Alan Hinkes on top of Kangchenjunga his 14th and final 8000m summit!
Alan's Main Sponsor:
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for clothing and rucksacks. |
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| Alan and family at the Berghaus reception party | Alan receiving a painting of Roseberry Topping from the Mayor of Northallerton | Alan and Jay at the Berghaus reception party |
ALAN HINKES ENTERS THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE FIRST BRITON EVER TO CLIMB THE
WORLD'S 14 HIGHEST PEAKS
British extreme altitude mountaineer, Alan Hinkes, has successfully reached the
summit of Kangchenjunga. This marks the completion of Hinkes' Challenge 8000,
his attempt to be the first Briton to Summit the world's
14, 8000m peaks.
Hinkes, a leading member of the Berghaus team of climbers, reached the top of
Kangchenjunga at 8587 metres above sea level Accompanying him on his final
summit attempt was friend and climbing partner Pasang Gelu.
As ever, on reaching the summit, Hinkes took out a photo of his daughter Fiona
and his grandson Jay to have his summit photos taken. Hinkes has undertaken this
ritual on every one of his successful summit expeditions.
Speaking about his epic ordeal live from base camp at 6000 metres, Alan said:
"The final summit push was without a doubt the hardest climb of my life. We left
base camp on Thursday 26 May and began to push up the mountain. The weather had
not been good which meant there was an awful lot of fresh
snow to break through. Risk of avalanche was incredibly high and every step of
the way was a matter of physical and mental endurance.
"The snow was so deep that we were unable to make camp three and had to bivvy on
the hillside at around 7400m. We tried for a summit attempt on the 29 May but we
were beaten back by the weather.
"A second summit attempt saw us leave at about 1am on the 30 May. More snow had
fallen but we made good time. My climbing partner Pasang had to stop around 15
minutes short of the summit due to exhaustion. I reached the summit on the 30
May at around 7pm in driving snow and wind. It was the worst summit conditions I
can remember. I took the obligatory photo
spent around 10 minutes on the summit and then began my descent.
"It was about 9pm when I caught up with Pasang but with no head torch it was
difficult to locate him and I honestly thought he was dead. It was with great
elation that I found him and we got back to the bivvy site around 27 hours
after setting off on 31 May.
"The next couple of days saw us descending back to base camp through fresh snow
with high risk of avalanche. Getting back to base camp was one of the best
feelings of my life. I sat down in my tent and thought I've finally done it!"
Hinkes has been working with leading outdoor clothing and equipment
manufacturers, Berghaus, since the mid 1980s and his numerous expeditions have
provided the extreme environments needed to research and develop many new
products.
ALAN HINKES FACT FILE
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When Alan climbs Kangchenjunga he will not stand right on the very summit. He will stop 1m from the top, although Alan’s head will be above the summit, to respect local religion/beliefs. |
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Alan hit the headlines in 1997 when, while trying to summit Nanga Parbat, he sneezed on flour from a chapatti and prolapsed a disc in his back – he crawled down the mountain in agony for 10 days before being airlifted to hospital. |
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Only the same number of people have landed on the moon than have climbed all 14 of the world’s highest mountains. |
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In 2002 Alan achieved a new World Record after climbing Annapurna via a new route in record time. Annapurna is notorious for being one of the hardest mountains to climb and has a 60% death rate. |
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Alan is known in the climbing community for his cautious approach to mountaineering. He believes that no mountain is worth a life, coming back is a success, if he summits it’s a bonus. |
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Out of all the mountains Alan has climbed worldwide, his favourite is Roseberry Topping. |
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Alan is the only British climber to have climbed all the 8,000m peaks in Pakistan . |
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Alan was on K2 with British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves. Alan reached the summit on his own, Alison and seven others were killed – that year 5 successfully climbed K2, 8 were killed. |
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Alan celebrates each summit when he returns to base camp and calls his daughter Fiona via satellite phone. He also has tea, egg, chips and chapatti. |
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Alan is a real ale connoisseur. Old Albert Ale from New Mill restaurant in Eversley nr Reading is one of Alan’s favourite bottled conditioned beers and it has been nicknamed a beer with altitude. |
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Alan has been sponsored and worked as a technical consultant with Berghaus since 1983. |
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Alan is an International Mountain Guide |
· Alan was awarded Outdoor Sportsman of the Year award in 1995 for climbing K2 (attempted 93, 94 and summated in 95)
· Alan is an accomplished cameraman (filmed 11 documentaries for ITV), photographer and writer, regularly featured and writing for Trail Magazine
· He has an Honorary Fellowship for the University of Sunderland, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to mountaineering and to the North-East region.
· Alan carries a picture of his daughter Fiona and his grandson Jay to the summit of every mountain as his own personal flag.
· Alan works closely with Wateraid, the UK’s only major charity dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water and sanitation for the world’s poorest people.
· Alan is Patron of the North East Outward Bound Association.
8000m FACTS
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Above 8000m is known as the Death Zone. Humans can only live for a few days. The air is too thin and the O2 levels too low to sustain human life. |
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Above base camp rescue is impossible. The air is too thin for helicopters and there are no rescue teams. |
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Most 8000m mountains take 8-14 days trek to base camp. It will take 12 days to trek to Kangchenjunga base camp. |
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It takes 21 days or so to acclimatise after reaching base camp before a summit bid can commence. |
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Time on the summit is minimal – 5-15 minutes to take photos and film before descending. To spend any time on the top risks death from the extreme altitude. |
CHALLENGE 8000
1987 Shisha Pangma
1988 Manaslu
1990 Cho Oyu
1991 Broad Peak
1995 K2
1996 Everest
1996 Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak)
1996 Gasherbrum II
1997 Lhotse
1998 Nanga Parbat
1999 Makalu
2002 Annapurna
2004 Dhaulagiri
2005 Kangchenjunga
“Challenge 8000” has seen him reach the top of 14 of the world’s most famous and dangerous mountains, including Everest, K2 and Nanga Parbat. Alan is first Briton to climb all 14 of the 8,000m peaks in the world."
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| Alan at Summerhill Boulders | Alan Hinkes | Alan at Summerhill Boulders |