doing it the second time you're constantly losing body heat, so you have to stop on ledges to heat yourself up occasionally.

* ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': Film/JamesBond climbs a mountain in order to reach the BigBad's hideout monastery at the top.

* The infamous 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.[[note]]Players and various staff members for the alumni rugby team of a Catholic school in Montevideo survive for over two months by [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty eating the bodies of the deceased]].[[/note]]Realizing that rescue searches were over, two team members walked over the Andes mountains into Chile to summon help. This was recreated in the 1993 film ''Film/{{Alive}}''.

* ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}'', of course. The protagonist is even a mountain climber.

* K2 is the world's second highest mountain and considered a more difficult climb than Everest due to the extremely steep and technical climb. Also it tends to have powerful storms that last several days. There is a reason it has the second highest fatality rate of any mountain. And why, uniquely among the major mountains of the world, it has ''never'' been successfully climbed in winter until 2021.

* K2 is the world's second highest mountain and considered a more difficult climb than Everest due to the extremely steep and technical climb. Also it tends to have powerful storms that last several days. There is a reason it has the second highest fatality rate of any mountain. And why, uniquely among the major mountains of the world, it has ''never'' been successfully climbed in winter.

* ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'':

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol''. Ethan Hunt has to climb up the outside of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, using adhesive gloves, cut his way in through a window, then come back down again. And this isn't part of a mission he's had time to psych himself up for either, but an IndyPloy when something goes wrong.
** Before that, ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' had Ethan climbing an Utah mountain barehanded before he gets his mission briefing. Keep in mind he was doing that ''for fun''. He was on vacation.

* The ladder sequence in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''.
* The cliffs in ''VideoGame/PeasantsQuest''.

* The cliffs to Manhannan's house in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII''. This was one of the last times that Sierra made you navigate a maze with the arrow keys, where the slightest misstep led to instant death. And you had to do this every time you needed to enter or leave the house, which you had to do all the time.
* The Cliffs of Logic in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI'': half puzzle sequence, half CopyProtection! Naturally, if you get a certain puzzle wrong, you tumble to your death.
* The cliffs in ''VideoGame/PeasantsQuest''.
* The Cliffs of Madness in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' could almost be the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]].
* The ladder sequence in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Honest Hearts'', in addition to being a RiverOfInsanity expedition, has a lot of cliff climbing.
* ''VideoGame/Grandia1'' has a man-made version in the form of an absurdly high ''wall'' that apparently spans the entire width of a continent, known as "The End of the World". Everybody else deems it an impassible barrier, but the game's hero instead just climbs over it (which takes several days).

What they all have in common, however, are the invisible arrows shouting "The plot goes this way." To simply go around (or take the elevator/tram ride) would be [[Film/ThePrincessBride incon]][[StealthPun ceivable]]. One must take them head-on; and just to be sporting, with whatever safety equipment they didn't think to bring along with them ahead of time.

** The Drum Island Arc takes this to its worst. Luffy, in the middle of a blizzard, carrying a sick Nami and an injured Sanji (with his mouth), has to climb a nearly flat mountain that inclines directly upwards. This takes several episodes. At one point, Luffy's fingers ''explode in blood and he ends up sliding down a whole fraction of the mountain, blood flying everywhere, Luffy unable to even scream less Sanji drops from his mouth,'' until he finally regains his grip. This is truly one of the most painful scenes to see in the entire anime and easily turned Luffy into TheDeterminator.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Buttercup's kidnappers climb the Cliffs of Insanity to escape pursuit (thinking no one else will be able to climb them), but of course the Man in Black [[{{Determinator}} isn't ready to give up that easily.]]

->''"El Capitan, the great big granite monolith in Yosemite Valley that apparently attracts all kinds of nuts who want to die horrible, splattering deaths — I mean, mountain climbers, it attracts lots of mountain climbers."''

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!!Examples of this Trope include:

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' during the Drum Island Arc takes this to its worst. Luffy, in the middle of a blizzard, carrying a sick Nami and an injured Sanji (with his mouth), has to climb a nearly flat mountain that inclines directly upwards. This takes several episodes. At one point, Luffy's fingers ''explode in blood and he ends up sliding down a whole fraction of the mountain, blood flying everywhere, Luffy unable to even scream less Sanji drops from his mouth,'' until he finally regains his grip. This is truly one of the most painful scenes to see in the entire anime and easily turned Luffy into TheDeterminator.

* The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] is ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Buttercup's kidnappers climb the Cliffs of Insanity to escape pursuit (thinking no one else will be able to climb them), but of course the Man in Black [[{{Determinator}} isn't ready to give up that easily.]]

** If merely climbing it isn't insane enough, try Speed climbing

-->-- '''''Website/TheAgonyBooth''''', ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' recap.

* In ''Literature/HighTimeToKill'', a plane carrying an [[MacGuffin important formula]] crashes near the summit of Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. Literature/JamesBond is sent there in an expedition to retrieve the formula along with his [[RememberTheNewGuy newly-introduced]] lifelong rival, who just happens to be an expert in mountain climbing.

* 　Played for laughs in "Film/EriktheViking" Where Erik uses grappling hooks to scale the tower where Prince Aud lives, only to have her ask, "Why didn't you take the stairs?"