The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
REACH FOR THE SKY
The UK’S longest-running mountain film festival kicks off in Dundee this week and promises a packed programme of inspiring, edge-of-seat adventure, discovers Gayle Ritchie
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” So said Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, alongside Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Lovers of the hills are in for a treat this week when Dundee Mountain Film Festival returns to the city for the 38th time, and after a two-year hiatus thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festival is the UK’S longest-running mountain film festival, featuring a fantastic three-day programme of international speakers, award-winning films, art, photography and exhibitions.
It kicks off on Thursday with former Lochaber Mountain Rescue guide, Royal Marine and rock climber Mick Tighe presenting a selection of archival films from his Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection, accompanied by live music and “diddling” from Steven Gellatly and Denis Shepherd.
Mick, who was the national training officer to all of Scotland’s Mountain Rescue Teams for 10 years in the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as a mountain and Arctic warfare instructor, boasts perhaps the largest collection of mountain artefacts, equipment, literature, photographs and memorabilia in the UK.
Friday evening’s speaker is barristerturned-outdoor-instructor and adventurer Pauline Sanderson, the first person to tackle the world’s longest climb, from the Dead Sea to the summit of Everest, resulting in a Guinness World Record.
It was while scaling Everest that Pauline experienced the scariest moment of the sixmonth trip – when her oxygen tank stopped working. Luckily, it kicked into action after a minute and she survived to tell the tale!
Alan Rowan has the honour of giving the prestigious Irvine Butterfield Lecture on Saturday morning, in a talk titled Mountains at Night: Three Decades of Chasing the Moon.
Alan, who writes The Courier’s weekly Walk this Way column, will reflect on why climbing
Scotland’s mountains at night has become so addictive for him, highlighting the good nights as well as the bad, along with tales of both the bizarre and the beautiful sides of mountaineering.
Known as the “Midnight Mountaineer”, Alan, who lives in Carnoustie, has written three books about his journeys – Moonwalker: Adventures of a Midnight Mountaineer, A Mountain Before Breakfast, and Mountains of the Moon.
The first two books were historic records of Alan’s night walking, and the third one charts his journey to bag a Munro on every full moon in 2018.
Alan started night climbing when he was sports editor for a daily newspaper and didn’t finish work until midnight. The job was highpressure and with his mind buzzing, he found it impossible to head home and fall asleep.
For 15 years, from 1994 to 2009, he regularly climbed Scotland’s mountains in the middle of the night, getting through the best part of two rounds of Munros and one round of Corbetts.
Having taken early retirement in 2009, Alan now works as a freelance writer, author and journalist. He still enjoys the odd night walk – although his emphasis is more often on aiming for sunrises and sunsets.
“It’s a huge honour to be presenting the Irvine Butterfield lecture,” says Alan. “His book, The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland: A Guide for Mountain Walkers, was the book I grew up with.
“It gave you two or three routes up every Munro, and also all the 3,000ft peaks around England, Ireland and Wales.”
Alan’s talk will be interspersed with photos and videos of his expeditions, as well as a short film showcasing stunning night skies and cloud inversions.
“I’ve been offered a free dog to go on the stage with me!” he reveals.
“There’s a story at the end – it’s very lighthearted and is about all the things that can go wrong when you go on a walk. It’s about a dog and a train. I’ll say no more but hopefully by that time, the audience will have bought into the idea that this is not a totally serious lecture!”
The Saturday afternoon speaker is Lake District-based poet, writer and outdoor enthusiast Helen Mort.
Helen has a particular interest in mountaineering and womanhood, the subjects of her latest book, A Line Above the Sky.
The festival will be brought to a close on Saturday evening with a talk from celebrated mountaineer Alan Hinkes, pictured right, the first and only Briton to climb through the death zone to reach the world’s 14 highest peaks.
Alan, who was awarded an OBE in 2006, will enthuse about his adventures and extreme exploits.
Brought up in the shadow of the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales, Alan has been climbing all over the world for more than 50 years and now lives in the Lake District.
It took him 27 attempts to conquer all the world’s peaks over 8,000m, including Everest and K2, but every expedition in his eyes was a success – because he came back alive when many of his peers didn’t.
His other claim to fame is that he accompanied actor Brian Blessed on his attempt on Everest.
Dundee-based Alfie Ingram has been involved with the festival since it launched back in 1983.
“It was first held to raise funds for the reconstruction of the bridge at Bachnagairn at the head of Glen Clova, in memory of our friend Roy Tait, a member of the Grampian Club and Tayside Mountain Rescue Team,” he says.
“Roy suffered a fatal fall on Lochnagar, and Bachnagairn was a favourite place of his.
“The 1983 festival successfully achieved its purpose, but everyone thought it was a great event, so why not hold another the following year, and the following year... and the following year!”
Alfie explains that 2022 would have been the festival’s 40th year, but thanks to Covid “lay off”, it is the 38th.
“It’s run entirely by a small committee of unpaid volunteers and, while the roots of the festival are of course Dundee, it has proved to be an excellent location, having good transport and road links, and it regularly attracts audiences from all over Scotland,” he says.
“This year’s festival features five separate programmes, presenting an eclectic mix of films and speakers covering a wide range of mountain and outdoor activities.
“It’s for anyone who enjoys the great outdoors, whether physically or from an armchair.”
As well as a series of films from Vancouver International Film Festival World Tour, there are more local ones from Scotland, including Ardverikie Wall: Free Solo by Dave Macleod who filmed himself “soloing” the Scottish classic near Loch Laggan using a body cam and drone.
There’s also Across the Sound, which follows hill runner Louis Macmillan as he speeds through the rugged wilderness of Jura.
Meanwhile, 10 in a Weekend is about a Scottish ski mountaineering challenge to hike, ride and showcase the 10 highest mountains in the UK – in a weekend.
And the film Explore Your Boundaries follows round-the-world cyclists Mark Beaumont, Jenny Graham and Markus Stitz as they cycle the 500-mile boundary of Argyll and the Isles.
The screening of Myrtle Simpson: A Life On Ice, will be honoured by a personal appearance by 92-year-old Scottish skier Myrtle, who is the 10th person to receive the Polar Medal.
Fondly nicknamed the “mother of Scottish skiing”, Myrtle was the first woman to ski across Greenland on an unsupported expedition. She was also president of the Scottish Ski Club in the 1970s and has written several books.
The film explores how Myrtle blazed her own unique trail from the North Pole to Peru.
In essence, if you’re passionate about the outdoors and keen to be inspired, you’ll absolutely love all that the festival has to offer!
THE FESTIVAL PRESENTS AN ECLECTIC MIX OF FILMS AND SPEAKERS COVERING A WIDE RANGE OF ACTIVITIES
Dundee Mountain Film Festival runs from November 24 to 26 with events staged in the Steps Theatre at the Central Library and Bonar Hall. For tickets and more information, visit the website at dmff.co.uk