On Countryfile over new year one of the presenters was at Malham Cove. Neil Gresham (I think) was showing her the (literal) ropes. She gave it a good go and struggled up something about as well as you would expect. So an opportunity to show something impressive and inspiring with someone at the top of their game was instead spent showing an amateur point out that it’s really hard, she can’t imagine doing it at the level they do etc etc. Don’t get it.
You see, as a climber, I do get this. They could just show someone climbing Rainshadow, but while that’s impressive to anyone who knows just how hard that is, the majority of viewers will be none the wiser. The whole point of the programme was to give the average viewer an insight into what it feels like to be on that sweep of rock, even on a so-called ‘easy’ route. You can either connect with a couple of million viewers who can then put themselves in the presenter’s shoes, or show something which is highly impressive to those in the know.
I suppose it’s why one of the most memorable bits of Blue Peter ever was John Noakes climbing Nelson’s Column, not just filming a rope access team doing it.
