Talks by explorers and adventurers

[LandyLiam]

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.

[simon]

I was hoping to get to this but you can't win 'em all. Hope it was a good un!

[LandyLiam]

Twas a grand night out, especially for less than a cinema ticket  , 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.

[twentyclicks]

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

[simon]

Kinabalu is in Borneo (Malaysian). I'm really sorry I missed this one :-(

[whoRya]

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!

[LandyLiam]

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.

[whoRya]

Where is the centre?  Do you go into the main entrance to Tollymore Forest Park?  The website doesn't seem to have any directions.

[LandyLiam]

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 

[LandyLiam]

directions also here 

http://www.tollymore.com/AboutUs/Location

[whoRya]

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.

[twentyclicks]

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 


A great night; I left totally inspired to knuckle on with the mountaineering...and get some iconic photos of my own!

[suspectmonkey]

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!

[twentyclicks]

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

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.

[whoRya]

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.