Hot Aches are a great little power house in climbing film production. They regularly knock out really good film. They have also experimented with releasing film free of charge before they start selling them. With The Pinnacle they released the DVD first and have just announced a few days where you can watch the film for free.
If you are unaware of what the pinnacle is about, it recreates two climbers historic week on Ben Nevis in the either the late 1950s or early 60s. I have forgotten the exact date. The week is legendary, as the climbers weren’t front point, they didn’t have ice screws or two drop pick axes. Instead they cut steps and holds all the way up every route, often starting later and finishing in the dark.
One of the climbers features heavily as do other historic scottish winter climbing figures. The film is both humbling and inspiring for any wannabe Scottish Winter climber. Andy Turner and Dave Macleod help the film along and make some of the routes look far from easy. I was left wondering just what those winters were like in the 1960s?
Anyway join Hotaches mailing list. I have been a signed up for a while. They don’t spam you excessively but they do keep you up to date with their projects. For the price of your email you can watch the film until 24th Feb. Here’s the link