World Oceans Day when Rune Hallum Sorenson sets a Danish record of 68 meters at the AIDA world free diving record in Kalamata, Greece.
HT @hallum.eu
Climbing Half Dome El Cap
Black Diamond’s grassroots athlete Jesse Huey partnered with Shane Chelone for one of Yosemite’s most coveted big-wall advenutures: Half Dome and El Cap in a day. Chelone provided a trip report and photos that details the duo’s race against the clock.
via @BlackDiamond
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Friday’s provocative sketch. Rather inspiring seeing jet packs in that top right corner.
Props via bud_caddell
Catlin Arctic
Catlin Arctic trek to reveal true extent of melting ice caps. The team will also stop one to three times a day to drill holes in the ice. From this they will take more detailed measurements of cores and the ocean below.
Would one rather stay in the Antarctica cabins of Halley VI?
Old Man of Coniston
The blind climber story quickly gained status amongst the locals. It’s a story that could of easily become folklore, a old man loses his sight and against all odds, starts climbing the local mountain in aid of charity. I stumbled across this documentary by pure chance. What happened was a blind climber story had quickly gained cult status amongst the local’s mountain community in Cumbria (North of England).
Arriving in the village of Coniston, I wandered into the local post office and asked for directions. Sure enough, they knew a blind climber who’s actually better known as Charles Turnbull, 86, a retired police inspector with a passion for remembering names, place and people. “It’s comes from 40 years on the job” he explains over tea, clearly at ease with sharing his story with the inclusion of charm and good humour. This was an extraordinary tale of adventure and courage.
Director/Cameraman Dan Sellars
Sound and Vision Jez Curnow
Format: U-matic High Band – 10 minutes
James Marsh, Man on Wire
Don’t wobble when you reach the top. This new doc might well strike a chord for the audience, especially those desperately eager to establish ‘why’ and ‘how’ do you go about walking the wire across the 1970’s construction site of the Twin Towers. This was one of the most defining stunts every accomplished by a French climber.
Synopsis: August 7, 1974. A young French man named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire suspended between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He danced on this wire for an hour with no safety net before he was arrested for what has become to be known as the “artistic crime of the century”.
“Man on Wire” is the perfect example of matching doc director to doc subject. French tightrope walker and juggler Philippe Petit became world-famous when he walked between the two World Trade Center towers, then under construction, on August 7, 1974 — a completely illegal if fantastic act that involved complex preparation and shook up New York City’s police department. (He had to cross back and forth several times to avoid the cops.) Petit had already achieved artistic notoriety for his feats at famous sites like Notre Dame in Paris, but to traverse the air space between what were then the world’s two tallest buildings? It’s not only his unbeatable skill, though, that makes Petit an ideal subject for a doc: He is a ball of fire, a fascinating egomaniac who engages you completely with his energy and confidence. Petit has written several books, including To Reach the Clouds, which recounts the feat in downtown Manhattan.
The full interview with British director James Marsh.
K2 adventure
“Exceptional natural intelligence and the incurable desire to climb the ladder are necessary.”
Reading this posting for some technology executive position I was pondering more on the lines of the climbing a ladder on some big rock/ice expedition. K2 straddles the border between China and Jammu and Kashmir in a territory currently claimed by Pakistan.
Its name is derived from the fact that it is the second peak (of 35) in the Karakorum Range of the western Himalayas. In 1861 the mountain gained its other well-known (though unofficial) name: Mount Godwin-Austen. Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen, a British soldier and topographer, was the second European to visit the area and research the mountain. Many local names are also used to identify the peak, including Chogori, Lambha Pahar, Dapsang, and Kechu (K2).
Dark Side Of the Lens
Spoke earlier about the stunning cinematography of the Atlantic coast in this new short film from Astray Films.
Gorgeous and deeply evocative portrayal of the ocean around the United Kingdom.
