UKC

In this exclusive 12min video, many of Scotland's leading climbers pay tribute to Jimmy Marshal, king of the Ben.

We also hear about Marshall's and Robin Smith's amazing week on Ben Nevis back in 1960.

Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner repeated the week, filmed by Paul Diffley. This is an account of their amazing week of climbing on Britain's highest mountain.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=52032

In reply to UKC News:

Another UKC video that doesn't work for me. Please, please can you upload them to Vimeo instead and embed? I know that won't have UKC branding, but isn't more important that as many people as possible can watch the videos? Or am I the only one that has problems?

In reply to chris_s:

Same here, it looks like it is loading but not doing anything to get beyond that.

Graeme.

In reply to chris_s:

We are getting 33% completion on it which is quite good (that means people actually watching to the last frame). We are getting 29% stutter on it which, again, isn't particularly high. However we are aware that sometimes the UKC Videos fail to start on some machines. Nick is away at the moment though so there is nothing we can do this week.

We will run this one as a UKC exclusive for a while and then put it on Vimeo later.

Alan

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Ah, mine has actually started now. Ta.

Graeme.

In reply to UKC News:

All terribly fine stuff, but why is it described as the 'infamous' week? Surely it was famous and glorious? Infamous suggests there was something wrong with it.

In reply to UKC News:

Loads the first minute then stops. Annoying.

In reply to UKC News:

An excellent wee bit of film - long live The Maister.

In reply to UKC News:

Good film and very enjoyable. Rubbish, samey grey music though.

In reply to UKC News:

Enjoyed the film, but when I maximise it to fill the screen it does so in both axes, resulting in squished heads. Can you force it to retain the aspect ratio of the file when in full screen please?

In reply to UKC News:
Interesting film but please can someone explain why this film is endorsing Rio Tinto - a company with an appalling human rights and environmental record?

In reply to Adam Wainwright:
It's not endorsing Rio Tinto, it's partly sponsored by them, probably because they own the aluminium smelter in Fort William (and, I think, quite a lot of the surrounding land up to Ben Nevis) and are among the sponsors of the Fort William Mountain Festival.

In reply to tony:
A full screen 'Rio Tinto' counts as endorsing in my book.

In reply to UKC News:


That was a joy , iv'e read the account a few times and never have i read anything quite like it,it must have been amazing . These guys are such strong characters and absolute climbing legends . Ta much for that wee vid,
Shona.

In reply to Adam Wainwright:

That's how it is.

Great video, worth the time to download

In reply to UKC News: fantastic. Nice wee testament to an inspiring man and era.

In reply to UKC News:

By using Rio Tinto as sponsors you are allowing them advertising space, I imagine the 1000s of climbers who have protested against Rio Tinto destroying the rock climbing areas in Oak Flat Land, Arizona would not be too impressed.

In reply to UKC News: Just been reading about Rio Tinto and Arizona. Seems like they are using the Mountain Festival as a smoke screen for their less enviromental exploits. If so, doesn't sound good. Maybe a bit of solidarity with fellow climbers abroad is needed here.

However, would like to here the other side of the story. Maybe someone involved in the decision to accept the sponsorship could comment?

In reply to janinebonnet:

Rio Tinto do not sponsor UKClimbing.com nor do they advertise.

They sponsor the Fort William Mountain Festival.

Website and contact details: http://www.mountainfilmfestival.co.uk/index.asp

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: E-mail sent. Hoping that the doubts are unfounded

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Thats appalling. Whoever is in charge of marketing at the Fort William Mountain Festival needs their head examining.

Perhaps a boycott is in order for anyone with any morals?

Firstly I'd like to convey my disapointment that the celebration of the achievements of Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith have been hijacked so completely on this thread. There are more negative comments here than anything else, complaints about video streams, the music and now the involvement of Rio Tinto. We had a great night with Jimmy and members of Robin Smith's family last Sunday which for me has now been tainted by some poorly conceived posts.

Whether or not you have complaints about Rio Tinto it would have been nice to have some comments about the subject of this thread. A new thread on Rio Tinto would have been a better way to present any concerns people might have about them.

Rio Tinto Alcan has sponsored the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture since its inception and first presentation in 2008. Not surprisingly it was British Alcan that was first approached through the Lochaber smelter.

For over 100 years Alcan (now owned by Rio Tinto) has been in Lochaber providing jobs and making major contributions to the local area by building houses, infrastucture and bringing in a steady income stream. Alcan is the fourth largest land owner in Scotland ... when you ski on Aonach Mor, bike through the forest or climb on Ben Nevis or in Glen Nevis it is all on Alcan land.

They have always kept access to this land open and free. They have also allowed paths and cycle trails to be built on their land for us all to use and benefit from. Tourism, and especially outdoor tourism, is now the biggest industry here and this is being enhanced by the involvement of Alcan. Alcan has been, and continue to be, an excellent custodian of the land they own in Scotland.

Since Rio Tinto took over Alcan they have invested around £40million in the Lochaber smelter, ensuring its future here and that of the people working there and the area as a whole.

All of this is very comendable and it is on this basis that they were asked to sponsor the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture, a Scottish award for contributions to mountain culture in Scotland, sponsored by a company engaging very positively with people in Scotland.

It does appear that Rio Tinto has questions to answer with regard to its actions in Arizona and given the opportunity I'm sure they will do so. However, as I have said, this is not the thread for that topic. I look forward to learning more about Rio Tinto's actions elsewhere in the world on a separate thread.

In the meantime, some comments on Jimmy Marshall, Robin Smith, Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner would be welcome.

Mike Pescod

Chairman
Fort William Mountain Festival

In reply to Mike Pescod:

Mike

im sure that you understand that people are slow to offer praise but quick to criticise.

Im sure the vast silent majority appreciate the interview and report.

Mick

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: I really enjoyed "watching" progress throughout the week, my only disappointment was not being able to see any clips from the back end, (that and being too far away to attend the festival of course !)I thought the interviews were brilliant so thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work and try and ignore the nockers - well most of them !

In reply to UKC News:

Nice vid. A few shots of the routes from 'the Great Week' would have fitted well.


Chris

In reply to Mike Pescod:

Hi Mike, as I think I might already have told you (?), I was truly sorry not to be able to attend what looks in some ways to be the Mountain Festival event of the decade. The whole project was such an exciting conception and, quite apart from my huge respect for the three living members of that quartet, I'd have been fascinated (with two little Smith connections of my own) to hear some first-hand recollections of the man from Marshall...

Smith's elder brother Charlie was one of my dad's best friends and I also stayed for nearly a year in The Hague with his cousin. When I was studying there in 1986/7, I had digs with a Scottish family and got talking to my landlady Mary about climbing. So she told me that her cousin had been a great climber, thought even to have the edge on Haston (at this stage I was thinking 'what's she talking about?') and had been killed at only 23 (at which point I knew who he was!). So of course I told her about my dad and Charlie and rang my parents to tell them (small world!), but still can't recall doing a Smith route yet to this day. On which note I've been meaning to get on The Clean Sweep for years, have recently taken a fancy to Gob, hope to do The Needle one day and must do a Smith winter route too, so we'll see.

Still hoping to see the completed films from the project sometime (no substitute for missing the night, I know), and have enjoyed the clips I've seen on the web immensely (especially seeing Dave and Andy's clear respect for the routes and sense of, dare I say it, 'struggle' with them at times).

Regards
P

In reply to UKC News:

Great film : )
Was that climbing clip of Bludgers cause I dont recognise it?

In reply to Mike Pescod: Congrats to all involved. It has been interesting to learn about Marshall and Smith. I can't believe they climbed such routes using step cutting.

Thanks also for your reply about Rio Tinto. Sounds like at least in Scotland they are showing a fine example of coporate resopnsibility. But for a lot of British climbers, the mountain environment extends further than just scotland.

And finally, please don't imply that those who comment on the actions of minning companies don't care about climbing history. That is equivalent to the Republicans say that anyone who criticises the war in Iraq do not love America!