Elite mountaineer pays tribute to Macartney-Snape
Elite New Zealand mountaineer and ex-SAS officer, Athol Whimp, gave evidence today in the Supreme Court for his fellow climber Tim Macartney-Snape.
Mr Whimp, winner of the Piolet d’Or, the prestigious French award for mountaineering achievement, was asked about Mr Macartney-Snape’s reputation within elite mountaineering circles and paid tribute to his accomplishments and character.
“Based on Tim’s two ascents of Mt Everest without oxygen, the style in which they were carried out, and the style of Gasherbrum IV and other climbs that preceded his first Everest ascent, Tim was regarded as a very strong climber who performed very well at high altitude, a climber who climbed in what we term a very good style.”
“Tim was and is seen as a very genuine and authentic person and a very honest person,” he added.
Earlier in the day, during cross-examination by the defendants’ counsel, Mr Macartney-Snape continued his criticism of Reverend David Millikan’s role in the production of the ABC-TV Four Corners program which defamed both him and his colleague, biologist Jeremy Griffith.
“We have heard Mr Millikan on several occasions say he would treat us fairly and that the intended program was to be included in a bigger series about thinkers whose ideas were worthy of taking humans into the next millennium.
“But we know from the letter to [Four Corners executive producer] Ian Carroll that was a lie,” he added. “We know from Backchat just how ruthless and artful was his intent.”
The Court heard Mr Macartney-Snape outline how an episode of the ABC-TV program Backchat relayed negative viewer feedback resulting from the Four Corners broadcast.
“The ABC has taken nine negative responses from the mountain of mail and only taken one response that was sceptical of Four Corners. By that I can only presume this is fair evidence as to the program’s effectiveness in denigrating the plaintiffs,” he said.
Mr Macartney-Snape said the FHA’s “open house” policy was misused by the ABC in the production of the Four Corners program, including what he described as the unauthorised use of the FHA’s Hi-8 footage and the inclusion of out-of-context quotes.
“The vision, the sound, the choice of explanations, the voiceover, it’s the whole mix that creates the impression.”
He said the Four Corners film crew used long-range microphones to record, without their knowledge, a group of FHA women having a personal discussion which was later used in the broadcast.
The case continues tomorrow in the Supreme Court.
