Monday, March 28, 2011
The filming continues on The Eiger Nordwand
But No...The scene we had to capture was Josh lifting the 80 pound pack into the helicopter. Jeff left his pack below on route because a storm was rolling in and he had to get off the mountain by helicopter before the storm fully arrived. I'm not sure if we captured the exact scene of Jeff stepping onto the heli because as you can see in the video below it was pretty sketchy. After filming this adventure I thought to myself, "Shit....I have to get on the heli the same way" We all made it safely and had the weekend off for sport climbing in Lehn. Gotta love Switzerland!
Stay tuned for more adventures from the Swiss Alps
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Filming on The Eiger
We were filming Josh Wharton dry tooling some of the pitches and the roof pitch Josh says is around M9. It's not the easiest line up the wall that's for sure. Here's a few more production stills and a short video for you to enjoy.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Filming in Switzerland
There's a group of us including Jeff Lowe, Greg Lowe, Josh Wharton, Dave Black and myself currently in Switzerland filming on the North Face of the Eiger. Jeff is producing a movie titled "Jeff Lowe's Metanoia." Metanoia is a greek word meaning a fundamental change of thinking: a transformative change of heart.
In the winter of 1991 Jeff spent 9 days by himself climbing a new route on the North Face of the Eiger.
As Jeff climbed, every choice was tested by his purist ethic. No partner, no help from ropes left by others, no bolts - in mid-winter. Alone and increasingly at risk, climbing among ghosts and relics, and hammered by storms, he slowly transcended the recent chaos that had commandeered his life.
Near the top, out of food, pinned in a shallow limestone cave, and faced with yet another storm, Jeff heard a strange song. It lasted much of the day, and seemed to come from within the mountain. Next morning he emerged from his grotto and continued up. Barely surviving a fall that he actually jumped into, he finished the climb but disregarded the summit just 300 feet distant and 100 feet higher. Instead he accepted a helicopter descent rather than chance an avalanche and incoming storm, while climbing down the west side.
We are here now to re-enact some key scenes of this story. View his webpage here. www.jefflowemovie.com Check out the pictures below as we set up fixed ropes on the North Face to film some of the scenes.