Leo Dickinson

Record of the first ascent of Everest made without the use of oxygen equipment, made in May 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Could it be done? Would their blood vessels burst? Would they suffer brain damage leading to madness? Nobody was sure. Messner: 'I would never come here for trying Everest with oxygen. That is not a challenge for me.' A fascinating piece of history, well filmed by Leo Dickinson and Eric Jones (above the South Col Messner used a cine camera to continue the filming), featuring Messner and Habeler's thoughts. The film follows the usual sequence from Namche to Base Camp, through the Icefall, to Camps I, II and III. It also shows historical footage of the pioneering Mallory and Shipton expeditions.

In 1984 Ron Fawcett, is one of the most athletic climbers, he takes pleasure in taking up the challenge of climbing "free" without artificial aids, the equipment and rope being used only for safety, a revolution at the time. The documentary is part of "Pushing The Limits", a 10-episode series by Leo Dickinson documenting sporting adventures that push the limits of human endurance. Each episode focused on an extreme sport, ranging from rock climbing to hot air ballooning.

Don Whillans was one of the leading rock climbers of his generation. This film examines Don’s gritstone horrors, his hard routes in Wales, then follows him to the Alps and beyond on several of his epic expeditions. But it also focuses on Don’s unique humor, his devastating oneliners that pricked pomposity wherever he found it and poked fun at those who deserved it. Don may have died 20 years ago but the myth surrounding Whillans can still be heard whenever climbers reminisce about a time when hard men were hard and legends were being made. Perhaps his partner Joe Brown best sums him up, 'Don was unique'.

This is the story of two expeditions to two mountains, one in Argentina the other in Chile. Despite being twelve years apart, one man went on both trips. Don Whillans was an icon of British climbing in the 50s and 60s and his routes are still test pieces today.

In 1971, a year after Maestri's ascent to Cerro Torre, filmmaker Leo Dickinson climbed and filmed an attempt on the Compressor Route. Dickinson left only a few pieces of clean protection at his highpoint (the headwall ice towers) and no additional fixed gear. While he and the rest of the team did not reach the summit, his reaction to the bolts on the Compressor Route compelled him to travel to Italy to interview Maestri. The result was this documentary.

"Leo Dickinson’s re-editing of the classic first ascent of the Central Tower of Paine in Patagonia, filmed by Vic Bray. The 44-year-old original footage was salvaged from a loft and shows Chris Bonington and Don Whillans in action. Readings from Don’s journal add depth and a recreation of a double rope snapping incident adds the necessary spice. What marks this film apart is the film stock which makes the image seem to glow and the leisurely pace Leo has treated the edit. It makes a refreshing contrast to many contemporary films and modern digital filmmakers could be well served by taking note."

The first filmed winter ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn. To set the scene, the tragic story of Edward Whymper's first ascent is skillfully pieced together. The modern expedition, a team of three British climbers, is also plagued with epics: Eric Jones is hit by an avalanche and can only come to a dangerous stop at the edge of a 1000 foot drop. Then the worst storm ever recorded in Zermatt hits the Matterhorn. With time and weather against them, the team is forced to climb in the dark as thunderstorms rumble around them. This adventure captures the skill and courage of the climbers, their agony and tension, and the beauty of the assault on this spectacular mountain. Grand Prize at the Les Diablerets festival (Switzerland) in 1976.

A film documenting the British expedition attempting to climb the remote peak of Torre Egger in Patagonia in 1974 by Don Whillans, Martin Boysen, Paul 'Tut' Braithwaite, Eric Jones, Mick Coffey, and Keith Lewis. They didn't succeed on Torre Egger and changed direction in the last days of the trip and climbed the Innominata Needle (also known as Aguja Rafael Juarez). The documentary is part of the series 'Pushing the limits', a series of 10 programs by Leo Dickinson documenting sporting adventures which often test the limits of human endurance.

A fascinating chronology of 100 years of mountain film history in the Alps. This documentary focuses primarily on films shot on the Matterhorn, the Eiger, and the Grandes Jorasses, considered until the 1930s as the "last problems of the Alps," and shows the evolution of mountain filmmaking through numerous excerpts from documentaries and feature films – notably on the Matterhorn in 1901. The genre, appropriated as a means of mass exaltation by "fascist" regimes during the Second World War, was reinvented in the 1950s by Gaston Rebuffat, Marcel Ichac, and Lionel Terray in the Mont Blanc massif, avant-garde figures of French mountain cinema, who reintroduced, beyond performance, the values ​​of the mountains – and in color – poetry, humor, and sharing among people from all walks of life.

Historical remaking of the tragedy that Doug Scott and Chris Bonington suffered after having attained the first ascent of the Ogre in Karakorum. In their descent, Doug slips and falls down many metres. When he recovers himself, he realizes that his ankles are both broken. Here starts 'the adventure': with no food, no medicines, in the middle of a storm, both climbers take shelter in an ice cave for two days. Finally they go out to reach the Base camp. During eight days, Scott finds oneself compelled to move forward on his knees and Chris gets a pneumonia.

Sir Chris Bonington’s return to Torres del Paine, 62 years after the first ascent of the Central Tower. At 91 years old, and while living with Alzheimer’s disease, the documentary accompanies Bonington in a profoundly human return: an attemp to reconnect with memories that time has erased, but that the Patagonian landscape still seems to guard. During the filming, Chris once again set foot on the territory of Estancia Cerro Guido, closing a circle between past and present, between the epic of mountainneering and the fragility of memory.

The first filmed ascent of Mount Eiger.

In 1976 a British expedition made mountaineering history, becoming the first kayakers to descend the Dudh Kosi river that runs off Mount Everest. High in the Himalayas, and at incredible speed, six Olympic-class canoeists battled with white water over rocks, waterfalls and treacherous whirlpools. As they struggled to negotiate a 30-pound canoe over a river with 30mph waterfalls, the threat of capsizing was ever present.