A Very Different Kind of Challenge for 2010 – The Great Climb
The Previous Challenge was all about marketing and making an impact within your chosen niche, not a huge chance of tearing skin muscle and bone. In life there are many kinds of challenge. How do you fancy the chance to tackle an overhanging (150 ft in 600 ft) cliff of Lewisian gneiss in the bonny Western Isles on a typical full on Scottish summer rainstorm? That’s the invitation that Dave McLeod and Tim Emmet received from BBC Scotland about a year and a half ago! The brief was simple; find a line on the most overhanging part of Sron Ulladale on the Isle of Harris and do a trad first ascent of the line in the 5 1/2 hour live broadcast slot, no matter what the weather throws at you. The result has been the most absorbing TV adventure epic I have ever had...
Crunchy Frog Video Finally Edited – Thankyou Virtual Dub and Camtasia Studio 7
Anybody would think I’d set out to make a proper movie! Back in June when the sun still shone – when there was a hint of strength in the arms; Tim, Dorine and myself warmed up on Brown Slabs Corner before Tim had a poke at Crunchy Frog. It was one of those evenings with warm sun, perfect warm rock and azure skies. Where did they go? While Tim led, Dorine belayed and I just leaned back against the tree and caught almost the whole climb on my little cheapo video camera as Tim cruised up. Like a smart arse though, I decided to hold the camera portrait style to get the (foreshortened) perspective of the whole route, and when I first tried to edit the movie on Windows Movie Maker, discovered that WMM squished the aspect so the the movie would have...
Dodging Showers at Castle Rock South Crag
Out for a quick blast away from the rectangular screen this afternoon, and for once we just timed it right. Walking up to the South Crag in the drizzle didn’t exactly feel like getting it right, but once we were at the base of the routes the wetness quietly vanished leaving us to a deserted, drying crag. I was with Ben and Kath Daines who were sticking their necks back into the climbing game again after a long absence. So some easy reintroductions were the order of the day. Slab climb, Wall Climb and Gangway were dispatched quickly with the seconds climbing more or less together. Then Ben decided he fancied a bit of leading on something easy, so we got him pointed up that easy ground further right where Noname goes. Don’t know how many times...