I finally figured it out. I finally understood why, given my fear of heights and an even greater phobia about falling, I watched just about every mountain-climbing movie out there. It was because—from the safety of my couch or the theater seat—I wanted to understand the mindset of people who risked their lives to reach a summit. Here are a few of those films.

VERTICAL LIMIT

This (fictional) 2000 survival thriller is arguably my favorite. I devoted an entire article to it in the past, Guilty Pleasures: Vertical Limit, which you can check out for more detail.

In a nutshell, siblings Annie and Peter Garrett are estranged after losing their father in a climbing mishap. Annie blames Peter for his death. Years later Annie is a world-class climber, while Peter, a photographer, hasn’t climbed since the accident. Their uncomfortable reunion occurs at the base camp for K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, where Annie is going to lead an expedition to the summit. When she and a couple of others become trapped on the mountain, Peter joins a team to attempt a rescue.

DISASTER ON MOUNT EVEREST

In May of 1996, eight climbers lost their lives when they were caught in a blizzard as they tried to descend from the summit of Mount Everest. Expedition leaders Rob Hall, a New Zealander, and Scott Fischer, an American, were among the casualties. Author/journalist Jon Krakauer, a survivor of the expedition, would later chronicle the story in his bestselling 1997 book, Into Thin Air.

Based on Krakauer’s book, A TV movie titled Into Thin Air: Death on Everest premiered in 1997. It might have cut a few corners with regard to accuracy, as made-for-TV movies sometimes do, but its 90-minute run time gives a fair account of the disaster.

An IMAX film crew happened to be on hand to document the expedition. Some of those people were ultimately involved in the rescue effort. The IMAX film, simply titled Everest, came out in 1998. I saw the film back then at the IMAX theater in San Diego’s Balboa Park, and I recall being overwhelmed by what had happened.

Perhaps the most detailed account of the disaster was the 2015 film, also titled Everest. It starred Jason Clarke as Rob Hall and Jake Gyllenhaal as Scott Fischer. For the scene with the doomed Rob Hall patched through to his pregnant wife in New Zealand so they can decide on a name for the baby (this really happened), I suggest you make sure the tissues are at hand.

THE EIGER SANCTION

This film is an oldie, 1975 to be exact, and is based on a bestselling novel. It stars a quite young Clint Eastwood, who I am convinced is going to live forever. He portrays a retired government assassin, Jonathan Hemlock, who is blackmailed into performing one last sanction, as it is called, killing a couple of guys who had murdered a government agent.

One of the killings will take place during a climbing expedition on the Eiger, a 13,000-foot mountain in the Swiss Alps. A former climber, Hemlock must train in order to make the climb.

I recently watched The Eiger Sanction for the first time in decades, and I learned something interesting after the fact. Eastwood did all of his own climbing for the film. He trained in Yosemite, then in Utah’s Monument Valley, where he ascended a dangerous rock spire. That scene was used in the film. Oh yeah, I had to look away a few times.

Eastwood also did most of his character’s climbing on the treacherous Eiger, where many climbers had lost their lives. One professional climber, subbing in for one of the characters, actually was killed during the filming. Yep, more looking away on my part.

There are other mountain-climbing movies from the past, and I imagine there will be more to come. Sure, I’ll watch them, but with feet and butt firmly planted on good old terra firma.