Scots climber's record attempt to be broadcast live on TV

THREE days ago Dave MacLeod was struggling to walk. Today he will not only be on his feet, but attempting to scale one of the world's toughest rock faces.

With fellow elite climber Tim Emmett he will climb the overhanging crag of Sron Uladail on Harris in a six-hour feat to be screen lived on television.

The pair have chosen a route that has never been climbed before to take them to the top of the 600ft cliff, which overhangs 150ft from the base.

However, the perilous expedition looked in doubt this week when Mr MacLeod suffered a bad injury in training. A breeze-block sized boulder dropped 10ft on to his ankle on Monday, opening a three-centimetre gash.

The wound needed five stitches and Mr MacLeod had to rest and take painkillers in the hope of it easing enough by today's climb.

He said yesterday: "It's still a bit swollen but seems to be okay. It's still sore and I have a moan about it at times, but it will be fine I think.

"On Wednesday morning when I got out of bed I could not put it on the ground. But it's getting better every day and I'm confident now. It's not going to stop the climb going ahead."

He said his main worry was a two-hour walk into the start of the climb. However, last night there was a possibility of him travelling to the site by horseback. He said on his website blog: "There is talk of me getting in on a horse tomorrow. Quality."

The Glasgow-born climber, 32, said he will be too focused on climbing to worry about being filmed.

"I won't really be thinking about too much else apart from climbing. Getting to the top will be enough to worry about," he said.

"Climbers are used to performing by themselves, alone on the mountain, but a lot of other sportsmen are used to performing in front of an audience.

"Having said that, I've been filmed a lot while climbing and am used to the presence of cameras, so I don't think it will make any difference."

But he thinks the unpredictability of a live climb should make for interesting viewing: "This climb is of a sustained level of difficulty the whole way, so we will be getting a bit tired as we go up and having to struggle a bit, so that will be much better to watch from a spectator's point of view.

"If you are a climber and you fall off you just have to go down, and that may happen.

"There's no guarantee that we will manage to do it, but we will give it our best shot and having seen the route I think we should manage it."

Mr MacLeod and his wife Claire won a Bafta Scotland New Talent Award for her film Echo Wall, of him ascending the route of that name on Ben Nevis.

Permission for the ground-breaking programme was granted on the basis that the production company Triple Echo agreed a "leave-no-trace" commitment to protect the fragile local environment.

Much of the five tonnes of equipment will be flown in to prevent any erosion to the mountain trails and rare plant communities that live on them.

"There would have been a lot of tramping up and down by a lot of people if we had done it on foot", said Mr MacLeod. "We want to leave the place in the state that we found it."

• The Great Climb is to be broadcast on BBC2 Scotland from 1.35pm till 7pm today and is also on the BBC HD Channel from 5pm to 7pm.

TRAINING

Climbers train up to 25 hours a week on rock walls and in the gym improving strength, speed and technique.

BODY STRENGTH

Climbers require good upper and lower body strength as well as good flexibility in the hips, shoulders and core muscles, good balance and aerobic endurance.

DIET

Nutrient-rich carbohydrates such as whole grain cereals and breads along with fresh fruits and vegetables and protein from nuts, beans, poultry, fish, and lean meats.

CLIMBING LINGO

Climbers have their own jargon. Here are a few phrases to help conversation:

Barn DOOR: when the body swings away from the rock looking like a door opening.

Pumped: when the muscles become hard from extended physical exertion makes it difficult to hold the rock.

Bail: to quit a route due to difficulty, weather, or lack of daylight.

Dead HANG: hanging from a hold or holds with your arms completely straight.

Bouldering: climbing on boulders.

Chimney: a crack in a rock with mostly parallel sides which is big enough to fit a person's body.

Crimping: very small handholds.

Gumby: inexperienced or unsafe climber.