UKC

Not sure how good it's going to be, but heads up

In reply to mountainbagger:

Mostly nauseating unfortunately. Channel 5 is still channel 5!

In reply to Martin Bagshaw:

Yes, it started a bit OTT, but I got used to it. I found the footage of Finlay Wild impressive... just how quick he was on that terrain! And Dave MacLeod is always engaging.

In reply to mountainbagger:

Coming up to 10 years since his FA. Really? Time flies.

Has anyone else had a serious look yet?

In reply to mountainbagger:

I enjoyed it. The rescue footage was a good reminder of how easily stuff can go wrong and how calling a rescue is sometimes the right thing to do.

Enjoyed the footage of echo wall. 

In reply to ablackett:

Hmm, was it the right thing to do though? They were "only tired" afterall, in little danger, with the prospect of finishing in the dark or an uncomfortable night on route. What got me was the footage of the female climber all of 5 foot below her companion, who was presumably on a belay stance - he could easily have got her to join him, or even tied her off, passed some food, got her warm, give reassurance then carry on - rather easy option was to make the call for rescue. But they all got out safe so I shouldn't complain - although no doubt I will be villified for this view. 

Yes, it was good.

In reply to subtle:

I think that might be a little harsh.

I would prefer to let individuals make an assessment of their safety in the conditions they find themselves in at the time.

Claire was also very forthcoming regarding her expectation of a 'telling off' from MR. They were the ones who were there, who made the commitment to assist and they did not feel the need to chastise her and her partner.

I think if Claire is 'tired', she's probably really tired.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/running/track_claire_maxted_on_her_bob_gr...

No 'vilification' just a different view.

In reply to mountainbagger:

yes, overall disappointing, some lovely footage but some used several times. Over hyped. But inspiring to see such great athletes in action, and excellent wildlife footage too.

In reply to mountainbagger:

I thought it was a good way to spend an hour. I certainly wasn't disappointed as my expectations were fairly low!

The Tower Ridge rescue was actually interesting. I did ponder if it might give people the impression that they can go as far as they can, then just call MR if they get stuck, but this is not having a go at Claire M and Paul who made the right decision in the circumstances, just the lack of mentioning that MR aren't just a taxi service. 

Dave M's bit was excellent, interesting to hear about how scared he says he was the whole time. Daft bu88er.

The way Finlay Wild moved on the terrain just shows why he's so good, that footage was probably the most remarkable.

Its easy, as outdoor folk, to criticise such programmes, but I, for one, am happy just to see stuff about the hills and mountains on the box and will always lap them up just for the imagery. This was better than most, and I'm not even going to whinge about the "World's Greatest Mountains" title, which might better be worded "4 mountains people will actually have heard of".

And, not once was it referred to as Mount Ben Nevis.

 

 

In reply to subtle:

Yes they got off safe that was the main thing.  Looks like they were well established near the very top of the Eastern Traverse with only Tower Gap, and the easy pitch to the plateau to go, could have been on the plateau within an hour.  I'm surprised with that there was no other climbers around on the route with them that day who could assist - although perhaps they started late and/or were last on the route that day? 

That said, whatever we think of other peoples decisions to call Mountain Rescue, it's really none of our business and a decision purely for those who feel that they are in peril at the time to make.  None of us were there, we don't know how cold, scared or tired they were, we all have off days, we all make mistakes from time to time and it's nice to know that the helicopter is there if we need it.  No doubt those involved will have learned a lot, I'm sure.

In reply to subtle:

I don't think the fundamental problem was that Claire was tired. As others have said, she's obviously very fit and, in that regard, would have been fine with a bit of extra food/drink/warmth. The problem was that her nerves were shot and she had completely lost confidence in her ability to negotiate the terrain.

I suspect her partner hadn't been up the route before. From the footage, it looks as though they were at the end of the traverse, below the Great Tower. If he'd done the route previously, he'd have known that, from the point of view of a second, by far the scariest part is over. From here on in, she'll have the rope running directly above her to the top of the Great Tower, with good hooks en route. Then an easy, if exposed, walk/crawl to the Gap, which she could have climbed down into with him belaying directly above her. He can then lead directly out so that, again, the rope is directly above her. And then it's pretty easy ground to the top. Additionally, the conditions looked pretty benign.

The traverse, on the other hand, if banked out will be very scary for those not used to trusting their feet on steep, loose snow - and you have to, as there doesn't tend to me much for the axes on the slabs to one's right! Add in the fact that gear is a little bit spaced, and it quickly becomes apparent to the second that they're going to take a big swing if they come off.

In reply to Tricadam: claire may be very fit as in marathon running,but swinging axes into ice/neve is a different type of fittness,from what i saw she did look tired swinging the axes hence she started to panick and became frightened of falling.I think if she had been on much easier ground shed have stormed up it,anyhow great advice on running on her you tube channel.

In reply to blackcat:

Frightened of falling off?  She was belayed.  

 

In reply to blackcat:

It looked to me as though she was swinging her axes at snow-on-slab, which is what it's like for most of the Eastern Traverse. The lack of resultant purchase was clearly unnerving! 

In reply to Tricadam:

If they were at the start of the traverse, couldn't they have abbed off?

In reply to mountainbagger:

Watched it last night after seeing this thread.

Channel 5 hype as expected for the Sofa Surfers but my favourite part was the amount of screen time given to actual athletes rather than the usual no-name presenter who walks the dog occasionally.

Macleod's whole section of the programme was really well done I thought.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

They'd done the traverse and were about to climb up the Great Tower. I reckon even with double ropes, an ab retreat from that position would be more than one pitch. The "retreat" option from there is to continue the traverse onto the slopes above Tower Scoop. Had I been Claire's partner, I wouldn't have gone for that though as ongoing exposure with rope to the side rather than above would have been the last thing she needed! 

In reply to mountainbagger:

They must have been short of film footage as they kept using some of the shots over and over again which I found annoying. No reference at the time to who the speakers were except in the credits at the end which flashed past. Kenton talked mostly sense but over did some of the hype. The Echo Wall climb is quite old footage, but even if very impressive climbing,  nothing new there. There was hardly any footage of any other winter climbs for which the Ben is justly famous, so only the oldest route, and the hardest route of recent times. As for what it's like on the plateau in wild white-out conditions, I blinked and missed it. A close up of tackling a massive cornice would have added to the understanding of the difficulties , especially in winter. In short not very impressive. A little more history would have helped eg the role of the CIC hut below the cliffs, but the Observatory history was OK. As for the girl  that was rescued, well a sign of the times. Immediately it gets a little difficult get out the mobile. Mostly let down for me by poor editing. Could do better!

In reply to Sean Kelly:

Most of those comments assume it was a climbing film aimed at climbers.

For mass market fodder I thought it was remarkably good.

In reply to Sean Kelly:

You must have been watching a different version cos both Dave and Kenton got a number of namecheck subtitles during the programme; as did several others.