Four climbs, nine climbers and a hard new route live from the Cairngorms.
A quick heads-up for a live television climbing
extravaganza this weekend - 18/19 August - direct fromthe
Cairngorms National Park.
The Great Climb is happening on BBC Scotland and will also
be featured on BBC2 across the UK. Actually the programme will
features around eight hours of climbing on four routes by nine
climbers, all filmed and broadcast live from the crag.
Climbers taking part will include Dave MacLeod, who'll be
attempting a new route, Dave Cuthbertson, Candadian legend Barry
Blanchard and South African Ed February along with local specialist
and mixed legend Graham Ettle and Spanish climber and some time
model, Araceli Segarra.
The project harks back to the legendary live outdoor broadcasts
featuring the likes of Joe Brown, Don Whillans, Tom Patey and Chris
Bonington some 40 years ago on the Old Man of Hoy, but should be a
lot easier to produce with modern compact film-making equipment.
New Route
Interesting stuff from the programme's web site where Macleod,
first ascendant of the hardest traditional route in the world, talks
about his prospective new line for the programme:
"Thing is, falling from the hard part or the sustained moves above
would mean certain death, no question. So where Indian Face is 7b
with bad pro, this is top end 8a+ with even worse pro. Hmmm E10 for
sure.
"I'm psyched!
Filming It...
Haglofs-supported Duncan McCallum was the lead cameraman for the
acclaimed Edge series a few years ago as well as working on The Face
and Wilderness Walks. He also filmed The Abyss with Brian Hall, and
participated in the first ever decent through trip of Lowes Gully on
Kinnabalu Borneo, the worlds longest Canyoning trip; starting at
13,000 feet and descending to sea level.
It should make for some compelling viewing for anyone into the
outdoors. You can see a preview trailer at www.bbc.co.uk/scotland
plus visit the programmes's very own web site at www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/greatclimb
