‘Single Handed’ MSMD – Part 2 of 4

The second film on the DVD is a profile of someone who must be one of the world’s most psyched climbers, Kevin Shields.

Kevin Shields (pic Steven Gordon)

All top climbers talk about calculated risk, but Kev pushes the margins of his ‘calculations’ closer to real limits than any other climber I’ve ever seen. It can be terrifying to watch. Even the detachment from the action that comes from being behind the camera does not offer any protection from that terror.

Kevin Shields (pic Steven Gordon)

I’ve been filming Kev since early 2006. Some of the footage I shot then was used in Committed Vol I, but the rest of it has gone unseen until now. This year I’ve filmed Kev both in the Peak District and the Highlands and, without wishing to give away too much of the story, have captured some really special moments, from ecstasy to extreme tension. Even during the editing process, watching short clips back has left my palms damp…and I already know what happens!

For me good films are all about emotion. For a film to be great it has to make you laugh and make you cry. Films that do both stick with you. One emotion that you should experience when watching Single-Handed is frustration. This was highlighted when I was adding subtitles as an option to the DVD. In this scene Kev is struggling with the crux move on an E7.

00:14:31:23,00:14:33:17, That's just never possible.

00:14:33:17,00:14:34:17, F**king F**K

[Big fall /slide down the slab]

00:14:37:05,00:14:38:11, Oooh ya f**ker ye

00:14:38:21,00:14:39:21, F**K F**K F**K

"F**K F**K F**K"

00:14:57:14,00:14:58:14, Argh F**K IT

00:15:02:02,00:15:03:15, Nah, it's just never gonnae work, Gaz.

00:15:04:15,00:15:05:15, Lower us down now.

00:15:07:20,00:15:08:20, F*ck

So just for Kev we've added a special warning to the DVD cover:

"Warning contains some effing and blinding"

The Score

‘Single-Handed’ has a light score in terms of music. We recorded some good location sound from the radio mic Kev was wearing, so I wanted to make maximum use of that in the mix. You may have noticed in other films that the breathing of a scared climber can add much more tension than any music, so most of this film uses an atmospheric soundscape rather than a musical score.

The one track I have used is by the singer/songwriter Francis Hayes and is called “Friday, Saturday, Sunday”. I had this track on an old CD that was recorded live in a pub in Stirling. I really liked the track, but the recording quality was quite poor.

singer/songwriter Francis Hayes

Since this was the only version of the song ever recorded I managed to persuade Francis to re-record this track especially for the film. This allowed us to adjust the length of the intro to match the opening sequence. Francis and I spent some time in Chris Hall’s home recording studio to get the piece just right for the film. Chris added some bass guitar to Francis’ original acoustic and worked his sound engineer’s magic to complete the track.

Chris Hall happy with the track

This short clip from the film shows Kev enjoying the wonderful line of ‘Traveller in Time” at Ramshaw Rocks in Staffordshire.

World Premier at EMFF

The World Premier of Single-Handed will take place on Sunday 18th October at 7pm at the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival in the George Square Theatre. Kev will be there to answer a few questions after the film.

Tickets and details can be found here:

I’m really excited about seeing the audience’s reaction to this film. I may not manage to make everyone laugh and cry, but I'm sure its a film that will generate some emotion and leave your palms damp.

diff

Kev is sponsored by

Mountain Equipment and Wild Country

Kev Shields on the Grit

Earlier this year I headed down to The Peak to film Kev Shields climbing on the grit. This was Kev’s first grit trip, so it was great fun showing him around the crags and pointing out lines for him to look at.

Kev enjoying a nice grit top out. 'Traveller in Time’ E4

If you’ve not seen Kev in action before, check out the clip of the month on our homepage from Committed Vol1.

While at Ramshaw Rocks Kev spied the nice looking line ‘Traveller in Time’ E4 6a. Kev was almost stopped by a long reach out left at half height. As most of Kev’s left hand is missing it makes moves like this almost impossible, but after inventive use of a high toe hook with his right foot Kev made it to the top moves.

The next day at Froggat Kev made a fine solo accent of the classic Brown’s Eliminate E2.

Kev on 'Brown's Eliminate' E2

I always find climbing with Kev inspirational; it forces me to examine my own self imposed limitations and makes me think what I could achieve if tried has hard as Kev does.

Diff.

Kev on TV

Kev Sheilds on The Benny Hill Show at The Quadrocks

A Hot Aches film about climber, Kev Shields will be broadcast on Current TV this Monday night at 9pm. You may recognise Kev as one of the featured climbers in Committed Vol 1.

The film follows Kev climbing in Scotland and Northern Ireland and examines his motivations for hard trad climbing.



Current TV can be found here: SKY 193, Virgin 155

Alien Rock and The Old Man of Stoer

Being in the right place at the right time is pretty damn important in our line of business.

Last week we were lucky enough to match our diary dates for climbers with a heatwave in North Wales. This week the only part of the country that seems to have been dry has been the far north west of Scotland... where by coincidence Diff was doing a bit of filming for the BBC - on The Old Man of Stoer in fact.

The Old Man of Stoer

Diff was far better qualified to film that one than me, having climbed it twice already. And this time some nice mountain guides rigged a tyrolean traverse so he didn't even have to get his feet wet.

Meanwhile I escaped the rain to do a photoshoot in Alien Rock, Edinburgh.

Here's a picture of a route that every local will know; one of Reuben Welch's 'permanet' moulded resin creations that has been testing climbers for 12 or so years now.

Kev Shields at Alien Rock, Edinburgh

Bet all of you that have climbed it didn't realise it was that steep. Oh, how the camera CAN lie (if the photographer works hard enough)

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Dave

Lord Of The Flies and Pretty Girls

We had a long standing arrangement to film one of the best female rock climbers based in the UK. Jude Spancken is an F8a sport climber as well as a very strong trad climber. On-sighting is her trad preference so we met up to film a couple of superb E6s in the Llanberis Pass.

Jude Spanken on Lord of The Flies, The Cromlech, Llanberis Pass, North Wales

Lord Of The Flies at The Cromlech is a route that anyone climbing near around that grade would aspire to. A fantastic line in a spectacular location, a full 35/40m (110ft) pitch with a reputation for being quite bold.

Jude is one of the most graceful climbers I have ever seen. The ascent was beautiful, precise, effortless.

Jude attempting Pretty Girls Make Graves

The next day in marked contrast she went to climb Pretty Girls which is a mean, nasty, tough E6 6b that she promised would involve plenty of slapping, fighting and screaming! (She had seconded it several years ago so it wouldn't be a true on-sight) We weren’t disappointed, great fun. Thanks Jude.

Jude is also an excellent photographer, see her website.

Also that day we filmed Kev Shields on a route that, well, we don’t know what it was actually. Kev’s climbing grade is not as high as others in the movie, but leading up to E4 without any fingers on his left hand is pretty challenging and inspiring stuff.

Kev Shields topping out on his route (??) in the pass. Photos: Claire MacLeod

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Dave

Queuing for E8s in Scotland (!)

Climbing at Scottish sea-cliffs in mid February might not be the most obvious choice for a productive weekend. Don't expect sunbathing on golden beaches and a bit of deep water soloing to cool off. But the forecast promised good weather and so we headed North East with a couple of knarly Scottish climbers to seek out some of the east coast's hardest routes and another chapter for the new film Committed.

Long Haven, Aberdeenshire

Long Haven is situated 30 miles north of Aberdeen and is home to some hard routes including Tim Rankin's addition from last year 'Comfortably Numb' which he graded E8. Reputedly a excellent line, Tim reacted angrily at the time to the manner of report in the climbing press criticising the style of ascent. All his gear had been preplaced (rather than placed on the lead).

We arrived Saturday afternoon with Dave MacLeod and Kev Shields to find Gorden Lennox already on the route. How often do you get queue's for E8s in Scotland?

Gordon Lennox climbing 'Comfortably Numb'

So MacLeod got his onsighting head into gear and turned his attention to a good looking E7 on the front face. Already brushed and chalked up by the other party the route looked a good option to try and onsight.

Dave MacLeod onsighting 'Gies a Squid' E7 6c. Apparantly his first E7 onsight since 2001

Returning early on Sunday Gordon succeeded on 'Comfortably numb', repeating the route in the same style as Rankin. With all the gear now removed MacLeod was then able to attempt in more conventional style. After a second session of working the moves and testing the gear placements he then climbed it easily on his first attempt.

Dave MacLeod. The third ascent (and first placing gear on lead) of 'Comfortably Numb' E8 6c

Dave MacLeod. Cheesy grin at the top. (well, he was enjoying himself)

Over on the front face Kev Shields was in two minds over whether to attempt an E3 End Game. Without a normal left hand placing gear is difficult and Kev could only find one gear placement on the route. A fall at this point into the sea would be very serious. As it was beggining to get dark Kev decided to go for the lead, holding it together well.

Kev Shields leading 'End Game' E3 5c

So a good weekend for all, and we could begin the long drive south.

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Dave

Ice Climbing World Cup - Romania

The small mountain town of Busteni in Romania is certainly not the easiest place to travel to from Scotland. Reaching the venue of the final round of the Ice Climbing World Cup took us a round trip total of 4 train journeys, 4 flights, 3 taxis, 1 mini-bus and plenty of walking.

The effort was worth it though. Busteni have invested 200,000 euros into an excellent ice climbing structure, 25m+ high with huge overhangs and roofs giving 30m+ ?? routes. It's a shame that a heatwave arrived two days before the comp and for a second time this year the ice routes had to be heavily modified with artificial holds.

Barbara Zwerger finishing 4th in the women's final

I headed out there with the two other British climbers, Fiona Murray and Kev Shields, again as a combination of photography trip and also competing myself. I hesitate to use the term "British Team" because unlike most competing nations, Britain does not provide any support for this form of climbing competition. Other countries have a team selection process, provide coaching and of course fund their climbers to compete. At the opening ceremony it always feels quite odd. The "teams" parade under their nation flag. Our country doesn't even know that we're there.

Evgeny Krivocheitsev

The competition series was very close in the men's, with Markus Bendler (Aust), Evgeny Krivocheitsev (UKR) and Alexei Tomilov (Russ) in contention for the title. In the women's event Jenny Lavarda (It) had won the prvious two events and needed only to finish top 8 to take the series.

Steph Maureau during the women's final

Isolation Hell.
I drew 44th starting position which meant I had to endure 7 hours in the isloation room waiting to go out and climb. The more seasoned competitors were clearly used to this and came prepared with sleeping bags and thermarests. Evgeny was out 49th and happily spent most of the time dozing away in his down coccoon. Being a long way down the starting list is also limits the opportunity for getting good photos, I missed both Fiona and Kev completely.

Andrea Copaescu (Romania) during qualifying

British Results
Fiona returned to collect her gear after climbing and was fuming (at her climbing). She'd being going well then messed up on one move and suddenly got really pumped. Ended up 9th missing the final by one place.

Women's route inspection

When I finally emerged from isolation I actually managed to climb quite well, really enjoyed it and got pretty high on the route. 23rd place is nothing special but it's not bad for me - just missed getting into the semi-finals. After watching the rest of the comp I learned what I did wrong at the point I came off. At certain points of a route you need to spot the solution quickly otherwise your energy drains away. Comp experience comes slowly but I'm psyched to do more and try and finish higher up.

Kev Shields (photo thanks to Fiona)

Kev Sheilds also had an ok-ish competition. He climbed well, 30th place from 49 is pretty good considering he has one hand missing, but again he's psyched to do better.

Comp Results
In the women's final Steph Maureau (Fr) climbed well reaching 2 holds from the top. Jenny Lavarda then followed and though tiring looked like she would reach the top but made a mistake 1 hold from the top. Last out was Petra Muller (Swiss) who dug deep on her competition experience and made no mistakes to top out and win. In a slightly different order the series went to Jenny 1st, Petra 2nd and Steph 3rd.

Jenny Lavarda

In the men's comp the final routes looked staggeringly hard.
Jack Muller (Swiss) hadn't reach the top in qualifying or the semis but he seemed to find an extra endurance gear and got really high. Tomilov then powered his was to the top, cutting loose plenty but hanging on for ever. Bendler who is one of the most asthetic climbers put on a flawless display and reached the top much faster. Then Evgeny followed and almost made it look too easy, 40 seconds faster again. So Evgeny took the title and the series, Bendler 2nd and second in the series and Tomilov 3rd and also 3rd in the series.

Alexei Tomilov

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I've enjoyed the World Cup this year. Hopefully next year the comp will be 'spur-less', which is after all the way that most of us climb these days.

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I almost forgot to mention my climber rescue!

Maria Shabalina (Russia)

I was up in a crane taking photos when Maria Shabalina managed to end up in serious trouble. As she came off her ice axe handle caught on a hold and the pick impalled her on the back of her kneck. As you can imagine, hanging free suspended just by the pick of an axe in your kneck is a bit painfull. So the crane driver zoomed me over to her and I lifted her off. Fortuately no serious damage done. Phew.

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Dave

UK National Mixed Climbing Championship

The Ice Factor at Kinlochleven, Scotland was the venue this weekend for Britain's major annual mixed climbing competion sponsored by Go Fast Sports and Beverage Co. Once again the BBC were in attendance, recording the action for a 50 minute program to be broadcast in March [BBC plus Satelite channel]. (I will update on the exact date and time of broadcast nearer the time).

Kev Shields on his way to competing the ice route in the men's final [all pictures Hot Aches Images]

This year Dave MacLeod and myself spent a very long day route setting in both the Ice Wall and Rock Climbing areas. In fact Dave Mac's day was particularly long; starting at 4:30am in Birmingham where he had been lecturing the previous evening, after a flight then coach journey he joined me at lunch-time and we laboured through until 2:00am - setting, testing and tweaking the routes to make sure that we would split the field up. Jo and Tom from Cubby Images were also on board to help out with setting and testing.

Competitors preparing for competition at The Ice Factor

I hadn't really appreciated before just how hard route setting can be. Competitors want good, interesting, challenging routes that test the whole range of skills of the particular climbing discipline. We also need to split the field up, ideally with only one climber reaching the top of the routes in the final, and with the rest of the field all reaching different high points. The pressure was definately on us, particularly with the TV covering the event. For the TV, they really don't want the winner to be falling off halfway - or having to explain to the public the intricacies of countback; just one climber getting to the top of both of the routes in the final was our brief!

On Saturday morning a large field of eager climbers assembled. Good news was that a combination of decent prize money and appalling weather had tempted many of the country's best climbers away from their winter climbing objectives towards the challenge of competition!

BBC filming - Dougie Vipond and Duncan McCallum commentating.

The qualification round went pretty much to form. 6 routes ranging from easy to "brick-hard" split the field up nicely. On to the finals consiting of the combined score of a route in the Ice Wall plus a route on the Dry Tooling wall...

Fiona Murray heading to the top of the women's final ice route.

In the women's competition Fiona Murray, fresh from a great performace in the Ice World Cup the previous week, topped out easily on the final Ice route and carried a substantial lead through to the final dry tooling route. The men's competion was much closer, with 5 climbers getting very near or finishing the ice route.

Alison Banwell in the women's final.

Onto the Dry-Tooling final. Once again Fiona cruised to the top, to win by a big margin. Anna Wells pipped Alison Banwell into third place. However the mens competion was wide open, any of the top 7 men could potentially win.

One of the great things about The Ice Factor climbing wall is that the lead wall angle is adjustable. By the press of a button it can be moved from slightly overhanging to VERY OVERHANGING!

So Dave MacLeod and I had a long conference after watching performances on the ice route. How steep to make it? We took a decision, 2/3rds steepnes - grade M9, and watched on nervously, conscious... "BBC - just one person to reach the top please".

Blair Fyffe (Lochaber avalanche forcaster) in the men's final. Tells the BBC he is "now a better climber than his [legendary] father"!!

In reverse order, the first few climbers reached between 1/3 and halfway. Then Edinburgh Fire-Fighter Ali Robb, a very stong all-round climber, climbed fast and looked certain to reach the top until a small mistake spat him off just three holds from success. The next few climbers got pretty high too, but when Edinbugh student Tony Stone started climbing, expectations were high. Tony is one of the strongest climbers I know. I've trained with him a lot and though he is not keen on competition climbing he would definatly "cut it" if he were to do the Ice World Cup curcuit. I had telephoned him to pursuade him to enter. "You need the prize money - youth".

Ali Robb heading for second place in the men's final.

The BBC interviewed all the contenders during the final. Classic moment of the day was definately when they asked Tony "What's the hardest route that you've climbed"- a rather cliched question. Tony thought for a moment before replying "probably The North Face of The Eiger a couple of months ago". The interviewers jaw visibly dropped "gosh".

Back to the story. Tony cruised up to halfway. At the first real crux that Ali Robb had made look easy, Tony had to dig deep and crank really hard. But then he switched back into cruise mode reaching the top with plenty of time to spare.

Tony Stone on route to victory -despite an unintentional ice axe juggling act, nearly dropping an axe near the top.

Last out was the joint leader Kev Shields. Fresh from a great world cup performance Kev had cruised the first Ice Route. However this time he just climbed too slowly, deciding to figure of 4 on several occasions when he could have used his feet eats up time. At the halfway point he had only 90 seconds left and despite switching to sprint mode he was never going to make the top.

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So one male and one female reached the top. BBC very happy. Easy for the viewers to understand. This year there is going to be a lot more climbing on mainstream TV (more info here in months to come). Some people may think that this is a good thing, others disagree. I deal with the media on a regular basis and really make it my mission for climbing to be represented as WE understand it, rather than sensationalised or trivialised. Sometimes it feels like banging your head against a wall, but the BBC team at this comp really are very good. The same team produced The Climbers and The Edge series for the BBC. Hope you enjoy the TV program!

Jo and Jamie - It was a long night...

Full results will posted soon on Scottish Climbs

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Dave B.