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Update:
EMBASSY RECEPTION FOR RECORD
BREAKING BRITISH MOUNTAINEER
Alan Hinkes, the first British mountaineer to conquer all 14 8000m peaks and
lead climber for Team Berghaus, has attended a special reception hosted by the
British Ambassador to Nepal, his Excellency, Keith Bloomfield to celebrate his
recent record achievement.
The event took place in the gardens of the British Embassy in Kathmandu, where
traditionally all early National Expeditions, including Sir Edmund Hillary's,
departed from. The embassy staff had baked a special cake for Alan featuring
all 14 peaks which he has climbed over the last 18 years.
The Ministry of tourism in Nepal has now issued a press release acknowledging
Alan's summit success, which marked the last formality for any climber looking
to 'claim a summit'.
Alan returns to the UK on Monday 27 June. A press conference will be held on
Monday at 9am at the Renaissance Hotel, at Heathrow Airport.
- On 30th May at 7pm local
(2pm BST) Alan Hinkes became the first Briton to have climbed all of the
world's highest mountains.
- This amazing achievement
has taken Alan 18 years of exceptional hard work. His summits and dates are
as follows:
Shisha Pangma 1987
Manaslu 1988
Cho Oyu 1990
Broad Peak 1991
K2 1995
Everest 1996 (filmed for C4 TV documentary 'Summit Fever')
Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) 1996
Gasherbrum II 1996
Lhotse, 1997
Nanga Parbat 1998
Makalu 1999
Annapurna 2002
Dhaulagiri 2004
Kangchenjunga 2005
Earlier Update: 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!"
From 2004:
Alan Hinkes Summits Dhaulagiri! and
Alan Hinkes Summits Dhaulagiri more details and
Mountaineer Alan Hinkes returns to Kathmandu following successful summit of
Dhaulagiri
Alan Hinkes
Annapurna 2002
Kangchenjunga 2003 Alan Hinkes
Alan Hinkes Spring Makalu 99
Alan Hinkes Q&A
Kangchenjunga
2000 Alan Hinkes
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