New film spotlight on Skye’s wild places
RELEASED online on Sunday night, ‘Cúchullain’ is the first episode in a six-part film series entitled Elemental Journeys, exploring the stories of people whose lives are defined by wild spaces and mountain adventures.
The first episode focuses on climber and writer Ian ‘Spike’ Sykes, whose life has been shaped by the Scottish Highlands and his experiences in the RAF Mountain Rescue team.
Cúchullain was shot in locations across Skye, from the dark walls of Garbh Corrie to the striking pinnacles of the Basteir Tooth. The film features a running sequence interwoven with a nostalgic interview with Spike and a rendition of The Grand Old Masters, a folk song written by the late Tom Patey as homage to his closest climbing friends including Jimmy Marshall and Don Whillans.
On revisiting Loch Coruisk, Ian said the chance to shoot at Loch Coruisk was something he felt strongly about. ‘Visiting the hut by boat, it comes as no surprise it hadn’t changed much,’ he said.
‘The first time I had been here was 55 years ago under very different circumstances. At New Year 1962, while I was a young recruit in the RAF, I had been involved in a call-out to retrieve three climbers who had taken a fatal fall on the Dubh’s, the beautiful mountain behind the hut. That night it had been a miserable place of sadness for the small party of people waiting here in anguish for news. This time it was different. The hut was spic and span and by the time I arrived the crew had a brew on the boil, sorting out the cameras and preparing their film-making equipment. I had been involved in a number of film shoots over the years but this was a bit different and full of nostalgia.’
To watch this and subsequent episodes, visit www. pertex.com