A behind-the-scenes video by the activist group Greenpeace shows some members nestled in the canyon at the top of Mount Rushmore, ready to drop over Abraham Lincoln's carved head and unfurl their huge anti-global warming banner.

"It's a quarter to 9 (a.m.)," one climber says. "I've never been so nervous in my life."

The slickly produced video runs just over three minutes and chronicles glimpses of preparations and the rope work of the activists on the carved stone faces at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Federal authorities arrested 12 people and charged 11 with criminal trespass and climbing in a prohibited area. The activists pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for federal district court appearances today.

The video shows three climbers dropping over the edge of the mountain carving. Two rappel on Lincoln's forehead and one to the side to anchor the top outside edge of the banner, which measured 65 feet by 35 feet.

A fourth climber drops over later to hold a corner of the banner, which whips in the wind. One of the climbers continues to descend, taking a bottom corner of the banner with him.

The banner catches the wind and, like a sail, drags the climber across the face of the rock beside Lincoln's left eye, swinging him near the climber holding down the other bottom edge of the banner.

"It was a little hair-raising at first when the wind picked up and was whipping an activist around for awhile," said Carroll Muffett, Greenpeace USA deputy campaigns director, who was at the memorial for the demonstration.

The video intersperses images shot by the climbers, with video shot from a distance and more footage shot from a helicopter circling the 5,725-foot-tall mountain.

At the end of the clip, two climbers anchor the bottom corner of the banner against the wind, which pulls the banner into position.

The video ends with the Greenpeace logo, and a background voice of what sounds like an officer breaking up the filming of the banner drop.

"Camera down now, take it down - now," the insistent voice says. "I don't care. Take it down now. I don't want to see this camera anymore."

The video can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCxsQGDtCCk

Contact Jeremy Fugleberg at 394-8421 or jeremy.fugleberg@rapidcityjournal.com