Climbing vicariously through the Alps

Have you ever wanted to scale the jagged peaks of the Alps and push the limits of your body, but just don't have the cajones to do it?

Take the easy way out this Friday and experience the adventure on the big screen when The Alps debuts at the Mugar Omni Theatre at the Museum of Science in Cambridge.

The story follows John Harlin III, who attempts to defeat his demons by conquering Eiger, the mountain his father died climbing. I haven't seen the flick, but the previews offer some pretty spectacular footage.

Additionally, it's nice to see a climbing movie focus on a peak outside the Himalayas. When it comes to mountain-climbing movies and books, us sea-level neophytes get a selection as thin as the air atop a 8,000-meter peak -- it's nothing but Everest, Everest, Everest. I mean, how much Yak footage can one endure?

Eiger, the mountain in the film, deserves some recognition. Jutting more than 13,000 feet into the atmosphere, it is considered one of the most difficult climbs in the Swiss Alps and is the namesake of a Jon Krakauer book. (Krakauer also wrote a best-seller about his trials on -- you guessed it -- Everest).

And even if you're not an aspiring daredevil mountaineer, the movie might get your juices flowing for a summer trip to Switzerland, a land famous for watches, chocolate, and, uh, The Alps. June flights to Zurich currently ring in around $700-$1,200 on Orbitz.