Sylvie Paillard
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It has been forty years since Chic Scott discovered the magic of high places.
His odyssey has taken him from the icefields of the Canadian Rockies to the historic climbs of the European Alps, from the grandeur of the Himalayas to the icy solitude of Mount Logan. In all seasons, on foot and on skis he has followed his passion.But nothing, according to Scott, was as exhilarating as working with Clint Eastwood on 6,000 vertical feet of crumbling limestone and black ice during the making of The Eiger Sanction.
"I don't know, do they make stars like that anymore?" asked Scott. "Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, are they like what Clint was? Not even close."
Thirty years after the release of the Hollywood classic, Scott comes to the Eagle Eye Theatre Saturday (Jan. 14) at 7 p.m. to present Chic Scott & the Making of The Eiger Sanction, a slideshow that will look at the film's history and climbing culture. Scott was part of the first wave of homegrown Canadian climbers who were to earn their place in the British and European dominated sport. During a lifetime of adventure he has climbed and skied around the world, organized clubs and foundations, written books and worked as a mountain guide.
Scott had been mountain guiding in Switzerland for five years when Dougal Hanson, the foremost English speaking Eiger expert, sent him an invitation to help out with the movie.
"We did everything," said Scott. "First of all the actors had to be taught a little bit how to belay and how to look like climbers and how to move on rock and stuff like that. I doubled the Frenchman in the movie quite a bit. We always kept an eye on everything they were doing."
The close vigilance proved necessary when a rock fall resulted in the death of fellow climbing consultant, Dave Knowles. It wasn't the first life the Eiger has taken. The mountain's reputation as Switzerland's "death wall" was established early in the movie when Eastwood, an assassin, is told he must follow his target up the North Face of the Eiger.
"I tried to climb it twice, it tried to kill me twice," he said. "Look, if the target's trying to climb the Eiger, chances are my work will be done for me."
But despite the wall's reputation and some extreme stunts, Scott said Eastwood didn't appear scared.
"No, not at all," said Scott. "I tell you people will be amazed when they see the positions that we got into on big cliffs - the exposure. I was out on the north face with Clint on several occasions and there's a shot in the movie where he's running back and forth doing big pendulum swings on a rope and he's actually doing that on the north face in a pretty exposed and dramatic spot. The danger was quite real."
During the presentation, Scott will guide the audience through the original trailer for the film, slides and the legendary 26-minute Eiger climbing sequence.
Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door and are available at Valhalla Pure, at the Fringe Café, 3124 W. Broadway in Vancouver. Audience members can also e-mail [email protected] for advanced tickets to held at the door.
