Leo Dickinson is a British cameraman, director and adventurer. He has made 68 films, winning every major mountain and adventure film award. Dickinson specialises in mountain, ballooning, skydiving and underwater films. During his

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

career, Dickinson has filmed climbs on a number of mountains including

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

, Cima Grande di Laveredo, Civetta, Piz Badille,

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

North Face,

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

North Face,

Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located on the border dividing Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy (also known as Cerro Chaltén). At , the peak is the highest of a four mountai ...

Torre Egger Torre Egger is one of the peaks in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America, located between Argentina and Chile,From Rodrigo Jordan, "Cerro Torre", in ''World Mountaineering'', Audrey Salkeld, editor, Bulfinch Press, , p. 156: Cerro Tor ...

, and in 1991 filmed the first ever

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

ascent over Everest. Dickinson has authored three books detailing stories of his career: ''Filming the Impossible'', ''Anything is Possible'' and ''Ballooning over Everest''. Dickinson is renowned for his use of unique

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

s and holds several

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

s, including as skydiving into the world's highest platform (on Everest). Dickinson is a keen

skydiver Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

, with over 3500 skydives completed, and holds numerous records, including skydiving with the largest single number of naked women at one time.

Personal life

Dickinson was born in 1946 in Lancashire, United Kingdom. He attended Rossall Public School, during which time he started

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

and

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. He spent his first Alpine season in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

in 1966 and in 1970 secured the backing for his first film with

Yorkshire TV ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...

resulting in an award-winning film ''Out of the Shadows into the Sun - The first filmed ascent of the Eiger''. Dickinson is married to Mandy, an award-winning camerawoman and fellow adventurer. Mandy has helped on Leo's films since 1981, and in 1989 became British Skydiving Champion and is now a commercial balloon pilot working for Virgin.

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, Leo British filmmakers British mountain climbers 1947 births Living people People educated at Rossall School