Filming Rhapsody by Tony Wayte

9 April 2006

Sunday had the potential to be a bit rubbish. The BBC website had news of the discovery of Susie Carmichael's body on Beinn a'Chleib. Susie was a regular at Alien Rock in Edinburgh and she was everyone's friend. She was always happy to chat and she had such boundless energy and enthusiasm, and now she was gone and lots of people will miss her. Hard to believe that such a bright light in so many people's lives had been snuffed out.

The news of Susie's death was upsetting, and all I had to look forward to was a day working on a manuscript, to make up for lost time after a day filming during the week. I was sitting at my desk, sorting out artwork briefs when the phone rang and Diff was checking I was available. Apparently he'd left a message last night, but somehow I'd missed it. The gist of it was that Dave was going to give it another go, with his wife Claire belaying him. "I'll be round at about 12 then?" Fine, best get my stuff sorted.

So we piled in the van and headed west. The weather was perfect and the mood in the van was positive. "He's going to do it today". Then again, I reckon we've said that every time we've gone over.

As we approached Dumbarton, the weather was closing in a wee bit, but nothing very serious. We picked Dave up from his flat and loaded even more gear into the van and trundled round to the crag. Looking down the Clyde, the clouds were gathering, and Dave didn't seem quite so positive. "We'll give it 10 minutes to see what the weather's doing". And 10 minutes later, just as Dave decided that the snow clouds were going to pass the crag to the north, it started snowing. Yup, just as Dave was heading towards the rock to start rigging up the ropes for his inspection of the route, wee specks of snow were drifting down, and Guy and I looked at each other. "Did you feel that?" "Yup, I think it's snowing".

And sure enough, within minutes we had real snow and zero chance of any attempt on the climb. Before long the town was obscured by clouds and I was wondering why we weren't going home, or at least going for a cup of tea. But this being Dumbarton, Dave has a load more projects of one sort or another and he retreated under a boulder to work on yet another hideous problem with razor-sharp edges and tiny crimps, while we took photos and filmed. Diff did an interview with Dave, and Dave was sketching out a highly improbable scenario which had the snow stopping, the rock drying, Claire belaying and bringing him a bit of luck and him finally getting the route done. I think I saw a pig doing a flypast of the crag at that point.

The snow carried on falling, and the face was looking streaky with melt water down the line of Dave's route and dripping down onto the ledges below. Then of course the snow stopped, but it was still icy cold. And then it got a bit warmer, as the clouds passed by and the sun peeped out. The water streaks on the face didn't seem quite so dark and damp as they had an hour earlier, and the drips had stopped falling. Surely it couldn't be..

So we get to the point where Dave reckons it's worth going up and having a look. Off he goes, with Diff following along, just in case he needs to get ready for some filming. Guy and I hang around below, doubting very much that we'll be called upon to go up onto the side wall, but we put on our harnesses just in case. After a few minutes, Dave appears at the top of the route, inspecting the holds and practising the moves. The moves seem to go very smoothly. In particular, the top move which usually seemed to be a big slap to the finishing jug seems controlled and anything but a slap. I think I notice a difference in the position of his feet as he makes the move.

Down comes Dave, inspecting the crack, brushing the holds and he lands just in front of me. "How does it feel?" I ask. "Feels okay" Apparently it's still a bit wet in the crack and the top hold is wet on one side. Great. But in keeping with the spirit of the day, Dave decides to climb the crack and place the gear, as part of his warm-up routine, and I belay him as he heads up, making the crack look like a stroll in the park. After the usual shake-out at the top of he crack, he down-climbs the crack and I lower him from the ledge back down. It's on. He phones Claire. Then he tells me that if he'd had his helmet on, he would have carried on while I was belaying him! Gulp! Having seen the falls, I am more than a little relieved I wasn't belaying him on a lead attempt.

Diff sets up the camera at the top, but there isn't time to get me and Guy up onto the sidewall, so I set up the second camera on the beach, looking straight up at the face. The sun's getting low and the face is starting to glow gold. There's something magic going on.

Between the boulders I can see Dave putting his rock shoes back on, and then he turns and heads up to the ledge. The sun's bright now, and it lights him up like a spotlight. He rehearses some of the moves and his shadow dances on the wall beside him. One last big sigh and he's off. The camera's running to keep up with him as he takes the crack again. Then the long shake-out. I've seen this a few times to the extent that I'm almost blasé about this stage, but it's the next two minutes that gets the heart pounding.

The shake-out's done and he's looking very strong and very controlled. The conditions are outstanding, and the climbing is matching the conditions. And now he's at the crux. Right foot into the hold, drop the knee, move up. Left hand up. Left foot out wide and up for the top, and this time the top hold sticks! Easy moves from there and he's standing at the top, shouting his delight, bathed in the evening sun. I can't begin to imagine how he feels, but I'm so so pleased for him, and so pleased I've been able to watch him. And I'll admit, I was just a bit relieved and a bit pleased when we were in the pub watching the play-back of the video footage I'd shot - I had actually managed to capture all the important bits. Blimey - me sitting in the pub with the bloke who'd just done the first E11! Sure beats sorting out artwork briefs.

Tony Wayte (One of our associate camera operators)