Welsh pensioner still living the mountain high life

There's nothing like a good old heart-warmingly inspirational story to start the new year and the story of Eric Jones, who loves the Chamonix valley, is a perfect way to start the new year!

At 71 years old he is clearly entitled to a free bus pass in his home town of Tremadog in Wales, but I don't think he'll be taking advantage of such perks as he's too busy climbing, skiing and basejumping to catch the bus.

The original extreme sports fan, Eric has been quietly racking up amazing acheivements for nearly 50 years and now we can all see what he's been up to as he stars in a three part TV series on S4C. The first programme sees him in Chamonix, a place that holds many memories for him. Passionate about free solo climbing, he has conquered the Central Pillar of the Brouillard on Mt Blanc and the Bonatti Pillar on the Dru (before it fell off!) to name but a couple of his outstanding achievements.

Little known in the world of extreme sports, Eric lives by the mantra “Life is adventure or nothing at all” and doesn't fail to impress with such stories as his first base jump at the age of 50 which happened to be off the Eiger – the first time anyone has base jumped off the mountain! Much respect to Eric and if you see him pottering through the streets of Chamonix I'd say the man deserves a drink – I'm sure you'll be rewarded with lots of incredible anecdotes.

The first programme featuring Chamonix airs on 9th January on S4C at 21:00 and repeated on the 15th Jan at 21:30.