Eiger: Out of the Shadows DVD

Leo’s first ever film – climbing the North Face! It was an act of unfathomable
optimism –to climb the most notorious mountain on earth carrying two 16mm cine
cameras and 5000ft of film into the bargain. Eric Jones, Cliff Phillips and
Pete Minks are drawn into an idea that Leo dreamed up in a pub in North Wales.

‘The North Face of the Eiger towers malevolently over the villages of the
Bernese Oberland. The surrounding peaks are softer, more clad with snow and
their names reflect their more friendly nature – the Monch – the Jungfrau. But
even the unemotional Swiss aren’t impervious to the personality of the Eiger –
the Ogre. And the tourists are drawn by the smell of death which hangs like
its personal mantle of clouds around the North Face.’

On an early attempt Cliff Phillips slipped on a steep icy slope and fell 200
feet. Either by chance or perhaps intuition, Leo had his camera running and
filmed the descent. After two thwarted attempts and six weeks of waiting, fine
weather arrived and the team finally started their ascent.

One review of the day described the film as follows: ‹When the climbers
finally emerged from the North Face into the sunshine of the Eiger summit, it
was for me, and I’m sure millions of viewers, the climax of what must be the
most dramatic mountaineering film ever made›.
Extras: Filming moments; 7 best bivouacs