Anton/Bauer Climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro in Inspiring Doc Through the Roof

Anton/Bauer, a brand of The Vitec Group provided behind-the-scenes power for Through the Roof, a documentary following the journey of Erica Davis, the first female paraplegic athlete to summit Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro. Captured Life Productions, which produced the film, relied on Anton/Bauer’s ElipZ 10K batteries to keep the cameras rolling as Davis and her team made the nine-day trek up and down the mountain.

Through the Roof depicts Davis, along with Tara Butcher, an amputee below the left knee, as they and their support team scale the 19,334-foot mountain. It took them seven days to reach the summit, with temperatures decreasing from around 90 degrees Fahrenheit at the foot to below zero at the top. Captured Life Productions co-owners Matt Peters and Chris Theibert shot most of the footage with a Panasonic AG-HPX170 P2 HD handheld camcorder, powered by the Anton/Bauer ElipZ 10K batteries.

“We did a lot of research to determine the best type of equipment for a shoot like this, where we would be operating in harsh conditions and without access to a power source for several days,” says Peters. “We read about many companies that really trusted Anton/Bauer, and so we immediately started looking at the company. It seemed like a perfect fit, and the customer and sales support were great. I had some pretty specific questions regarding how the batteries would handle the temperature fluctuations and the fact that we wouldn’t be able to charge them for several days, and I always got feedback right away.”

Using three Anton/Bauer ElipZ10K batteries, Peters and Theibert captured 12 hours of primary footage for the documentary. As a precaution, they had brought six of the batteries with them on the shoot, expecting to use them all. They were surprised to have three charged batteries leftover after completing the shoot.

“We were amazed that we actually had unused batteries when we got off the mountain,” says Peters. “It was something we didn’t think was possible, because we ran out of room on the camera before we ran out of battery power. It was a really good thing for us, very comforting, and it just clinched it for us. We’ll never use anything else!”

Anton/Bauer’s ElipZ 10K battery uses the highest capacity lithium ion cells available, providing field runtimes of more than seven and a half hours on a 10-watt camera load.  The lightweight battery improves the handling of the camera by lowering its center of gravity and providing an additional handhold. It is also the first battery to use the underside of the camera as a mounting surface, away from operator controls.

The C.H.E.K Institute teamed up with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Overstock.com, and other sponsors to assist Davis and Butcher in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s fourth tallest mountain. The successful climb was designed to bring awareness to the capabilities of challenged athletes everywhere.

Peters and Theibert are currently taking Through the Roof around the film festival circuit, hoping to pick up a distributor.