British Team makes ascent of Big Wall in Malaysia

Sheer7 team climbs first of 7 big walls covered live on the Internet

May 2000

On Sunday 2nd April 2000 a British team of climbers reached the summit of Low's Gully Wall, Mt. Kinabalu (4095m), on the Island of Borneo, Malaysia.

This 750m granite big wall took 15 days and involved A3+, E4 6a climbing. Fourteen porters were needed to haul over 500kg of equipment to Base Camp, where Mike Turner, Louise Thomas, Jerry Gore and Steve Long endured stints of torrential rain before completing the sustained 19-pitch route.
What makes their ascent particularly noteworthy is the fact that their progress was followed live on their custom-made Sheer7.com Internet site. Video footage was sent via satellite to a design studio in England from where it was then streamed onto the web.

The project
The Sheer7 team aims to climb the largest rock faces on all 7 continents. The project will take 3 years to complete and will involve extreme big wall ascents in Africa-Madagascar, Antarctica - Queen Maud Land, Asia - Pakistan, South America - Patagonia, North America - Baffin Island and Europe - Norway.
Each expedition is to be covered with live footage through the use of lightweight mini-cameras attached to the climbers' helmets and, weather permitting, a helium blimp that flies alongside the climbers.

The next stage - Antarctica
The next stage in this 3 year project is November's trip to Antarctica, where the team will attempt the unclimbed 1000m Holtanna Tower in Queen Maud Land. This trip to one of the most remote big walls on Earth will last 6 weeks.
The Antarctica expedition is currently looking for sponsorship. Those interested should contact Milk Design, the designers of Sheer7.com.

For further information contact:
emily@milkdesign.co.uk