Parallel Lines - A Review and Reflection

Parallel Lines starts in the Cairngorms, following three protagonists Erika Procter, Georgia Tindley and Ryan Balharry. They appear on screen as three figures motioning over a white winter backdrop. It’s soon revealed that they are on a skill-exchange trip, sharing their expertise with one another. We discover how Erika was introduced to skiing from an early age, growing up near Ballater on the edge of the mountain. Old camcorder footage overlays showing her as a child skiing, collaging together tape and time. We see how her and Georgia, a trailrunner, teach Ryan the foundations of ski touring. This reminds me of the joy of being at the beginning and the playfulness of learning. The landscape is all white with grey-green rocks scattered through, coloured by lichens. It feels liminal.

Ryan breaks and watches as Erika and Georgia ski down in v formations down a steep slope, spraying snow on the camera lens. This joy and ease is soon juxtaposed, as Ryan now shares his skills in ice climbing - a frightening first-time experience. We see the struggle, commitment and willpower it takes to brave the upward under-hanging traverse. Georgia swings her icepick to find a good hold. A reflection on this is on the comfort of adventuring with others more experienced, who you can trust to support through their calm. The mood shifts as seasons and landscape change; a new mountain in Glencoe uncovered by snow or ice. They climb it more calmly together. Georgia then comes into her element and takes the group across the ridge to run freely. We see a new revealed landscape, less liminal but just as vast. 

I really loved this film - its gentleness and honesty. Seeing humans in mountainous terrain is always inspiring to me as these landscapes feel less impacted by industry, production or pollution. The shifts in seasons and weather feel part of the biologies of the mountains and being in them is like entering the belly of their emotion. I think of a quote by Astrida Neimanis: “We learn our feelings, I think, from the world around us, we learn sensation, we learn inter-relationality, we learn communication, we learn language, from all of these things.” (2022, Learning feeling. A I S T I T / coming to our senses).

Photo credits: Rachel Sarah, Ryan Balharry, and Ross Balharry.