TELLURIDE – When world-renowned climbers Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk summited the Shark’s Fin, a granite buttress on the northeast side of 6,310-meter Meru Central in the Gangotri mountains of India, in October 2011, their accomplishment was ranked first in a list of in Rock and Ice.

It is now the subject of the documentary, House of Cards, which will premiere at Mountainfilm in Telluride’s annual festival, May 25-28.

Ozturk and Chin will tell the tale of how the trio succeeded on a route that had eluded dozens of teams for decades. (The list of those denied summits includes Doug Chabot, Paul Pritchard, Bruce Miller, Pete Takeda, Jules Catwright and Mugs Stump, a hero of Anker’s.)

The summit – Anker’s third attempt – ended his 20-year obsession with the peak. It was the second try for both Chin and Ozturk, who joined Anker in 2008, but stopped short 150 meters shy of the summit. That effort was chronicled in Samsara, Ozturk’s film that played at Mountainfilm in Telluride in 2009, winning the festival’s Charlie Fowler Award.

“Samsara helped redefine adventure films,” said David Holbrooke, Mountainfilm in Telluride’s festival director, “and we are all excited to see what Renan and Jimmy do with this story.”

The team’s 2011 success overcame physical challenges for Ozturk, who had tumbled over a cliff while skiing and filming in Jackson Hole six months earlier, sustaining injuries that included a fractured skull. “Even though I have only seen clips of the film, I know from talking to the three of them that Renan’s story – coming off the injury and being the most vulnerable – is central to the story” said Holbrooke. Chin and Ozturk will attend the festival, but Anker will not; he is scheduled to climb Mount Everest with Cory Richards (who is featured in the film Cold).

Mountainfilm in Telluride has a celebrated history in mountaineering; since its inception in 1979, many of the world’s top alpinists, including Sir Edmund Hilary, Royal Robbins, Yvon Chouinard, David Breashears, Lynn Hill, and Alex Honnold, have attended the festival. “Between House of Cards, Chris Sharma speaking and the many other all-star climbers who will attend this year, the 2012 festival has a particularly strong climbing component,” said Holbrooke.

“Of course, our array of environmental and cultural films is also outstanding this year, and we are excited to announce those soon, so as always, there’s an eclectic mix at the festival – something for everyone.”