Review: Welsh Connections


Just finished watch Welsh Connection the new film from Bamboo Chicken Productions. Set across the principality, the footage captures the essence of the leading climbers in the Country. Including some palm sweating ascents of the ridiculous. I decided to watch despite a showing in The Fricsan on this Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.

I don’t really want to get into any detail, as I might spoil the film, however I have never been much for climbing films as they are often painful watching experiences, however as I felt my palms sweat I did get into the film. Welsh Connection is a reasonably slick production, that does seem to overuse the latest slow motion HD filming techniques. Unfortunately a DVD isn’t as High Def, as High Def can be, and to a certain extent DVD’s suffer from complex moving images, due to the way that it keyframes background images in the compression process, which annoyed me from a technical point of view. I will say that the slow motion section are particularly graceful and inspiring, but for a section of the film it was like I was in a time warp. In true High Def this film is probably even more amazing, I think they are showing it in  true HD format in the Fricsan, so if you fancy a beer and a watch of this vid, alongside some of the stars in it, then get yourself there.
It was a good way to witness the climbing experiences of many of Wales finest climbers, ascents that I have heard about in local circles and of course the climbing press. For me the fact that many of these guys are my friends, meant it may have been more interesting to me than others. Saying that, it does feature the best climbers on some of the hardest routes, often filmed from a in their face perspective, yet managed to maintain detachment from the stories of ascent.
The video is well worth watching and priced at £14.99 is cheaper than many of its counter parts, and would make an ideal stocking filler for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
Highlights – Pete Robins on Liquid Ambar, Pete Whittaker on Quarryman Groove and Caff and Nick on Yellow Shark. The DVD has an extra in the form of To The Rainbow, featuring a very determined Paul Pritchard climbing a route on the rainbow slab.

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