Category: video

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The Beckoning Silence – Joe Simpson returns

The Beckoning Silence is one of the compelling mountaineering books written by Joe Simpson. It’s not as good as his Touching the Void, in my opinion, but is still brilliant:

The Beckoning Silence

The Beckoning Silence – Amazon

This month a documentary — also called The Beckoning Silence — with Joe Simpson as narrator, will be released. The film is loosely adapted from Joe’s book and was created by the same team that made the BAFTA-award-winning documentary Touching the Void, my favourite outdoor film ever. (It happened in the remote Huayhuash Mountains in Peru.)

The new film The Beckoning Silence is …

… the true story of four twenty-something climbers … who attempted to climb the notorious North Face of the Eiger in 1936. They began their ascent via an access shaft from a railway tunnel that ran halfway up the mountain, but before long, tragedy struck.

… unlike Touching the Void, this distinctly chilling story does not have a happy ending. All eventually perished. Kurz was the last to die, spending a frostbitten night within feet of rescuers before signing off with the line: “Ich kann nicht mehr” (I cannot go on). …

Joe Simpson: High flyer – The Independent

If it’s half as good as Touching the Void, it will be well worth getting a copy of the new film. (Available on 4DVD on November 5th.)

The Beckoning Silence will be shown at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival in the UK November 17th with Joe and the production crew in attendance. I’d love to be at that screening!

(via The Piton)

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Banff Mountain Festival 2007, Oct 27 – Nov 4

I am planning to head out to Banff for the festival, my first time ever.

Though films are at the “heart of the festival”, there is much more happening. The Mountain Book events, for example. And the Adventure Trade Show for gear.

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The 32nd annual Banff Mountain Film Festival, presented by National Geographic and New Balance, brings you the world’s best mountain films and speakers. Experience the adventure of climbing, mountain expeditions, remote cultures, and the world’s last great wild places — all brought to life on the big screen. …

Banff Mountain FILM festival

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Banff Mountain Festivals 2007 SCHEDULE

I am still trying to decipher the ticketing page. They need fewer options.

Leave a comment if you are going to be there.

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video – climbing Half Dome, California

Includes a bear at Little Yosemite campground.

Description: For some people, it’s the hike of a lifetime. It’s 5000 feet straight up to an unforgettable view of the legendary Yosemite Valley. For the full travelogue on Yosemite Park’s Half Dome Trek, including related videos, interactive map, and useful links, visit WWW.OPENROAD.TV

Click PLAY or watch it on Travelistic.

Yosemite’s Half Dome: Everything You Need to Successfully Hike Yosemite’s Most Famous Landmark | National Parks Traveler

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humour – African American Boycott of L.L. Bean Enters 80th Year

Perhaps LL Bean should advertise on this blog after all. They are going to need some good will after this spoof newscast.

The CEO of L.L. Bean pleads with black leaders to forgive his company for whatever it’s done to cause this decades-long boycott.

Click PLAY or watch it on The Onion News Network.
African American Boycott of L.L. Bean Enters 80th Year

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4WheelBob’s ascent of White Mtn – VIDEO

Previously I Iinked to photos by Tom Mangan and myself from the historic ascent by 4WheelBob Coomber to the summit of 14,246ft (4342m) White Mountain in California by wheelchair.

This was the culmination of a 5-year dream of Bob’s, his third attempt.

But photos cannot convey the difficulty of this feat. You need to see video to understand just how slowly one can progress on loose scree, even one as well-trained and dogged as 4WheelBob.

Click PLAY or watch Bob’s triumph on YouTube. (8min)

Incidentally, 4WheelBob has added a blog to his website.

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video – hiking Flat Top Mountain, Alaska

Alaska Podshow has introduced a Hike of the Week feature. It’s well done

To see a sample, check out the 7min video for Flat Top Mountain close to Anchorage, the most popular day hike in the State:

We take you to the famous Chugach State Park! This park offers 495,000 acres of forests, lakes, mountains and valleys located right at Anchorage’s doorstep – and the welcome mat is out.

Today’s Hike of the Week is just a 30-minute drive from downtown places you in prime Alaskan wilderness adventures, which offers the ultimate solitude and wilderness beauty in every season!

» Blog Archive » Show #155 “Flat Top Mountain / Hike of the Week”

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TV – Survivorman vs Man vs Wild

My hiking buddies prefer the TV show Survivorman over Man vs Wild.

200px-lesstroud-survivorman.jpgThe Survivorman — Les Stroud — is believable.

In comparison, the Man vs Wild — Bear Grylls — is untrustworthy. Some of his “feats”, we suspect, are faked. (Aside from the fact he “survives” with a camera crew at the ready.)

Higgins of Mental Floss magazine agrees:

One of my favorite TV shows is coming back for a second season in August, after a long hiatus.

Survivorman is a one-man survival show, hosted by Canadian survival expert/musician/TV producer Les Stroud.

Each episode finds Les completely alone in the wilderness for seven days, carrying his own cameras and recording himself on a seven-day survival trek. Let me emphasize that: this guy is alone, schlepping fifty pounds of camera gear himself, while devising his own food, water, and shelter (he typically brings the most absurdly minimal survival gear with him, like a single match, a candy bar, maybe a rusty tin can).

He’s hardcore. And he’s quite a nice guy, which makes you root for him as he survives the elements.

mental_floss magazine – Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix

Leave a comment if you have an opinion. Check out both TV shows if you’ve not seen both.

UPDATE: Season 2 of Survivor Man Begins August 10th on the Discovery Channel. (via The Adventure Blog)

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hike Carthew-Alderson, Waterton, Canada

waterton.jpgWaterton Lakes National Park is the best kept hiking secret in Canada. YOU can go — but let the non-hiking hordes jam the roadways of Banff and Jasper instead.

Contributors Kelly and Lexi (getting married Aug. 4th in the Yukon, by the way) raved about their 2006 Carthew-Alderson hike in Waterton. Based on their recommendation, we added Carthew-Alderson to our list of the best hikes in North America.

Last Friday the weather was hot and clear so we made a dash to Waterton.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning the weather changed as we approached the summit, high point of the day hike.

To see what happened click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Stuck in the clouds, we missed most of the best vistas. We even got lost crossing the top of the ridge having to ask a marmot for directions.

Click PLAY to see how it looks on a “sunny” day. Or watch it on YouTube.

You might have noticed, the biggest drawback of Waterton is wind.

Carthew-Alderson 20km (12.4mi) from Cameron Lake to Cameron Falls. Highly recommended. Hiker’s shuttle C$10 / person available at Tamarack Mall.

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video – closest black bear ever

Just finishing the Wall Lake hike in Waterton, I commented to George: “We haven’t seen our bear yet today.”

(One time in Waterton National Park my hiking group had seen at least one bear a day. They are easy to spot here. One day we saw 5 bears.)

Right then a bear came strolling directly towards our car. George let the vehicle roll down a hill, quietly pacing the animal. You’ll see it was completely unconcerned by our presence.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

To Identify the mule deer, also in the video, I used the Road Watch in the Pass website.

They are a non-profit organization monitoring animals on the roadways in the Crowsnest region of Alberta. Trying to improve safety for large animals including hikers.

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Road Watch Wildlife Information Primer – Mule Deer

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Road Watch photo contest winner