 Aye, this was on all the forums the day after the programme was broadcast, it was so obvious where he was. But, the ledge route in that weather? Good lad.
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 I'm glad I don't have a telly! But... if you're going to climb Ben Nevis in full view of the public... you should at least make sure you reach the summit! I've never screwed up on an AScent of the Ben, but I did once screw up on a DEscent, which wouldn't have been so bad if I'd been on my own, but as I had a friend as a witness, it was embarassing, not to mention downright dangerous!
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 The first time I went to the summit of the Ben - we'd just climbed some godforsaken gully route - we ended up rescuing around 30 public schoolboys in full winter conditions. I really wished that we hadn't bothered... 
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 And left them to die Jon!!! 
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Well, it took us ages to get down and I dare say someone else would have rescued them anyway. They were more lost than in any immediate danger 
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 At least you didn't have to rescue a beleaguered luvvie and full camera and sound crew! Anyway, death from exposure is character-forming - it's the sort of thing all public schoolboys should experience from time to time.
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ROFL!! Marcus!
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 Griff should be reassured that the quality of the route he climbed is much more important than a token snow plod to the true summit.
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Where were all the safety and other advisors? Were they stitched up by the TV liars, or in on it. Why do television companies feel they have to treat their customers like morons. Do they really dispise us that much. No shame in doing Ledge Route - but why not say where they ended up - why lie like most other programs. GRJ is no less the mountain man - quite the opposite - that is a fine day out, The Mirror is out of order - I wonder was he lied to too?
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| Edited: 20/11/07 20:26 |
It still made good telly,much better than watching Watch With Oddie.Heard that a 2nd series is in the offing,I wonder what they won't climb this time.
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old news was reading this on some outdoor blogs yesterday. Who cares, it's not as if he killed anyone, and no one was hurt, lost anything, was out of pocket because of it.
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 Me and a mate went up that way in late September. When we got to the CIC hut I decided I didn't like the cross winds and probable bad visibility on the CMD Arete so headed back round and tramped up the "tourist" route. It was thoroughly sh1t and I can't help feeling it would have been better to have stuck with the original plan and not got to the top if necessary than just plod up for the sake of it. Of course I might have fallen off though.
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 From the limited amount I have read on this GRJ THOUGHT he had reached the top, but due to poor map reading he actually hadn't. If that is correct, it seems to me that he didn't deliberately set out to deceive anyone. A typical Mirror non story if ever there was one. 
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I think James is about right. I was kind of astonished by the remarks attributed to Ken Crocket though. As we said in the article linked to this thread, it's not exactly Maestri on Cerro Torre - 'Grif Rhys Jones claims first ascent of Ben Nevis!' - I don't really see how it's a slap in the face for anyone. Ultimately it's about you and your day on the mountain and nothing whatsoever to do with the BBC or Grif Rhys Jones. I suppose it could be confusing for anyone who does know the summit and thought the cairn, shelter etc had been removed 
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 I don't see why it's a "slap in the face" to anyone. Still, based on what's been attributed to GRJ now - that even with a guide and being on the Ledge route to Carn Dearg no-one knew they weren't on the summit - the whole thing sounds fishy. Fortunate navigation off the "wrong" summit in mist! It's showbiz - big pinch of salt
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| Edited: 21/11/07 15:22 |
I would have thoguh they would have GPS with them too, seeing as it would eb BBC funded and all that. Or perhaps they did notice and couldent be bothered to go across to the real summit.
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I must admit - if I'd climbed the Ledge Route and the weather was poor I'd make for Fort William and a pint in the Grog and Gruel rather than tramping to the summit. Wouldn't tell 5 million viewers I'd made it to the summit tho. Maybe no-one told GRJ - plausible deniability as the politicians say.
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 Did he actually claim to be on the summit when he was there or was it in the voice over? It could be that half the people there knew where they were and what was going on but I doubt they took guides etc back to an editing suite in London.
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 > I was kind of astonished by the remarks attributed to Ken Crocket though
I nearly posted a harshly worded comment about that last night.
But then I remembered the important phrase:
"The Mirror reports him as saying".
Newspaper reporting is, sadly, piss-poor in these sort of circumstances.
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I understand that said Luvvie (Mr Jones) was actually airlifted to the wrong summit due to an incorrect "Phone-In" vote as to the correct grid reference, then filmed descending it, but after editing it appeared as if he was actually ascending. He is due to be un-knighted by her Queenship any day now...
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