Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner - The Great Chimney Historic Repeat

50 years to the day, after Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith set  in motion the wheels of modern Scottish winter climbing, Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner repeat The Great Chimney  (IV,5) on the north face of Ben Nevis. The repeat on the 50th anniversary (Saturday) was devised as part of the 2010 Fort William Mountain Festival, which will also see repeats of 5 more routes that Marshall and Smith achieved in six consecutive days of climbing in February of 1960. The original routes by Marshall and Smith included in addition to The Great Chimney:

Minus Three Gully (IV,5) 7th February 1960

Smith's Route (V,5) 8th February 1960

Observatory Buttress (V,4) 9th February 1960

Point Five Gully (V,5) 10th February 1960

Piggot's Route (V,6) 12th February 1960

Orion Direct (V,5) 13th February 1960

Any number of challenges could stop MacLeod and Turner's repeat attempts. The weather and conditions of the snow and ice will have a huge impact, the threat of avalanches is always present, plus the physical impact of climbing seven big classic routes in seven days, even with modern equipment and clothing, is not to be underestimated.

Paul Diffley of Hot Aches productions is filming the repeat attempts, being temporarily stationed at the CIC hut. Members of the Lochaber Athletic Club have volunteered to collect the edited material every night from the hut where it will be brought back to the valley for upload to the web.

The first intallment from Saturday's climb can be found below.

Updated material will be posted through the week when available.