Mountain Heritage Trust

Brave, Bold, Beautiful & Barmy

maxine — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:35:27 +0000

Following hot on the heels of the successful lectures given by Rick Allen and Andy Houseman, MHT are pleased to announce the next in the series on Thursday 13th June at our intimate venue Longlands Barn, Uldale where Jim Fotheringham, Jim Lowther and John Porter will tell of their explorations in the Eastern Karakorum, pioneered by Tom Longstaff. Brave, Bold, Beautiful and Barmy – exploits and anecdotes of mountaineering folk will be a fun evening of climbing adventure complimented by the delectable catering of Fiona Ford and the odd glass or two.

‘Live’ posts from 1953 Everest Expedition

maxine — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:48:53 +0000

MHT is delighted to announce that Susan Band, wife of the late George Band has generously agreed to allow MHT to post excerpt’s from George’s diary to mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest. Follow our … [more]

Lakes College Lecture Series

maxine — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:34:06 +0000

Simon Yates kicked off the first in a series of lectures held at Lakes College, Workington with an engaging and thought provoking talk about his mountain based experiences captured in his latest book The Wild Within. The next lecture takes place on 16th May with Doug Scott and John Porter ‘Mountaineering and the end of the Great Game’ preceded by a Nepalese style dinner. Tickets are available via www.lcwc.ac.uk

George Lowe (1924-2013)

maxine — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:12:57 +0000

We are very sorry to learn of the death of George Lowe on 20th March. George was a valued and much respected member of the 1953 Mount Everest Expedition team and was on hand to open the display celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ascent of Everest at the National Mountaineering Exhibition, Rheged with Mike Westmacott and Sir Chris Bonington in 2003. Our thoughts are with his family and his friends in the world of mountaineering.

Derek Walker

maxine — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:07:41 +0000

MHT are very saddened to hear of the death of Derek Walker and wish to pass our heartfelt condolences on to his wife and family.

As former President and General Secretary of the BMC, Derek had an enormous amount of knowledge and experience about climbing matters and was very supportive of the work of the Mountain Heritage Trust in safeguarding the heritage of British climbing and mountaineering. Footage of Derek featuring in a RAF training Film with Johnnie Lees will ensure our fond memories. He will be greatly missed.

A memorial service for Derek Walker will be held in St Laurence’s Church, Frodsham, WA6 6AD at 2pm on Thursday 31 January with a reception at Frodsham Golf Club afterwards.

His obituary can be found on the BMC site here

Andy Houseman Lecture

maxine — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:09:47 +0000

The next MHT fundraising lecture sees Andy Houseman giving an illustrated talk about his experiences on the South Face of Denali and the North Face of Chamlang. The date of the event is 31st January and start time is 7pm at the Rheged Centre, Penrith, Cumbria. Tickets are priced £15 for adults and £10 for children and concessions. Further details and booking information can be found here.

Christmas Closure

maxine — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:41:24 +0000

Please note the MHT Office will be closed for the festive season from noon on Monday 24th December, re-opening 9am on Wednesday 2nd January 2013. Thank you to everyone for your generous support during 2012 and looking forward to working together … [more]

Joe Tasker Archive

maxine — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:22:25 +0000

Coverage of the Joe Tasker Archive will feature in tonight’s edition of Inside Out on BBC1 at 7.30pm which traces Joe’s life and climbing career through interviews with his contemporaries and by studying his legacy of letters, photographs and artefacts.

Rick Allen Mazeno Ridge Lecture

maxine — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:23:01 +0000

Doug Scott introduces Rick Allen who, with Sandy Allan, made the first traverse of Nanga Parbat by the 6 mile Mazeno Ridge earlier this year.

Twenty years ago Doug with Sergey Efimov and two Sherpa friends made the very first attempt at climbing the Mazeno Ridge. In a four day alpine style push they managed to climb only one third of the Ridge. Doug returned again in 1995 with Rick and Sandy, and again failed to complete the ridge.
In July ‘While Great Britain was excelling at the Olympics, Rick Allen claimed a world first on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas. Now the story of the heroic feat in conquering an unclimbed ridge can be told for the first time’ (The Observer). Rick and Sandy, now aged 58 and 56, returned 17 years later. They not only climbed all the way along the ridge and up to the summit of the ninth highest mountain in the world Nanga Parbat (8,125m), but then descended down the Diamir Face to make a complete traverse of the mountain and the most demanding climb made by British mountaineers in recent times.
This was a huge commitment and an incredible ordeal for veteran climbers Sandy and Rick, who took 14 consecutive days to make the complete 8 mile traverse – the last three without food or a stove to melt snow for water.
All profits from ticket sales will go to support the work of the Mountain Heritage Trust www.mountain-heritage.org. Sales of Nepalese goods and proceeds from an auction of mountain prints signed by Messner, Habeler, Hornbein, Bonington et al will go to Community Action Nepal – the organisers of this event www.canepal.org.uk

Date of Event 2 Dec 2012

Time of Event 12pm – 3pm

Location Rheged Discovery Centre, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DQ

Tickets: £15.00 Children £10.00 available from www.rheged.com Tel: 01768 868000

First on Kangchenjunga

maxine — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:02:26 +0000

Climbing legend and newly appointed MHT Patron, Joe Brown, made a rare public appearance last night. He thrilled a packed theatre at the Royal Geographical Society in London giving what he claimed to be his first lecture on the subject of his first ascent of Kanchenjunga in 1955. In a talk that lasted well over an hour he breathed life into the personalities that climbed with him to the first successful British ascent of the peak. One audience member summed it up with a contented sigh: ‘Vintage Joe’.

Joe Brown and Tony Streather at the First on Kangchenjunga event at the RGS last night.