When lost in the Himalayan mountains, some may turn to a compass, others retrace their steps and a fair few could be forgiven for panicking.

When you are Sir Michael Palin, and have the phone number of one of the world's greatest mountain rescuers to hand, there is one other option.

Sir Michael has told how he scaled K2 after telephoning mountaineer Hamish MacInnes back home in his Scottish workshop for directions.

The broadcaster first met Mr MacInnes while searching for Monty Python locations, and now appears in a documentary film about his remarkable life called Final Ascent.

A former mountain rescue head, Mr MacInnes, 88, has climbed peaks worldwide and invented life-saving equipment, including a mountain rescue stretcher still used globally.

Speaking at the film's UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, Sir Michael added: "I rang Hamish from the heart of the Karakorum mountains: 'I can see K2 how do I get there?"'

Mr MacInnes added: "I was in the workshop back home and I got a call and he had a satellite phone and he was in the Himalayas and he asked me how far is it to Concordia - that's a plateau right on K2 - and I said well it's not that far.