0:00:02 > 0:00:05BIRDSONG
0:00:08 > 0:00:10This is Coast.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Bunching together on beaches.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Hitting the waves.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Climbing crags.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Flying or fishing.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Pier or promenade.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02We really do love to be beside the seaside.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09For me, it doesn't get any better than this.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Hauling canvas, salt spray in your face.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18But we all have our own passions for the pure joy of the coast.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24We're setting sail in pursuit of those pursuits
0:01:24 > 0:01:27that give us pleasure at our seaside leisure.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34My passion for climbing has brought me to western Scotland.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Calm seas belie a towering test of nerve
0:01:39 > 0:01:41awaiting me on the Isle of Skye.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48This is a moment I've long savoured in my imagination.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Now the reality of the task ahead is sinking in.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57I've got a date with destiny.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Just across the water over there, there's a climb I've long coveted.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05A gigantic anvil of ancient stone hidden away
0:02:05 > 0:02:10in the depths of Scotland's most fearsome mountain range.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15I'm heading for a jagged outpost on Skye.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17The Cuillin Ridge.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21These torn teeth of ancient rock run from coast to coast
0:02:21 > 0:02:23and they conceal my challenge.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25The Cioch.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28A protruding spear of stone.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34It was only climbed for the first time in 1906.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Now it's my turn.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42These pinnacles witnessed some epic dramas of early mountaineering.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I'm going back to those days
0:02:45 > 0:02:49to discover how the Cioch took centre stage.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54It wasn't until the Victorian era
0:02:54 > 0:02:58that gentlemen and lady explorers began climbing for pleasure.
0:03:01 > 0:03:02By the early 20th century,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07the Isle of Skye was becoming a Mecca for the new mountaineers.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13That was largely thanks to two men who are still inseparable.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18They forged a friendship on the rock etched for eternity in stone.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Here lies one John Mackenzie
0:03:23 > 0:03:26head to toe with one Norman Collie.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29These were the two pioneering mountaineers
0:03:29 > 0:03:33who first completed the climb I'm about to attempt.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39They rest in the shadow of the coastal peaks
0:03:39 > 0:03:42they explored together for half a century.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49This brooding landscape is shrouded in mystery.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51John Mackenzie and Norman Collie
0:03:51 > 0:03:54took many of its secrets to their graves.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57To discover the endless joys they found in these mountains,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00I need to see them through their eyes.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07For over 100 years, climbers have begun their adventures on Skye
0:04:07 > 0:04:09at the Sligachan Hotel.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16This is Normal Collie sitting in this inn.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Collie was a gentleman.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20A professor of chemistry at University College London.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23He lived and he worked in the capital,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26but his heart was here on the island of Skye.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30He was to become one of the greatest climbers of the age.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33And here is John Mackenzie on the summit of Sgurr nan Gillean.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37And here he is again on the ridge of the Black Cuillins.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Mackenzie was a highlander, a man of Skye.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43He worked as a gillie employed by gentlemen
0:04:43 > 0:04:45who wanted to go hunting and fishing.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47And that's how the Scot John Mackenzie
0:04:47 > 0:04:49met the Englishman Norman Collie.
0:04:50 > 0:04:57Aged 27, Collie came to Skye on holiday in 1886.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Dressed much like this.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Well, the boots weigh a tonne
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and the soles are covered in steel teeth
0:05:05 > 0:05:08to help them grip on wet grass and rock.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11I'm not quite sure how this stuff will perform in the wind and rain,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15but if this lot was good enough for the original mountain men...
0:05:15 > 0:05:17it's good enough for me.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Young Norman Collie had all the gear,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26but as yet, not a clue about climbing.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28And to make exploring harder,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31there were no detailed maps of the Cuillin mountains.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37To show him the way, Norman engaged John Mackenzie.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Coincidently, my guide is also called John. John Lyall.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Oh! Perfect.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54This track we've been following is pretty well-worn, isn't it?
0:05:54 > 0:05:59But going back 150 years, why were the Cuillins so little known?
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Well, no-one had any reason to go up there.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04They're just rock. They're just massive rocky, spiky peaks.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08And no-one, none of the local people had a reason to go up there.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09Their animals grazed low down.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12I first saw the Black Cuillins here as a teenager
0:06:12 > 0:06:15coming up here mountaineering in winter.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17And, er...I found them pretty intimidating,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19I don't mind admitting it.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22They're spikier, they're sexier mountains than any in Britain.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26They just rise straight out of the sea and so much rock.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29People say they're the nearest thing we have to alpine peaks.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31But I think they're better than that.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34And we've got this view out over the minster,
0:06:34 > 0:06:35the Inner Isles and outer Hebrides.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37There's nowhere quite like it.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43With me as English gentleman Professor Collie
0:06:43 > 0:06:46and John as his guide John Mackenzie,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48we're going to attempt the route they created.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52They were the first to find and climb the Cioch.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57So this big cliff in front of us here is Sron na Ciche.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59It's a thousand feet high.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01And up in the middle of that is the Cioch.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04I don't know if you can see, there's a big like X feature.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06A big wide crack comes up
0:07:06 > 0:07:09and then the Cioch is right in the middle of that X.
0:07:09 > 0:07:10So X marks the spot.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13You'd never think there's even a feature up there.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15It just looks like a very rugged wall of rock.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17It's not obvious how to get to it.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20And that was what was part of the problem for Collie
0:07:20 > 0:07:22was to try and find a way to it.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26They set off with just a hemp rope,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30hobnail boots and each other to put their trust in.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43So, this is where we have to put the rope on to go further up?
0:07:43 > 0:07:47Yeah. It just gets a bit more serious, the drops around us, so...
0:07:49 > 0:07:53- I'll just get you to stop on this ledge and I'll run the rope.- OK.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59- OK, Nick.- Coming.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05We know their route, but those bold pioneers made it up as they went.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Wearing vintage gear including their footwear,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14snaking upwards feels painfully authentic.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20The boots are probably the most excruciating weapons of torture
0:08:20 > 0:08:22I've ever fitted to my own feet.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Braving uncharted territory,
0:08:26 > 0:08:33finally, in 1906, Norman Collie and John Mackenzie made a breakthrough.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- So there's the Cioch. - Wow! Look at that!
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Fantastic!
0:08:38 > 0:08:40You can suddenly see it.
0:08:41 > 0:08:48This great anvil of rock has haunted my imagination for ages.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51And today's the day I get to climb it.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59But even now, to stand atop the Cioch seems a faraway dream.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04How did Mackenzie and Collie get to the edge?
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Like the pioneers, our only protection on this precipitous route
0:09:09 > 0:09:11is a single hemp rope.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15John's rope should stop me from falling, but what if he falls?
0:09:15 > 0:09:19The leader never falls. That was the saying of the day.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Nowadays, people fall off climbing a lot,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27but in these days, you just didn't fall off.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33So you've got two cracks now for your feet.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36One for your left and one for your right.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40These old boots are like gigantic chocks, aren't they?
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Yeah, yeah. You just wedge them in.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44And they're so stiff, it means they're really secure.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07So, John, is this the kind of protection
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Mackenzie and Collie would have used when they climbed up here?
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Yeah. Just using the rope.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15In this situation, just jamming it into the crack
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and then the friction of the rope running around that
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and me pulling down in this direction.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21If you fall off there,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24the rope just jams further into the crack and you're secure.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And I'll go out across here.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32Hold on.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46- Wow!- It's below us now. - It's spectacular!
0:10:46 > 0:10:48What do you think was going through Collie and Mackenzie's heads
0:10:48 > 0:10:51when they came around the corner we've just come around
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and they suddenly saw it in front of them?
0:10:53 > 0:10:54"We've cracked it!"
0:10:54 > 0:10:57They would have known this was it. They'd got it.
0:10:57 > 0:10:58The best picnic site in Britain.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00NICK LAUGHS
0:11:13 > 0:11:17- It's almost in touching distance. - It is.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19It's like unlocking a maze.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21We've been up and down, side to side
0:11:21 > 0:11:26up cracks, along ledges down chimneys...and there it is.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28It's got a bit of a sting in the tail.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30How are we going to get along there?
0:11:30 > 0:11:32You're going to walk along it initially.
0:11:32 > 0:11:33Further down, it gets a bit more rounded
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and if you want to get down on your backside, that's fine.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39This is where the rope technique gets interesting.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40A bit more alpine.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43If you fall off one side, I go off the other side,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46then we counterbalance with the rope. That's the idea.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48I think we'd better make sure that doesn't happen.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50- Just stay on the crest.- Yeah.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Jeepers!
0:11:54 > 0:11:55This is something else.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59I used to slide down banisters as a small boy,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01but this beats all the banister-sliding I've ever done.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Right.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19That may not have been very elegant,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23but it's still a technical issue now, which is getting up that.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Shall I wait here, John?
0:12:39 > 0:12:41I really cannot believe this is happening.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45Standing on top of the Cioch.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Unbelievable.
0:12:52 > 0:12:53Oh!
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Do you fancy a swordfight(?)
0:12:58 > 0:13:00NICK LAUGHS
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Look at that! There's the coast.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06All the way. Fantastic Outer Hebrides.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Unbelievable!
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Do you know, I reckon this is the most astounding spot
0:13:11 > 0:13:13- I've ever trodden on in the British Isles.- Mm.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I think it really is.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18- It feels almost...- Sacred.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20I was just going to use that word. It's a sacred place.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Yeah. I think amongst climbers, places like this are special.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26I can imagine Collie taking his friends up here,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29sitting here with bottles of wine and having a picnic and talking,
0:13:29 > 0:13:31looking out to this view.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33It's, er...it's kind of special.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39I think Victorians are meant to shake hands at a moment like this.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40Well done, old boy.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Thank you, trusted guide.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46- Well done. - Thank you, John, very much.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Such moments of great joy are short-lived.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56But the friendship of the men who were the first to stand here in 1906
0:13:56 > 0:13:58endured for years.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06Englishman Norman Collie went on to explore mountains around the world,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08but climbed on with John Mackenzie,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12always returning to renew the bond with his Scottish guide.
0:14:14 > 0:14:20I can empathise, having made my own bond with my guide, John Lyall.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Together, Mackenzie and Collie
0:14:22 > 0:14:27explored these mountains year after year.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31That is until 1933, when John Mackenzie died.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38His friend Norman Collie was a private man,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40not used to public displays of affection.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45But Norman penned an obituary for John. He wrote...
0:14:45 > 0:14:49"There is no-one who can take his place.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53"Those who knew him will remember him as a perfect gentleman.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57"One who never offended by word or deed.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00"He has left a gap that cannot be filled.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03"There was only one John."
0:15:09 > 0:15:14When he retired, Norman Collie left England for his beloved Skye.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17He lived at the Sligachan Hotel
0:15:17 > 0:15:21where he'd stayed on his first visit some 40 years before.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Norman commissioned a portrait
0:15:24 > 0:15:27of his climbing companion John Mackenzie.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33The picture kept him company in the hotel during his final years.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Norman Collie would sit alone in the window,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40looking up at the mountains he'd shared with his friend.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45A partnership reunited when Collie died in 1942.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50In the tiny cemetery at Bracadale at his request,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Norman lies next to John Mackenzie.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57The joy they found in the mountains of Skye is with them for ever.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16We're exploring pursuits that bring us joy on our coast.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21My journey has brought me to Scotland's Western Isles,
0:16:21 > 0:16:26where I've conquered the Cioch to find my new favourite view.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Do you know, I reckon this is the most astounding spot
0:16:31 > 0:16:34that I've ever trodden on in the British Isles.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36And it was worth every blister.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44This has been a real pleasure cruise, and it's not over yet.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50I'm on the way to one of my favourite natural wonders.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54This is one last sight I've just got to share with you.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Many say it's better to journey than to arrive.
0:17:02 > 0:17:08But some destinations bring a special joy all of their own.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14The unbridled beauty of Loch Coruisk is picture-perfect.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Nestled in the heart of Skye,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27this cauldron of water stirs the soul.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39How can your spirits not soar where sea and mountains meet?
0:17:39 > 0:17:41We're blessed to have so many sites
0:17:41 > 0:17:45of such stunning beauty around our shores.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Discovering the ones that have a meaning for you
0:17:48 > 0:17:51is the real joy of our coast.