A 50 year old story of Drug Smuggling, Climbing and 1970's Hippies.
High Ground : Documentary
In the winter of 1976, a small plane carrying millions of dollars’ worth of Mexican marijuana crashed into a lake in the remote backcountry of Yosemite National Park. What followed was anything but ordinary.
A group of ultra athletic, dare-devil young climbers from the legendary Camp 4 community set out across the High Sierra on a seemingly impossible winter trek to recover the cargo, before concealing and distributing it through a secret operation among the boulders beneath Yosemite’s towering cliffs. Exactly 50 years later, the story has taken on a life of its own.
Climbers, rangers, investigators and the families of the two pilots each carry a different version of events, shaped by loyalty, self-preservation and the passage of time. What began as a real and reckless tragedy has been transformed into one of climbing’s most enduring legends. High Ground brings together those voices, many speaking publicly for the first time, to untangle fact from folklore and ask what happens when a community is allowed to write its own history.
High Ground : Documentary
This feature length documentary about drug smuggling in Yosemite National Park has been mixed in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound specifically for release in cinemas. High Ground had its exclusive world premiere on September 5, 2026, at the Yosemite Cinema, California.
The sound design concentrated on producing a contrast between the harsh, isolated winter in the High Sierra and the care free attitude of the climbers in Camp 4, Yosemite National Park. Every snow covered footstep, plane crash, ice picks and chainsaws cracking the frozen lake to exploding bongs back at camp has been meticulously crafted to bring this incredible story to life.
Drug Smuggling in Yosemite National Park.
A plane carrying tonnes of high grade Mexican marijuana, in the winter of 1976, crashes in Yosemite National Park. It is discovered by a group of young, athletic climbers which leads to a series of extraordinary events involving park rangers, the mafia, the DEA and a lot of high flying hippies. This 50 year old story is being told for the first time by the characters involved and how it effected their lives.
Credits
Sound Design and Mix
High Ground is a feature length cinema documentary directed by Dan Sharp about a 50 year old story about a place crash carrying tonnes of Mexican marijuana and how a bunch of 1970’s Hippies discovered the cargo.
The sound and audio production for the project involved a dedicated team across music score, mix, sound design and field recording.
Please contact [email protected] for all Sound Design and Mixing queries.
Sound Design and Mix: Produced by Rich Evans at Syncbox Audio-Post, featuring a fully immersive sound design and mix in stereo, 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos.
Music Score: Composed and performed by Sebastian Jaquest the score is a rich mix of swirling guitars, laid back blues grooves and psychedelic riffs.