Don Whillans: Myth & Legend

UK, 2007, 70 min
Directed by Leo Dickinson

Screening:
Sunday September 21, 1:30 - 4pm
Peery’s Egyptian Theatre

Don Whillians In the 1950’s climbing standards exploded. It was due to two men - Joe Brown & Don Whillans. They were small wiry men of immense power and small stature. Never before or since has one pair of climbers pushed the standards so far or so hard. Their world evolved around the grit stone outcrops of Shining Clough, Kinder, Yellowslacks and the Roaches and cliffs of North Wales and the Lakes. This film is about one of them, the droll, uncompromising, feisty half of an exceptional partnership. Brought up on the back streets of Salford and attending the University of Life he became an icon to the climbing world. His routes became legendary, his fights went into folklore & his wit became the currency of a generation.

Director Leo Dickinson

Leo Dickinson’s climbing and mountain filming résumé is truly outstanding. He climbed the Eiger North Face making the first ever film on the way. Climbing Cerro Torre he exposed the controversy that surrounded its supposed first ascent with ‘Cerro Torre – The Rape of a Mountain’ for the BBC and then ‘The Cerro Torre Enigma’ for ITV. Following in Eric Shipton’s footsteps he crossed the Patagonian Ice cap filming and climbing Shipton’s elusive volcano whilst discovering a hitherto unknown volcano, which he also climbed.
Recreating Edward Whymper’s most infamous moment, he filmed the North Face of the Matterhorn in winter, although his lifelong companion Eric Jones suffered severe frostbite in the process. Realizing that climbing films did not stretch his talents enough, he turned to canoeing and made “Dudh Kosi – Relentless River of Everest”. Regarded as an adventure classic and by most - the best canoeing film ever made, not least because Leo captured the high drama of Mick Hopkinson being swept to almost certain death but rescued in the last seconds by Dr Mike Jones. On seeing the film, Doug Scott told Leo ‘It was the best adventure film I have ever seen”.
Having seen the bottom of Everest Leo now wanted to see the top. To his surprise, a postcard arrived from South Tyrol inviting him to film Reinhold Messner attempting Everest without supplementary oxygen. It was an offer Leo couldn’t refuse and his film “Everest UnMasked” became a modern day classic - quite apart from writing itself into the annals of climbing history.
Leo was the first to fly over Mount Everest in a hot-air balloon. There were two balloons; one for his old friend Eric Jones, piloted by Andy Elson, the other for Leo and Chris Dewhirst. After waiting a month for the right winds, the magical day finally arrived. Their balloons lifted off and climbed vertically to 26,000 feet where they were rudely hit by the jet stream winds that whisked them towards their goal - the summit of the world.
Leo’s balloon was first and he had a feast of visual stimuli in every direction. His cameras recorded eight of the world’s 8000-meter peaks. Everest went between his legs making a summit shot unusually difficult. Makalu was to his right and Lhotse was almost straight below. The Western Cwm where Leo had chased Messner and Habeller twelve years earlier was passed in 60 seconds. Their famous arrival on the high plains of Tibet was next. It was difficult to call it a landing as the basket bounced for four miles across the barren landscape, ejecting Leo and his cameras in the process. Breaking two ribs and a camera lens were nothing, Leo had his film and it was difficult to imagine a better adventure.
Leo then returned to his roots with an idea for a biographical film about the climbing world’s funniest character. His film “Don Whillans: Myth and Legend” followed, which has audiences howling with laughter if not entirely agreeing with its political correctness.
Now, Leo wants to make three last films, “A Love Affair with Everest” will be semi autobiographical about his three historical expeditions to Everest. A biography of Joe Brown will follow the Whillans biography and finally, a film celebrating the centenary of the Climbers Club. Needless to say, his retirement has been postponed.