Saturday 28 October 2017

Film to give mountaineer 'recognition he deserves'

A DOCUMENTARY film about Teesdale mountain climber Alan Hinkes is due to be released on DVD soon.

Produced by acclaimed film-maker Terry Abraham, the documentary follows Mr Hinkes through a variety of landscapes such as Snowdonia, the Lake District, North Pennines and Himalayas.

Although Mr Hinkes remains the only British climber to scale all 14 of the world’s summits over 8,000m, his exploits relatively unknown.

Mr Abraham said the aim of the film is to give the mountaineer the “acclaim he deserves”.

The one hour and 46 minute feature was filmed not only in England and Wales, but also takes in Sweden, Norway and Nepal.

Viewers will also get a glimpse into his background.

Filming took began at the end of summer last year.

Mr Hinkes, who lives near Barnard Castle, said: “I am used to film-making, I have made 13 documentaries myself. We had fun making it and a lot of laughs. There are some great outtakes.”

In the film, the former teacher shares his other passions including potholing, cycling, trains and real ale.

He said he particularly enjoyed blasting through Northallerton at 125mph in the cab of and high speed train. He also stood on the footplate of a steam train.

Mr Hinkes said: “So it is not just about climbing, it has all sorts in it. There is mountain rescue in it. I wanted Teesdale mountain rescue, but we ended up with Swaledale with their dogs.

“It has some great scenes. If we had enough time we would have had High Force in it, but we ran out of time.”

Although it gives some insight into the mountaineer's life, family and motivation, he says it does not go too in-depth “otherwise it would be boring”.

The film was premiered at the Rheged Centre, in Penrith, last month and will be available to buy digitally via the Steepedge website shortly. A DVD will also be released in the near future and will be available nationwide from retailers, as well as on Amazon UK.

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