Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: whoRya on October 14, 2010
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Anyone know if there are many NI events featuring interesting explorers and the like? I know about the Ray Mears night (a wee bit too much money for me as I haven't really followed him before).
What about local explorers like Banjo Bannon and Hannah Shields? I'd really love to hear them talking about their experiences on Everest, K2 etc.
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I think the outdoors shops organise things like this. No idea where they advertise them though.
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Just keep your ear close to the ground, for example the local BB organised Noel Hanna to come and talk as part of their D of E fund raising. he set the record for the seven summits to sea level. Get to the top of the seven highest and race back to the sea, he said Bernagh was the hardest because he doesn't like walking down the trassey track!
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I would like to go to these types of events, I am going to ray mears (I dont forllow him) to see what he says and just to do something different.
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Tues 2nd Nov - Gavin Bates: Adventures on Mountains £5
Mon 29th Nov - Doug Scott: Life and hard times £15
Both in Tollymore Outdoor Centre doors 7pm, profits to Community Action Nepal. Tickets in TISO.
Also movie "the Wildest Dream" about Mallory, starring Leo Holding I think, but isn't showing anywhere here >:(
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I'd be up for Doug Scott. Anyone else?
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Tues 2nd Nov - Gavin Bates: Adventures on Mountains £5
Mon 29th Nov - Doug Scott: Life and hard times £15
Both in Tollymore Outdoor Centre doors 7pm, profits to Community Action Nepal. Tickets in TISO.
Also movie "the Wildest Dream" about Mallory, starring Leo Holding I think, but isn't showing anywhere here >:(
Your Right It isn't but I've heard it wasn't that great. Although in my eyes leo can do no wrong, he is a Berghaus athlete after all!
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Tues 2nd Nov - Gavin Bates: Adventures on Mountains £5
Mon 29th Nov - Doug Scott: Life and hard times £15
Both in Tollymore Outdoor Centre doors 7pm, profits to Community Action Nepal. Tickets in TISO.
Also movie "the Wildest Dream" about Mallory, starring Leo Holding I think, but isn't showing anywhere here >:(
I think I would like to do both.
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Yeah, I've bought tickets to both. With big Ray as well, Nov is going to be an interesting month - I haven't seen any outdoorsy talks since Hannah Shiels and Andy Cave at the Raw Outdoors event a few years ago.
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Yeah, I've bought tickets to both. With big Ray as well, Nov is going to be an interesting month - I haven't seen any outdoorsy talks since Hannah Shiels and Andy Cave at the Raw Outdoors event a few years ago.
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Andy cave was with us last week in wales and he gave a little lecture on Patagonia. It was awesome! Although the more I see these guys the more it seems all you have to do is just pack your bag and go!
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I read Andy Cave's book "Learning to Breathe" earlier in the year. Really enjoyed it, although I think his stories of life in the mines were even more hair raising than his adventures on the mountains!
I think Andy Kirkpatrick is doing another UK tour, but sadly I can't see any dates for over here. Pity, as I really regret missing him last time he was here!
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Andy cave was with us last week in wales and he gave a little lecture on Patagonia. It was awesome! Although the more I see these guys the more it seems all you have to do is just pack your bag and go!
Yeah. I'm doing a course next March to get some all-round alpine skills, then hopefully just do stuff myself and try not to die! The plan is to alpine style an 8000er someday either solo or 2-man team... I found Messner's book on my dad's shelf when I was quite young :D
Just want to quickly get over the dangerous, steep initial learning curve but after that I'm open to adventures with anyone.
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Thanks for the heads-up on those 20c. I'd already been on the Tollymore Mountain Centre's website on a trawl for events like that - they haven't the events listed!
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A wee reminder that Gavin Bates is on tonight
http://www.tollymore.com/AboutUs/addarticles/Tiso+Winter+Lectures
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Would have loved to go to that one, for a fiver sure it'd be worth a punt for anyone who had half an interest!
I have got tickets fro the Doug Scott one though, looking forward to it. I got caught on though last night, "what's this £30 going through the bank account for Tiso?". A not unreasonable justification was offered however only accepted to extent of "you're a laugh".
A wee bit more scrutinisng by me found a suspect transaction in Clarkes, cue my question "How come his (the wee lad) new shoes were so expensive?". To which I received a rather sheepish reply "oh, I got myself a £16 handbag as well". Welcome to my life!
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Just ask her how much her last hair do was :)
I've decided to pop down to this tonight, I'll be the good looking fella with a tall scottish bloke (most people are tall compared to me) maybe go for a pint after in the Maghera Inn.
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I was hoping to get to this but you can't win 'em all. Hope it was a good un!
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Twas a grand night out, especially for less than a cinema ticket ;D , Gavin chatted about 4 of the mountains he takes tours on (forgotten the names already), obviously you can pay him a load of dosh to go on one of these tours but in no way was he pushing this. It was the first of these "lectures" i'd been on so nothing to compare it too, he talked well, knew his stuff, and the Tollymore Centre was a nice place to be (but a bit cold!). It's a pity there weren't more questions afterwards (only 2 i think) but it was quite late by then, maybe people wanted to hit the road. He briefly mentioned his charity "Moving Mountains" but i thought he could have said a bit more on that, although i had originally expected the evening to be more of a fundraiser for that and i was completely wrong. Good turnout as well, about 70 people i reckon, maybe more. And thanks to Tiso for making this happen.
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Sorry I missed you Landy - didn't get to check who was going so didn't look out for anyone.
The centre was great, and Gavin was very enthusiastic about the mountains. Amazing pictures too. The only thing, I reckon he made it all sound a lot easier than it actually is... Aconcagua may be possible under good conditions with 'long day in the hills with a big pack' mourne fitness, but may not be as enjoyable as for a fitter person :)
Here are the mountains:
Kinabalu, Malaysia?? SE Asia somewhere
Elbrus, Russia
Aconcagua, Argentina
Mustagh Ata, China
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Kinabalu is in Borneo (Malaysian). I'm really sorry I missed this one :-(
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Doug Scott: Life and Hard Times tomorrow night at Tollymore Centre. Looking forward to hearing him. An 8 day descent of the Ogre with both legs broken at the ankle is hard to imagine.
Anyone going? I'm going down with my dad. Looking out at the snow right now, I'm absolutely dreading the journey down. Does anyone work in Belfast and head home that way each night? What is the journey like from a traffic point of view and what are the roads like at the moment?
It's really dodgy up this way still, the M2 northbound from the Bellevue bridge up to Sandyknowes including the offslip is one lane only. Well, it's a brave man that tries the outside lane!
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Just back from the mournes and drove by the tollymore centre, roads are dodgey but passable (even saw a bmw doing donuts in spelga car park), I reckon after tomorrows traffic they will be ok but all depends on what snow falls we get tomorrow. Hope to get to the talk myself if there are tickets left.
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Where is the centre? Do you go into the main entrance to Tollymore Forest Park? The website doesn't seem to have any directions.
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Nooooo, don't go to the forest park entrance. From Bryansford village go towards Hilltown and its about 2 miles or so on the left, BIG SIGN, can't miss it. There has been more snow today in that area so could be tricky, if you get stuck call me on 07753 880167, you bring the rope, i'll bring the landy ;)
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directions also here ;D
http://www.tollymore.com/AboutUs/Location
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Aaah under the 'where we are' section then ::)
I'll be driving a Shogun so I'll hopefully keep 'er between the hedges.
Stored your number in case, you wish to take it off or an admin will do so, before you end up getting texts about prizes in lottery draws.
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Doug Scott was excellent last night. I was surprised how old he looked, but he still had a massive climbers-handshake. He had great recall of the people and events during his years of daring-do: it really was a golden age of mountaineering, and he's climbed all over the world.
Modest, pragmatic, and little bits of humour; what really stood out were his fantastic photos... so many of those iconic shots you may recall were probably taken by Doug. He was signing prints and auctioned off some framed prints signed by the likes of Chris Bonnington, Steven Venables and Reinhold Messner! There were also books, cards, hats, gloves, hoodies and prayer flags for sale (the latter items all made in Nepal). I was helping sell the items and reckon with the auction there was easily over a grand raised for Community Action Nepal.
Wish I had brought money with me, would have scooped a print of Boardman & Tasker resting on Kanchenjunga :(
(http://www.dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/prints/600/0315-nep.jpg)
A great night; I left totally inspired to knuckle on with the mountaineering...and get some iconic photos of my own!
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Really regret not being able to go to that one Craig, looks like it was a great night!
Definitely recognise that photograph above, think I've come across it in a book or magazine before.
I know this sounds really geeky, but I don't suppose he mentioned what kind of camera equipment he uses? I'm guessing for a mountaineering trip you don't want to be lugging 2kg of bodies and lenses up the hill ;) Given the era I guess it was all 35mm, which also means you dont have to worry about your batteries dying in extreme temperatures!
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He didn't mention any equipment used, but I imagine it was slide film and a quality compact like a rangefinder.
As for most things 'mountains', Andy Kirkpatrick's website is very informative. He talks about cameras here:
http://www.psychovertical.com/actionphoto (http://www.psychovertical.com/actionphoto)
My Ricoh GRD has a 28mm lens, is compact, light, and can take standard batteries as well as its custom shaped one, so is ideal for travel.
My Nikon FM is fully manual and pretty bombproof for film but weighs in over half a kilo with just one lens and is twice the size. Film is light but bulky, can get brittle in cold temps and is fiddly to change with cold hands. Great for long exposures though.
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Really enjoyed the night which was delivered in a very honest and modest way. There was a real sense of adventure, especially in his younger years, buying old lorries in the post-colonial clearance sale and driving through saharan North Africa pointing at hills and remarking "That looks big, let's climb it". Even in later years in the big hills using "We haven't got frostbite" as a guide as to whether to push on or not.
The photos were stunning, with plenty drawing fear, awe and respect-filled noises often in equal measure, from those in attendance.
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As for most things 'mountains', Andy Kirkpatrick's website is very informative. He talks about cameras here:
http://www.psychovertical.com/actionphoto (http://www.psychovertical.com/actionphoto)
Good link, thanks! Hadn't come across that one before...
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Enjoyed Doug's talk, quite different from the Gavin Bates one, which was a bit more structured and maybe aimed at the the beginner like myself, Doug probably assumed the audiance had heard of all these places & people before, well i had heard of the Everest one ::) but I had never heard of Doug Scott before it was mentioned here so it was all new to me, what a guy :o great pics too, good to meet Graeme & Craig as well. If i remember correctly i think he said he camped 100m from Everst summit (without oxygen), that has to be the ultimate campsite, and there was the time he brought his daughters sleeping bag by accident and spent 2 days in a storm in the wee sleeping bag only up to his chest clinging to the side of a rock (Mt McKinley?) thats where his frostbite rule came from ;D
any more talks?
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I'm quite drunk at the moment for a Wed night (and didn't spend a penny!) but I did hear of another talk being planned, I think. I shall not reveal details just yet incase I breach some professional trust; it's a bit different but will appeal greatly I think. What a tease ;D
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After seeing the bit where Doug bought the 3 ex-military trucks and headed off I thought it would be good to hear a talk from someone that had done one of these 4x4 expeditions. I've read plenty of these in the magazines, always good stories about the border stops and the ingenious roadside repairs by the locals who have to make their own spare parts, using batteries as welders, good mcgyver stuff.
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Wish i had off went sounds like a god night.
Craig can you buy any off the prints online?
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If i remember correctly i think he said he camped 100m from Everst summit (without oxygen), that has to be the ultimate campsite,
All because the wanted to stay and watch the nice sunset!
Another story I remembered was the one about sitting in a tent in 1972 at about 26000 feet when half the English mountainers couldn't stand the Germans and vice-versa. Then the radio crackles into life and the football score is given as England 1: (West) Germany 3, at Wembley. "Sounds like we've just beaten you at your national game" says the German smugly. "Well we've already beaten you at your national game....Twice!!" responded the Englishman. ;D
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If i remember correctly i think he said he camped 100m from Everst summit (without oxygen), that has to be the ultimate campsite
As we found out on Binnian though, 100m from the top means it isnt a summit camp ;D
I did hear of another talk being planned, I think. I shall not reveal details just yet incase I breach some professional trust; it's a bit different but will appeal greatly I think. What a tease ;D
Do keep us in the loop, I've still to get to one of these talks! So can you give us any more clues? Climber, explorer, photographer? :)
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Maybe its me and my mourne exploits (6 summit camps and 1 almost ;) ) nah, public speaking ain't my cup of tea, rather sit in the back row and heckle :)
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Craig can you buy any off the prints online?
Yes, it appears you can buy the prints from Doug's site - exactly as they were on the night.... except £120 instead of £10!!!!! I really should have got one (he was taking IOUs from people)!
http://dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/prints/thumbnails/nepal.html (http://dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/prints/thumbnails/nepal.html)
No more details on what I said last night. Maybe you should think of people that you would like to see talk in the future and I can pass on the suggestions?
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Craig can you buy any off the prints online?
Yes, it appears you can buy the prints from Doug's site - exactly as they were on the night.... except £120 instead of £10!!!!! I really should have got one (he was taking IOUs from people)!
http://dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/prints/thumbnails/nepal.html (http://dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/prints/thumbnails/nepal.html)
No more details on what I said last night. Maybe you should think of people that you would like to see talk in the future and I can pass on the suggestions?
Get back to work, You said you was not to be on here today. ;D
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No more details on what I said last night.
Darn it, should have pressed for more info whilst you were under the influence :D
Maybe you should think of people that you would like to see talk in the future and I can pass on the suggestions?
Colin Prior
Chris Townsend
Seeing I missed Andy Kirkpatrick's visit I will throw his name in as well, along with Andy Cave as I really enjoyed reading his book.
PS: Yeah, get back to work... I'd best be doing the same :(
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Sir Ran Fiennes
Kenton Cool
Mick Fowler
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(http://www.dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/prints/600/0315-nep.jpg)
Definitely recognise that photograph above, think I've come across it in a book or magazine before.
I knew I had come across that photo before. Was flicking through my back issues of TGO trying to find something and there is an article on Doug Scott in the very first TGO I bought in February 2009. Funny how an image can stick in your mind and be instantly recognisable when you see it again!
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Moke Horn also he's pretty extreme.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Horn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Horn)