Climbing mountains has all kinds of hazards. On September 25, 1993, while free climbing, after carelessly slipping on some loose talus, I fell straight back 40 feet from a cliff onto some boulders on the ground. Simply put, I broke my back.

Life has never been quite the same. Definitely for me, there is more deep appreciation every moment for my sons and my life, despite the struggles that have ensued in recent years financially.

As it turned out, I burst my Lumbar 1. I survive today thanks to my will to live, plus medical scientists who reconstructed my now fused-vertebrae. Perhaps it was my luck coming from the fact I was wearing a Yeti tee-shirt too?

Anyway, the point is that there are all kinds of dangers for humans when climbing cliffs, hills, and mountains. Some might even be cryptozoological. Take for instance, Ben MacDhui.

The above is Harry Trumbore’s drawing of the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui in The Field Guide of Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates.

At 4,296 feet, Ben MacDhui is the tallest peak in the Cairngorm Mountain range in central Scotland. The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, a large giant sighted in the 1890s-1950s, has become a legendary figure in the mountains.

A new short film, The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui concentrates, apparently, on the high attitude rationalizations one hears for such stories – light playing games in mists, the effects of lack of oxygen on the brain, and other mundane explanations. But the ferla mohr, the long-legged, slightly pointed-eared, and sharp-nailed hairy giant is always in the background.

The 15 minute film is showing at the George Square Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh at 11:00 am on Saturday, October 21, 2006, as part of the 4th Annual Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival 2006.

Enjoy it. And you won’t have to climb any mountains to view it!