What have you got planned for tonight? Another night of exploring the great indoors, perhaps? Maybe you have a trip to visit your cupboard planned? A little holiday to visit your boiler, or an adventure to the fridge to check if you’ve somehow got more food than you did when you last went for a food raid 15 minutes ago. Well, back away from the kitchen adventure, adventurer, we’re about to hit you with a list that’s cooler than even a refrigerator. Here are 16 awesome outdoor and adventure films that you can watch online right now – completely free of charge.
We've included a real mix, from extreme sports - like some of the best Red Bull films - to mountain climbing movies and nature adventure films. The best outdoor films free online, to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. We hope that these adventure movies stop you from having to abseil down your doors, or manically paint your favourite mountain on your living room wall, to get your outdoor fix.
1. Dodo’s Delight (41 Mins)
The Dodo’s Delight is a ship. Aboard that ship are climbers Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, Ben Ditto, and brothers Nico and Olivier Favresse. Behind the wheel is an old British sea captain and on the map is the Arctic Circle – complete with polar bears, glaciers and big walls. Dodo’s Delight is a riot of a film. The mountaineering feats are spectacular, the characters are laugh out loud funny, the film largely surreal and, all in all, an emphatically euphoric watch.
Dodo’s Delight is currently available to watch in full on Red Bull TV, though it’s uploaded as two separate episodes of their ‘Reel Rock’ mountaineering series. Here’s a link to part one of Dodo’s Delight, and here’s a link to part two of the film. Enjoy.
2. The Frozen Road (24 Mins)
Compelled by Jack London’s assertion, that ‘any man who is a man can travel alone’, Ben Page sought an adventure of perfect solitude – venturing into the Canadian Arctic to complete a bike ride up the American continent. He comes to realise the harsh truths of travelling through such a formidable environment are a long way from the romantic images he had of the land, and experiences great terror and frustration alongside the wonder.
The Frozen Road is an honest reflection on a solo trip self-filmed and edited by Ben. The sheer amount of effort involved puts it on our list of best adventure documentaries. It captures emphatically the unforgiving emptiness of one of the world’s ‘last great wildernesses’.
3. The Faction Collective Presents: La Grave (17 Mins)
With no ropes, no pistes and no one telling you where you can and can’t go, La Grave in the French Alps represents a very special type of freedom rarely found in other alpine ski areas. Just off the back of Les Deux Alpes, the resort is a legendary pilgrimage destination for advanced skiers and snowboarders. The entire ski area is unpisted, and there’s only one lift (plus a button lift) up the mountain. Then it’s up to you how you get down. It’s become a freeride Mecca. In this short film, ski pros Sam Anthamatten and Johnny Collinson head to La Grave and discover the heart and spirit of the resort – as well as the mountain.
4. Artifishal: The Fight to Save Wild Salmon (79 Mins)
Here's an outdoor adventure movie with a twist. Artifishal is a film from Patagonia about people, rivers, and the fight for the future of wild fish and the environment that supports them. It explores wild salmon’s slide towards extinction, threats posed by fish hatcheries and fish farms, and our continued loss of faith in nature.
5. Dark Peak Fell Runners (17 Mins)
The Dark Peak Fell Runners base themselves in Sheffield, but their playground is the Peak District National Park where they weave tracks through the fields, peat bogs and rocky outcrops to create a tapestry of eccentricity, endeavour and endurance.
As one of the biggest pure fell running clubs in the UK, the Dark Peak Fell Runners captures the personality, quirks and successes of the club and its members. Shot throughout the course of a year, the film follows in their footsteps to reveal their well-trodden Peak District running routes including the club’s flagship race, the Edale Skyline.
6. A Land Shaped by Women (52 Mins)
As pro snowboarders who’ve fought for gender parity in their sport, Anne-Flore Marxer and Aline Bock spend winter in Iceland, which has been the UN’s number one-ranked nation for gender equality for nine years in a row. Whilst there they talk to performers, surfers and – as you’d expect – snowboard and explore the remarkable landscape of the country. A jaw-dropping film with an important message. Watch the film free on Red Bull TV.
7. Loved By All: The Story of Apa Sherpa (13 Mins)
Every spring the summit of Mount Everest draws people from around the planet. It’s the lure of the highest mountain in the world. But in its shadow live the Sherpa, a resilient, religious people, who, despite the riches surrounding the highest peak on earth, are still quite poor and uneducated.
A child of the Khumbu, Apa Sherpa climbed Everest 21 times. Pulled away at the age of 12 to work as a high altitude porter, like so many others, he would leave his family for months, risking his life on the mountain. Through his work at the Apa Sherpa Foundation, he aims to create a different future for his people. As Apa says, “without education we have no choice.”
8. Skagerrak: Paddling From Denmark to Norway (54 Mins)
Follow the preparation and mental development of professional stand-up paddle athlete Casper Steinfath in his attempt to become the first person in the world to paddle from Denmark to Norway. This is a beautifully shot film, with a big adventure story behind it. The film is free to watch on Red Bull TV.
9. Eclipse (31 Mins)
It was a ridiculous idea from the start. Travel to the edge of the Earth to see one of the planet’s rarest events – a total solar eclipse in the Arctic. Faced with the likely reality of bad weather obscuring the sun and having to battle frigid, arctic temperatures and winds, the odds did not favour success. Despite this, the Salomon Freeski TV team and a team of the best skiers in the world set out on an expedition to realise photographer Reuben Krabbe’s grand vision: to capture a single unique image – of skiing during a solar eclipse. Persistence, preparation and a positive attitude was a guarantee of nothing as 20th March 2015 dawned. The fate of the expedition was down to luck. But ultimately… the wait paid off.
10. Mountain Bikes and Bothy Nights (8 Mins)
It’s not an adventure list if it doesn’t feature Alastair Humphreys. In Mountain Bikes and Bothy Nights, the microadventures man takes an imaginary journey round Scotland, linking together wild bothies and landscapes. The result is a beautiful film with an inspirational heart.
11. The Last Honey Hunter (35 Mins)
In the steep mountain jungles of Nepal’s Hongu river valley, members of the isolated Kulung culture have risked their lives for generations scaling dangerous cliffs to collect a sort of wild and toxic honey. Deep and dark, the film glides through a misty world of forest spirits, dreams and woodsmoke to share the story of the leader of the harvest and his final journey.
12. RJ Ripper (19 Mins)
Kids and bikes; wherever you are in the world, they go together. The chaotic streets of Kathmandu may not seem like a typical breeding ground for world-class mountain bikers, but then again nothing is typical about Rajesh (RJ) Magar. Since learning to ride on a beat-up clunker, to becoming the four-time National Champion at age 21, RJ’s story is one of boundless childhood dreaming and unstoppable determination, forged from junkyard scraps and tested on the rugged trails of the mighty Himalaya.
13. Paul Tierney: Running the Wainwrights (62 Mins)
In June 2019, Paul Tierney set out on an epic adventure to summit all 214 Alfred Wainwright Lake District peaks in one go. His goal was to try to beat the record time of 6 days 13 hours and 1 minute, set five years earlier by fellow fell runner Steve Birkinshaw. Needing to cover a distance of approximately 318 miles and ascend the equivalent height of four times Mount Everest, Paul knew this was his biggest challenge to date and enlisted the help of friends and family.
Battling sleep deprivation and everything the Lake District weather could throw at him, what transpired was a story that gripped not only the fell-running and ultra-running communities but also the wider sporting world. A great addition to our best outdoor adventure movies list, from running brand inov-8.
14. Ice & Palms (32 Mins)
A 100% self-powered bike + ski adventure. Jochen Mesle and Max Kroneck start their biggest and most extraordinary ski tour so far. The mission: bikepacking across the alps and skiing some iconic mountains along the way – no motor allowed! The two friends have traveled the world for many mountainous adventures, but while skiing in distant locations this idea grew in their minds: a ski expedition that starts right on their own doorsteps. Six weeks, 1800 km, 35000 vertical metres and a dream come true.
15. Rainspotting (17 Mins)
An 84-Hour bikepacking ramble through Scotland’s Gloomy Grampians with friends of MBA – Pannier! Alighting the Sleeper Train at the highest, most remote station on the West Highland Line, a group of cyclists head off on an opportunistic wintry journey to ride the old-established network of gravel drove roads, only to find themselves bogged-down exploring the alluring voids in between. That’s why they’re called push bikes, after all. Expect sleeper trains, snow, rain, magical munro mountains, gravel, cullen skinks, cranachans, bogs, bridges and la-di-dah land-owners…
16. Adventures Not Dams (7 Mins)
Today, the stunning 270km stretch of Albania’s Vjosa River remains untamed, free-flowing and untouched by man. It is home to thousands of endemic species and communities that rely on it in its current state along its banks. We went out to film the story of the river, and the people who rely on it, back in March 2018.
Got you stoked to get outdoors? Check out our full range of adventure holidays and give yourself something to look forward to! Films are great, but there's nothing like the real thing.
Top Photo: Nic Alegre / Red Bull Content Pool