BOND 24 STATUS UPDATE - First Day In Austria

First Day of Shooting In Austria

5th January 2015

Code: SPECTRE/007

Bad weather hampered the first day of filming in Austria as Daniel Craig was on Lake Altausee.

Lake Altausee is located 47° 36′ 36″ N, 13° 46′ 58″ E, check it out on Google Earth! A 7.5 km trail goes around the clear Lake Altaussee surrounded by 1838 m high Loser mountain the Trisslwand, the Tressenstein and other mountain ranges. Brown and white alpine-style houses with a beautiful church are in the center of town. The tourist bureau has a few English pamphlets, but most information, including the Literatur museum inside, is in German. A saltmine tour through the Altaussee saltmine and the former Nazi Stolen Art Repository is available every hour in the summer. Hiking trails abound, with various gradings. They are marked with green and white signs. The lower ones are easy to follow while the more difficult routes are sometimes less well-marked. A paradise for outdoor enthusiasts and hikers. Flora and waterfalls make the forests and mountains even more attractive in the summer. The 9 km-long Loser Panorama Road leads to a perfect base (1.600 m) for hikes into the heart of the Tote Gebirge Mountain Range. From where the road ends it is only an hours walk to the Loser Peak (1.838 m). In the wintertime the ski resort of Loser offers 29 km slopes with all levels of difficulty. In addition there are other nearby ski resorts available.

Weather hampered the first day of location shooting for the new James Bond film 'SPECTRE' in Altausee, Austria, today. After a cold, snowy and windy morning, the sun first came out in the afternoon, but by the time the cameras were ready to turn, fog descended on lake. Avalanche blasting also had to be done in the morning due to the snow fall.

Despite the bad weather, Daniel Craig was in good spirits and signed autographs for three young fans who came out to watch the proceedings. One didn't even have any paper ready, so Craig signed a 10 Euro note.
"Filming is currently not possible as we have extreme wind on the lakeside meadow where central filming takes place, also travel back and forth with the boats is difficult," said Enrico Jakob of CineStyria, the film promotion agency of the state. "Over the past ten years, we had 230 to 240 productions in the state, but James Bond is a highlight."
The weather had cleared enough by noon for the helicopters to begin practice flights. Craig was spotted on the banks of the lake in the afternoon, and then later the first shot of him standing on the wooden boat on the lake.

The crew called it a day at 4:30pm as the light faded into the sundown!

Conditions are expected to be better tomorrow, the second and final day for filming in Altausee, with temperatures forecast to be between minus 4 and minus 1 degree Celsius with a chance of further snow in the morning.

REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaussee 

Regards,

Ron "Q" Milione
contact info: ron.p.milione.ctr@us.army.mil