Tom Patey

In April 1966, the BBC broadcast a live program showing Joe Brown, Tom Patey, Ian McNaught-Davis, Chris Bonington, and the American Royal Robbins climbing of the awesome sea-cliffs of Gogarth on Anglesey. The climb was transmitted live through 3 connections over the course of 9th of April as part of the long-running Saturday afternoon sports strand, Grandstand. The vertical wall, composed of unreliably loose rock and guarded by guillemots and seagulls, proved to be a true test for the climbers. The cliff plunges directly into the sea and to climb up it required descending a rope, finding footholds near the bottom and then locating a viable route up the face.

A making of the live broadcast of the ascent of the Old Man of Hoy. In July of 1967, 15 million people watched one of the most audacious BBC outside broadcasts ever undertaken - the climbing of the 'Old Man of Hoy'. This is an account of how the BBC-1 television programme was organised, together with recordings made during the broadcast, and interviews with those who helped to make it possible as well as those who did the actual climb.

In July of 1967, 15 million people watched one of the most audacious BBC outside broadcasts ever undertaken - the climbing of the Old Man of Hoy. Chris Bonnington and Tom Patey, took the East Face; Joe Brown and Ian McNaught-Davis, the South Face; Peter Crew and Douglas Haston took the South-East Arête. A further crew of four climbers- Hamish MacInnes, John Cleare, Rusty Baillie and Ian Clough carried cameras and transmitters. The live broadcast consisted of 6 connections between 7th and 9th of july whose titles were: The Old Man and The Climbers, Six Men, The Bivouac, Six Men-One Challenge, The first man to the summit, The Challenge and the Conquest. One week later BBC broadcasted a 30-minute program with the highlights of the live coverage.

Commemorative program for the 25th anniversary of the live broadcast of the ascent of the Old Man of Hoy. In July of 1967, 15 million people watched one of the most audacious BBC outside broadcasts ever undertaken - the climbing of the 'Old Man of Hoy'. Chris Bonnington and Tom Patey, took the East Face; Joe Brown and Ian McNaught-Davis, the South Face; Peter Crew and Douglas Haston took the South-East Arête. A further crew of four climbers- Hamish MacInnes, John Cleare, Rusty Baillie and Ian Clough carried cameras and transmitters. 25 years later, BBC gathers the protagonists to recover the footage and to look back on the achievement.

Catherine Destivelle has deservedly become the most famous female climbers in the world. In this film we see the history of her climbing career, and her latest feat in unprecedented climbing ascents. Catherine Destivelle earned her fame with historic climbs, such as the free ascent of the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, and solo winter ascents of the classic North Faces of the Matterhorn and the Eiger, climbs that have never been repeated by any woman. She also made her mark in sport-climbing as she captured the World Championship title.

Portrait of British mountaineer Joe Brown, who demonstrates his climbing technique and discusses his philosophy of climbing. The film was shot in and around Llanberis, where he lived, and on the cliffs of South Stack Lighthouse in Anglesey. Brown is regarded as the outstanding pioneering English rock climber of the 1950s and early 1960s. He established an unprecedented number of classic new routes in Snowdonia and the Peak District that were at the leading edge of the hardest grades. He made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955 and and other big achievements in the Alps and Himalayas.

Rakaposhi is one of the most famous mountains of the Karakoram range of Pakistan and is part of the Himalayas. The 25,550 feet mountain had resisted the attempts of six previous expeditions, starting with Lord Conway in 1892. This is the story of the British-Pakistani Forces expedition which conquered Rakaposhi in June, 1958. It was photographed by two of the expedition members. One of them, Captain Banks of the Royal Marines, finally reached the summit, together with Surgeon-Lieutenant Patey of the Royal Navy.