Hannah Shields Off the Beaten Track

Binevenagh Mountain towers above gentle farmland on the north coast.

A great slab of ancient basalt, and a great place for a walk.

It's also the favourite training ground for my guide,

a Kilrea woman who is one of Ireland's best known adventurers.

Hannah Shields made it to the top of Mount Everest in 2007.

An epic achievement in itself - but she's also survived frostbite and polar bear attack,

pushing herself beyond endurance to the North Pole.

For so many years, I was an armchair adventurer.

I read every single book about

North Pole, South pole, Everest, the mountains.

And to me that was always, superhuman people did that.

And I sometimes have to keep pinching myself and go, "It's me. You're out there doing these things."

We're walking a route Hannah usually runs.

From the church car park off the Limavady, off to Castlerock Road.

The forest track is a sharp climb up to the foot of the mountain.

And on to the distinctive rocky pinnacles under the cliffs.

Then it's back down, along the trail below the crag.

Up through another forest, and on to the summit ridge and the amazing lookout beside Binevenagh lake.

There we go.

Hannah, I'm a rambler and you're a runner.

I'll go up here a footstep at a time, taking it all in, but that's not your approach, sure it's not?

Sometimes, whenever my training sessions... I call it "eyeballs out,"

running up here as fast as I possibly can.

But today is going to be an absolute pleasure, just to be out walking

and seeing things that I don't normally see.

I know. The eyeballs out thing, that's a great expression.

Is that how you live life?

No, not all the time, I have to admit, not all the time.

But I think if you're going to do it,

some of the training, you have to do it as hard and fast as you possibly can,

-and that's what's required of some of the things I need to do.

-Yeah.

-Unfortunately.

A lovely place to come and train.

It's gorgeous.

From deep inside the forest,

there's no clue to the surprise that's waiting up ahead.

That is just awesome.

Don't let anybody ever say

that we don't have spectacular and exotic scenery.

Hannah, that is gorgeous.

It's one of my favourite places.

it really is, and I never, ever tire of it.

I'm up here every single week and it's never the same, every single time.

It's stunning, it's just stunning.

And you've got the intimacy of the walk through the forest,

then you reach something like this.

This timeless landscape.

The sun's hanging there, it looks like the moon through the cloud.

Actually, we're very lucky, because normally you don't see that!

We've been blessed today.

Normally there is a fantastic mist that hangs on that

and I just find it a stunning place, absolutely stunning.

And it sounds cliched, but it is.

As the early morning mist fades, there's an awakening sense of that ephemeral beauty.

Binevenagh is a place apart.

To actually be outside in the middle of all of this, it's an awe-inspiring place.

It's my outside gym. It's where I come to do all my hard work before I go away on a lot of my expeditions.

It's because I'm outside, getting the fresh air, it means so much to me.

I am asthmatic, and it is something that I have to be conscious of.

But it's not something that's going to define me,

it's something that I'll work with.

That singleminded determination took her to the summit of Everest in 2007,

having almost done it four years earlier.

I was back to finish what I hadn't done in 2003.

That's purely what I was there for.

100 vertical metres,

it was a lot to do for 100 vertical metres.

But I was just relieved, because, to be honest, my right contact lens

had frozen to my eye for an hour and a half beforehand,

so I was just, kind of, practicalities.

"I'm here, I've done it, great. Get back down safely again."

She is unstoppable.

Hannah makes her living as a dentist,

but she lives for life on the edge and that enthusiasm is infectious.

So too is the rush you'll feel up here.

There's never a dull moment high on Binevenagh, or higher still in the Arctic.

Every time I've been there, I've always had polar bear encounters.

We now think it's due to my perfume. So I've been banned on the next couple of expeditions,

where there's polar bears, no more perfume.

And there's more adventure ahead.

Along a sheep track running parallel with the base of the cliffs,

a gentle walk before another climb through a pine forest, on to the cliff.

Back into the Autumn sunshine.

'Hannah is also an international cross-country runner.'

'But thankfully, you don't have to be an athlete to appreciate a scenic stroll through the woods.'

This is why I come up here.

Oh, isn't that beautiful?

Isn't that just the loveliest, gentlest countryside sweeping below us?

It's away from everything, away from your worries,

you can lose yourself in it.

You've got that sense of euphoria for coming out and doing something physically,

by yourself on your own two feet.

And then, you have to admit, I get a wee endorphine kick after working hard.

It's very satisfying.

There's an enormous feel-good factor. That's why you really should try this, it's great!

MOOING

Definitely to be recommended. Even the cows agree.

There is a road all the way up here.

Travel by car and you may see the view, but miss the point.

It's the journey that really matters in the end.

It's been an idyllic day, spent in exceptional company and in unrivalled surroundings.

We're way off the beaten track.

I love whenever I come up here,

that there's nobody around.

And it is that splendid isolation, that you really do feel you're getting away from it all.

But then at the same time, I think that I shouldn't be selfish

and it should be opened up to other people to appreciate.

I know that it's there and that it is accessible.

If you've been inspired to put on the walking boots and see it for yourself,

check out the website:

You'll find route maps, safety advice

and links to walking clubs in your area.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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