The Comic Relief Challenge
It’s March 2023, Red Nose Day is approaching and sound recordists Max, Callum and Louis are back working with TwoFour for a charity shoot called Emma, Oti and Rylan’s Big Red Nose Day Challenge. Rylan Clark, Emma Willis and Oti Mabuse set off to summit the Mountain of Cairngorm and battle against the brutal conditions that the Scottish peak will bring. We were off to Scotland again and will have to carry our kit up a mountain this time!
Sound Operators in the Scottish Highlands
Max and Callum left the Fresh Audio North base in Manchester, with Louis coming up from London. Our long drive finished in Braemar, on the east side of the Cairngorms National Park, and here is where the challenge began. The shoot would take place over a week and we knew it was going to be both physically and technically testing for cast and crew, as here temperatures can drop to -27 degrees and wind speeds can reach up to 170 mph! We trekked, camped and battled against the elements of the sub-arctic wilderness as Rylan, Emma and Oti tried to summit one of the biggest mountains in the UK.
Day one began in the historic town of Braemar, where the trail soon turned into unrelenting terrain and we travelled up 900 feet to the first camp. On day two we pushed further into the foothills, ascending a further 650 feet and spending another night in camp. Day three is when we would attempt to summit up the western face of Cairngorm, and had to climb 2500 feet. All together, the total ascent against the terrain and unpredictable elements was 4113 feet!
We made it to the summit and felt a great sense of achievement, the cast and crew absolutely smashed it. It was a pleasure to film the challenge in an attempt to raise money for Comic Relief.
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