Mountain

In reply to G8ADD:

In reply to MM0FMF:

I’ve never “done” Ben Hope

It’s on my list since I saw someone’s photos on the net. He went up the other side where there is a “bad step”. Braver than me, I’ll do the route on the telly. The few times I’ve been that far North (not walking though) is an amazing experience hence wanting to do that hill. The sheer lack of people and development is wonderous.

A question: I missed the start of the climb on Skye (answering the
door - grrr!) but from the bit I saw it looked like Bruach na Frithe,
am I right? This is supposed to be the easiest peak in the
range…but I have my doubts!

Snap, someone at the door. Yes it was and yes it is. My munro bagging colleagues at work all found it rather amusing that they made a big fuss because they all said you can walk up there with no great difficulty. Unlike some other parts of the Cuillins.

A super program, well worth cutting the SSTV net for!

Would have been better if Griff hadn’t been playing the idiot with socks and all the clothes he had on at the start. The problem is with programs of the type is that you have to make it interesting to people who have no interest in the subject and that means that people who have some or a deep interest will nit pick the minor failings. Just like I’m doing! :wink:

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:
I found Sgurr Dearg easier than the Bruach, just one short step where I put hand to rock - but that is without the Inn Pin, of course!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to GW0DSP:
Take a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta/ Seams like shortly we’ll be able to download programmes we have missed up to 7 days after and then view within 30 days. Sign up now for the beta if you want to try. No idea how many they will accept for the beta nor what programmes will be able to be downloaded.
73
jim g0cqk

Griff’s presentation style is very good but I hope the next 4 programms are a bit more accurate than the first.
Griff seemed to be under the impression that the north west of Scotland is under a blanket of snow for 6 months of the year. In fact we had a debate at work on Monday whether the Ben Hope / Suilven sequences were actually filmed last winter as we reckoned that it would have taken at least 2-3 days to film given the lack of daylight in winter and we couldn’t think of a spell where snow stayed at all levels for that long on the west coast.
He remarked that the area looked particularly desolate under 3 feet of snow yet there was barely a covering in the background and even near the summit of Ben Hope (3000+ ft) I didn’t see anything more than knee depth.

Robin, GM7PKT.

PS Don’t be put off by Griff’s description. I haven’t done Suilven (yet) but I have activated Ben Hope. The popular route is a very easy climb in summer conditions and although there is very little daylight at 58.4 N in winter, in good weather in June it doesn’t really get dark.

In reply to GM7PKT:
I read some website that said they finished recording in November so that has to be last year 2006. There were comments somewhere that indicated that Ben Hope was recorded during the snows of March 2006, if my interpretation is correct. Long time since I was up there. It really is quite remarkable how you can traverse in such a short journey, from the rest of the UK where there is virtually nothing older than 600 million years, over Torridonian circa 1200 million, through Laxfordian, Scourian, Lewisian e.t.c back to around 3500-3700 mya i.e that corner of the NW Highlands is roughly 6 times older than the oldest rocks anywhere else in the UK.

In reply to G0CQK:

…that corner of the NW Highlands is roughly 6 times older than
the oldest rocks anywhere else in the UK.

Just like their Malts, the Scots like their rocks to mature!

73, Gerald

Agree with all the comments made about the programme. It will be interesting to see how Griff handles something more familiar… in the Lakes.

In reply to G0CQK:

Prior to the opening of the North Atlantic and the Labrador Sea in the Tertiary those ancient Highland rocks would have been the eastern limit of the Canadian Shield, seperated from the Baltic Shield by the Caledonides. Unless there have been recent discoveries elsewhere I think the oldest dated rocks on Earth are in Greenland: this is also the source area for the sediments making up the Torridonian. It may be my imagination but when I’m walking in that area in the far northwest, the rocks radiate a feeling of extreme age!

Robin, I bet that all the “climb” of Ben Hope was filmed in a few hours, using a helicopter, the Beeb is notoriously impatient!

73

Brian G8ADD

Mr Griff Rhys Jones back on this evening on BBC1 at 9pm gentlemen.

This time from “The Lakes”

Peter

In reply to ON3WAB:

Thanks for the reminder Peter!

In reply to ON3WAB:

Don`t know about anyone else, but I for one was disappointed with last nights offering. I hope it improves next week.

In reply to G1INK:

I missed the first one Steve which I believe was very good, I watched last nights’ episode, but turned off totally bored after half an hour, it was probably of more interest to those looking for general info about the slate mine etc.

Maybe it got better after I switched off?

Mike

In reply to GW0DSP:
The only thing I would add is that it was better than Wainrights Walks on Catbells.

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to GW0DSP:

You can see the plans for each episode at BBC One - Mountain and basing what is pictured on the web by what’s been shown on the telly you should be able to work out if it’s worth watching.

I suppose the issue is whether it’s a program about mountains and walking/climbing them or a program about areas of the UK where you find mountains. I suppose we were hoping it was more the former but actually it’s looking more like the latter.

Still some nice scenery was shown.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

After seeing the scenery in the programme my XYL is dead keen to visit G/LD, so that’s a result as far as I’m concerned!!

73 de Paul G4MD

Ooh nearly forgot :slight_smile:

It might not be a program specifically about climbing/walking/mountaineering etc (but primetime on BBC1 isnt likely for that stuff) but if you’re going to climb Napes Needle, then at least go to the top. I prefered last weeks episode on Scotland.

Ian
G7ADF

In reply to G8ADD:

In reply to GW0DSP:
The only thing I would add is that it was better than Wainrights Walks
on Catbells.

73

Brian G8ADD

I have to disagree Brian. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t been to LD, I find the Wainright series very well put together and informative.

Last weeks Mountain was dissapointing because of its general inaccuracy. I’ve no idea if last nights episode was any more accurate but it certainly wasn’t as interesting.

73s Robin.

Both episodes so far have been enjoyed fully at this household. I very rarely watch any telly at all, so it was weird to have three programmes in one evening to watch - Mountain, Wainwright and MOTD.

I am enjoying the series, and am quite happy with whatever slant they want to put on each episode. I am learning stuff I didn’t know about these areas, and finding that interesting and entertaining, which I guess is what it is supposed to be.

Cheers Auntie.

I too was disappointed with the content of this weeks Mountain after really enjoying last week. It will not stop me watching as I still found it worth it for the scenery. What I could not believe is that when I tuned in to watch Wainwrights Walks that the episode also included Catbells. Winner this week was definitely Julia Bradbury with a slight annoyance that I had just seen so much of the same material in Mountain, some of it word for Wordsworth. Hopefully both series will be more interesting next week. Possibly there were too many other distractions for the director of Mountain in the Lakes. You could almost see his mind ticking over “Got to do something on Mint Cake, Wordsworth, Wainwright, Slate Mines, Quakers and Oh! we will have to cut out most of the mountain stuff to fit it in.” Maybe back in Scotland there will be less to distract from the core point of the program. I suspect that it was a case of after seeing the first program the director was told to make the rest of the series more general interest.

73 Steve

In reply to GW7AAV:

Hmmm, that reminds me, I need to snack on my KMC by November which is its “best before” date. What? Honestly, if I was stuck up a mountain, would I give a whatsit about the date!?! It can wait until the end of the winter bonus period.

Missed this week’s Mountain episode working in the garden in the dimming light only to get two massive mozzy bites as a reward. Oh well…

73, Gerald

In reply to G4OIG:
Missed most of it as well because of some conflicts. However got the e-mail with my i-player login details over the weekend so downloaded the program this evening. It’s a really slow process, appearing to be throttled at the BBC end and took over 2 hrs for its 271mb (my normal download rate is about 5mb). I’ll expect to watch it later this week, most likely tomorrow. Programmes are available for 7 days after broadcast, you have 30 days to view once down, and once viewed they expire 7 days after.
73 all
jim g0cqk