To Ken Ely of the Emery County Search and Rescue team, “Copenhagen” is something you stick in the back pocket of your jeans. Nonetheless his handiwork is on display in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) documentary on climate change called “Hot Planet.” It ran Dec. 9th in the United Kingdom and features some breathtaking high wall climbing scenes in Central Utah.
A BBC film crew came stateside in July 2008 to interview Brian McPherson, an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah and a USTAR faculty member. The dramatic backdrop for the interview was Utah’s public lands.
McPherson drew the BBC’s attention because he is spearheading a multi-state project testing the feasibility of geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Southwest Partnership on Carbon Sequestration seeks to test the idea that the CO2 burned at power plants can be pumped thousands of feet underground and stored safely away from the atmosphere. McPherson is an internationally recognized expert and his test laboratory is the intermountain West’s Colorado Plateau.
Ken Ely and Kathy Sykes above Buckhorn Wash
During the filming in Buckhorn Wash, McPherson had the easy job. He got to stand on solid ground while being interviewed. On the other hand, Kathy Sykes, a popular British TV personality who is a professor at the University of Bristol, had the hard job. She dangled on a cliff face a thousand feet above the bottom of the wash while speaking on camera about the properties of CO2 and sandstone.
While the footage is electrifying, Sykes was at little risk, thanks to skills of Ely and Layne Potter, veteran climbers who supervised all of the rope work.
Throughout the multi-day filming, the banter between the erudite British scientist and the rough-and-ready Utahn was spirited. But Ely got in the best shot. Right before Sykes’ first rappel over the edge of the 1,000-foot precipice, Ely clipped her into her climbing rig.
“Well, ma’m,” he said. “You see these harnesses? They’re rated at about 2,000 pounds each. These carabineers, they’re rated at about 2,500 pounds each. These two ropes, they’re rated at about 3,000 pounds each.”
Sykes nodded intently through the recitation of the redundant safety gear. Then Ely pointed to two trees where the two climbing ropes were secured.
“You see those two pinyon pines? We have no idea what they’re rated. You ready?”
Sykes’ eyes widened but showing true British pluck, she nodded and backed over the edge for the waiting cameras.
Another Utah locale featured in the film is the Crystal Geyser near Green River. When we learn when the documentary will play in the United States, we’ll post the information to this website.
The BBC describes the program: “Ingenious technology and science is currently being devised, advanced and tested around the world which could offer solutions for a sustainable future.”
More information on Brian McPherson’s research can be found at http://www.innovationutah.com/research/fossil/carbonsequestration.html.
More information on the documentary can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jf6md.
