A blast from the past this week. This pre-YouTube video is of Catherine Destivelle soloing in Mali. Filmed in 1987, High Magazine commented,

"the film Seo of her soloing on a sandstone cliff in the Mali desert is one that has been seen worldwide and the one clear image that has stuck in the minds of the general public in Britain".

This was undoubtedly true at the time, and most climbers of a certain generation will have seen this film before, however now that video is ubiquitous across the internet, it is easy to forget such classics as this.

The film examines the local people, the Dogons of Sanga, for whom climbing is part of their everyday life. Catherine is fascinated by these people, and they admire her daring solo climbs.