In reply to paul mitchell:
From his biography:
The experience failed to dim Chouinard's enthusiasm for all things Scottish and he returned in 1976 after being handed the finance for a National Geographical film on Scottish winter climbing, part of a major travelogue which unfortunately has never seen the light of day. Chouinard recruited a number of leading British climbers including Cunningham,Nicholson — who three years earlier had soloed Point Five and Zero in a morning — and MacInnes and filming began on Ben Nevis in almost perfect conditions, although perilously close to spring.
"Part of the film was supposed to be fictional," says Chouinard,"with John playing a hard case from a rundown part of Glasgow. He rides on his motor bike across Rannoch Moor, solos something and then slips and falls but no-one knows if was it real or imagined, it was kinda surreal.
The film never got to be seen because later on in another section, filmed in China, half the film crew were caught in a terrible avalanche. The director was killed and I broke a couple of ribs. I was not very lucky with those sort of things. On the first day of spring on the Ben I was caught in a soft-snow avalanche when a cornice broke on Number Two Gully and I was tangled in rope but stayed on the surface, fortunately. I can remember John and Hamish sprinting on their crampons for safety while I caught the brunt of it. I remember John thought it all highly amusing. But we got some great climbing, there was rime ice everywhere. I got to do Point Five with John and it was great. I would say without a doubt he was the best ice climber I came across in Scotland, catlike and very natural, he just moved so well."
Post edited at 20:38
