The Vault Regulars

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Cairngorms in Winter DVD with Chris Townsend and Terry Abraham.

 My daughter asked me what i wanted for Christmas and i said Cairngorms in winter DVD please.
It deully arrived down the chimney and i couldn’t wait to play it. Unfortunately we had to wait as we were in Hamburg over Christmas.


So i pulled a rather sooty dvd out from amongst the embers and dead Starlings, dusted it off and we sat back to enjoy.
Beer in hand, lights out and home cinema system turned up it was wonderful. The atmosphere created almost made me nip upstairs and get my down jacket on. Wonderful stuff.

That was until 53 minutes and 10 seconds into the journey when it froze. The dvd i mean, not the green loch or An Lochan Uaine which Chris was just explaining the myths of the depths.
Now that made us all a bit unhappy. It wouldn’t play on. I started it again and fast forwarded it to the said spot and again it froze. So i leaped ahead a chapter missing i think about 9 minutes and played on from there.

We sent it back as faulty goods (there was no soot on it honest) and received a new one. Splendid.
Unfortunately this new one stopped in exactly the same place. I couldn’t believe it, not again. It spoiled the show.
This time i jumped chapter then did a slow skip in reverse, that’s the dvd player which did the slow skip in reverse, not me you understand. Then at 53 minutes 40 seconds i stopped it and pressed play and all was fine. So in the end i only lost 10 seconds.
I’m not sending it back again as i guess there are lots made with this fault.

I think it’s a fabulous dvd. We thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a section where Terry is filming at the bottom of the mountain and then pans upwards seemingly for ever. It’s so dramatic with the crags and the snow and the wonderful music. I can watch it time and time again.

There is only one bad bit which i raise here, but i say it with positive attitude.
Chris is up on the high plateau, setting up the tent and explaining the pegging out procedure using blizzard pegs. He then looks out and says he hopes that tonight the moon will be almost full, and he is looking forward to a night looking at the stars.
Then, when you expect to see him in the tent, headlight shining and illuminating the steam from a brew and Terry filming the stars, Chris gets out of his car and explains winter equipment. This bit just didn’t work IMHO.
We looked at each other and wondered if the dvd had jumped a chapter but alas not. Sorry guys, i hope you find my comment in good faith.

All in all the Cairngorms in winter is absolute magic (Apart from the fault). Well done Terry and Chris.

11 comments:

  1. Hi Alan. I recently bought this DVD too Alan and thought it was excellent overall. I liked some of the music although it was a bit 'Lord of the 'Ring-ish', and the middle section was like a dirge in my view.

    However, these are small criticisms and, in any case, a matter of preference. When you consider the film was made by two guys - no production team, production assistants, director etc (apart from Terry) and in true winter conditions, it's a really first class result.

    I'm also glad that it showed the Cairngorms in blizzard conditions to emphasise just how serious these hills can be and of course Chris was a refreshing change from the usual 'presenter' who knows nowt about what he/she is talking about.

    The 'pan' you mention is of the slope at near the head of Loch Einich.








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  2. Hi Gibson. Thanks for that info. I am not well up on Cairngorm views as it’s a bit far for me to get to on a regular basis. Yes, when you consider everything, it is a superb job that have have given us. We thouroughly enjoyed it. I din’t mind the music.

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    1. Yes Alan, despite my comment I liked the music up to the end of the pan. It seems incredible looking back but except when the road was blocked, we never missed a winter weekend in the Cairngorms for 34 years! We either skied (downhill), ski-toured, climbed or walked.

      Even if the weather was too bad for the tops the ski-touring (or just walking) in Rothiemurchus was superb as the blog photo-header shows. Lynne has a big smile on her face to prove it! Great days.



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  3. I have just found out how to turn off auto predict text on my mac so hopefully there will be no more “have have’s” like in the previous comment of mine.
    You are so lucky being as near to the Cairngorms. In my 34 years i have been twice. One top that i cannot remember which one now. And i have also walked from Coylumbridge to the Fords of Avon. Our plan was to do the circuit returning via the Lairig Ghru but the weather was atrocious.
    We camped there and returned the same way. I have just been looking for a photo but i remembered i used to use slides then and i have no idea where they might be. I do remember the tent was an Ultimate Phazor dome which had the fault of trying to be a parachute. All good fun.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Was there something wrong with the comment Gibson? I didn’t pick anything up.

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    3. Hi Alan. On re- reading it I just thought it seemed out of place somehow. Glad you didn't find anything wrong though.

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  4. Understandable under the circumstances.

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  5. We have a copy of this DVD and are looking forward to watching. Hopefully it won't freeze!

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