'The Swiss Machine' Wins ShAFF Award

Üli Steck documentary grabs top gong at this weekend's Sheffield Adventure Film Festival,

The Swiss Machine, the story of Swiss Mountaineer Üli Steck's astonishing alpine speed ascents has bagged the Best Film Award at this weekend's Sheffield Adventure Film Festival - you can see the trailer above. The speed he climbs at is really quite amazing.

Judge Lucy Creamer says:  “With the incredibly high standards of this years entrants we had a task on our hands choosing the winners, many categories were closely fought. But the best film didn't need too much discussion as The Swiss Machine really did stand out for many reasons.

"Quality photography combined with a great score and of course the understated star, Ueli Steck. This film has you gripping your seat, even if you know the outcome. To capture these ascents on film is truly amazing. Watch and cry!”

Alastair Lee's segment about Leo Houlding's new route 'The Prophet' landed the best climbing film gong, while Baffin Babes, 'here woman meets nature and beautifully does it too' in the words of judge, Simon Homfray, landed Best Spirit of Adventure Film.

There are full details of all the awards on the ShAFF web site at www.shaff.co.uk/news/2011/03/04/2011_ShAFF_Winners_Announced/ where you can also find full info on the weekend's festival.

For a look at trailers of some of the other top ShAFF films, see Festival Director Matt Heason's top five ShAFF 2011 films overview on OM.

Looks like being a cracking event if you're northern based and fancy free this weekend.