Ever hear of Mark Moore, who worked as a fruit tramp for 13 years, starting in the early 1970s, to support a full life of climbing? Outside of harvest times, Moore was a habitué of Yosemite, Red Rocks and the Cascades. You may not know the name, but Moore turns out to be a key part of preserving the culture of our first real generation of rock climbers.

Mark’s daughter Oakley Anderson-Moore was raised hearing his stories, and, as a young film-school graduate, set out in search of more such tales. Attaining a grant from the Banff Centre, she led an ebullient, unkempt crew, all in their 20s, across the country, interviewing 50 climbers while putting in 6000 miles in a 1976 VW bus.

Finally, Oakley and cohorts are ready to show their work. Or part of it. A preview of "The Last Wild Mountain: Portrait of the American Climber" will air at the American Mountaineering Museum, in Golden, Colorado, on November 16.

“Well, it’s a preview because the film isn’t quite done yet,” Anderson-Moore, 27, says. “We’re showing it to get feedback and feel the response of the climbing community.” The preview will last about 60 to 90 minutes, and represents three years of work. “This is the first time we’re putting our film out to the public to see what we’ve been up to!” The event is also a party, with the crew giving out beer from the VW bus, which alone could be worth going for.

After watching, audience members can ask Anderson-Moore and the producer, Alex Reinhard, questions about their odyssey and may, if desired, become involved in helping finish the film: “We’re ALMOST done,” reads the filmmakers’ website http://www.rockadventuremovie.com. “But…we’re flat broke!”

The money taken at the door will go to the American Alpine Club library. A simultaneous online fundraiser will take place to benefit the film.

Anderson-Moore says, “[We have] cool stuff like an engraved ice axe, biners, climbing ropes, artwork, a weekend of climbing with yours truly, and um, lots of good schwag that will hopefully entice people to support in addition to the...er...natural high of altruism!”

The film is a rumination on the roots of American rock climbing, a dual story, as described, of the pioneering climbers of the 1960s and the visionary climbers of the 1970s. In it, climbers from the Vulgarians to the Stonemasters, from Royal Robbins and Jim Donini to Lynn Hill and others, describe the utopian worlds they created. Also in the film is Mark Moore’s tale of life in 1970s climbing counterculture.

Says Anderson-Moore, “The pioneers of American rock climbing were often shunned as dirtbags and deserters of the American Dream, but our film seeks to show that climbing roots were inextricably linked to the culture of greater America and its growing pains …. This story is about wanderlust in the modern age.” The film also discusses climbers' place in the open spaces of today’s changing and disappearing natural world.

In making "The Last Wild Mountain: Portrait of the American Climber," only Alex Reinhard, producer, and Oakley Anderson-Moore, director, were fulltimers. The two others who went on the road with them were Corene Petlin (sound) and Nick Louie (director of photography), with Adam Keleman, Paul Blair, Sandy Isaacson and Max Joseph all helping as well at times. James Williams is the web producer, and Kali McKeown is chief archivist.

Anderson-Moore grew up in Eastern Washington, where her father was a migrant picker, and studied film and video at the University of California, San Diego. Reinhard insists he has no formal qualifications: "I met Oakley while studying history at UCSD and she harangued me into this project. Hopefully we'll get to show the finished film soon!"

Check out a preview of the preview at: http://www.rockadventuremovie.com/home.html

See also the filmmakers’ new YouYube page http://www.youtube.com/lastwildmountain

The November 16 showing will be from 6:30 to 8:30 at the American Climbing Museum, a joint venture of the American Alpine Club, the Colorado Mountain Club and the National Geographic Society. Admission is $3 for AAC or CMC members, and $5 for anyone else, but free for members of the AAC museum or library.

Says the film crew's Facebook page: "If you are near Golden, CO, on Nov. 16, please come!!! It's dirt cheap and we promise a sweet ass time!"

Photos, starting at top: Reinhard chasing vagrant ways, ready to hop off fast before the whistle blows. Anderson-Moore, traveling director, with suitcase. Below, the 1976 VW bus that carried it all.