Decent work photo you say, yes 'Top gear' Landrover dam stunt. But not the whole story. Below you can see the height of the dam & the extent of the drive up, impressive fete.Damien & his team had built the truss that had to hold one of two winches at the top. The car had the other built into the back. Truly not for the feint hearted this drive.
Let me set the scene, this was a collab with BBC, Welsh water, The trust that managed the area, plus all the usual suspects, specialists including Damiens team building the Truss. Shadow was there for safety & in this case rescue, the team had rehearsed various scenarios prior including breakdown somewhere north of the lower level & south of high water mark above. I guess now you've looked at the photo again, the fire suit makes more sense. The weather was in our favour & to make us welcome an RAF Typhoon topped the dam at V low altitude, so low & upside down we could see the pilot waving enthusiastically at us.
Back when this was still in the discussion-planning stage, we hadn't considered the rough hewn nature of the stone. This really proved to be a 4 * 4 ride of a lifetime as it made the vehicle differently difficult to steer & control. We all agreed bravura & true grit were needed shortly after take off & for the reinder of the bone juddering journey up. So whilst we needed to rehearse the doomsday scenario(s) for all to see & make sure the two man team from the top could rappel down quick, get the door off & remove the steering wheel and 5 point harness ,before removing the driver to safety. Uppermost in our minds was how to we keep our driver chipper about all mof this & not actually contemplate walking quietly to a waiting taxi to spirit him off to the comfort of a beer & a bad memory.
If you've ever known Tack, or in my case spent far too much time wondering why I got wherever 'here' was at the time. You'll know he is nothing but empathic to the needs of our clients worst moments. Humour was the prescription for such an event as decided by his nibs. This meant the hapless driver would be greeted by Tack 'taking one giant leap for mankind' from the top with nothing but his hard hat, boots & harness over his birthday suit. Just to clarify this was a jump facing forward. Now I'm not sure, but a leaping pink starfish with a red helmet rapidly becoming foreground...With a beaming smile, would have had me in therapy for years. True, I would never have remembered anything else about my circumstance, probably forever.