2024 summary

Archive and Office Administration

‍Acquisitions of archive material continued to be accepted although the archive facility
is reaching capacity and this will need to be considered in 2025. The collections
manager has worked on accessioning a backlog of material from the COVID period
in preparation for cataloguing. This process has been assisted by Trustee voluntary
work in rationalising the layout of the archive buildings storage and the reorganisation
of the handling collection. A considerable part of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club
(FRCC) library has also been accepted into the archive for safe keeping. In 2024
there were 80 research enquiries, with 15 in person research visits.
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The collections manager has also facilitated the loan of equipment to several events
and exhibitions listed below. Most of the loans revolved around archive material
relating to Mount Everest including the replica George Mallory clothing held by MHT.
Surplus books have been sorted by the Collections Manager and successful book
sales have been made, particularly with the National Trust Everest exhibition at Wray
Castle. These have raised funds for the MHT.
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There were several visits from researchers for projects, books, and future events and
one from a French expert on ice axes. The MHT office at Blencathra has also been
adapted for small group education sessions by the provision of audio visual
equipment.

Collaboration
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The trustees have continued or established active working relationships with several
organisations notably The British Mountaineering Council (BMC), The National Trust
Mountain Training United Kingdom and Ireland (MTUKI), and Mountain Rescue
England and Wales. In 2024 a memorandum of understanding was agreed between
the MHT and the National Trust to enable collaborative working. A similar process is
underway with MREW. There has also been interaction with major climbing and
mountaineering clubs notably The Alpine Club (AC), The Climbers Club (CC), The
FRCC, and the Pinnacle Club (PC).
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In early March the Chair attended the regular full staff meeting at the BMC
office to deliver a presentation about the MHT. An hour Q&A session followed
the presentation following the presentation such was the level of interest.
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In October 2024 the MHT appointed two new Ambassadors to promote its
work, Mick Fowler and Emma Twyford. Mick is one of the leading exploratory
climbers in the world. He was voted the Mountaineers’ Mountaineer in The
Observer newspaper, has won three Piolet d’Or awards (the Oscars of the
mountaineering world) and was awarded the King Albert Medal for mountain
achievement in 2012. He has written three books about his climbs Vertical
Pleasure (1995), On Thin Ice (2005), and No Easy Way (2018) and has won
several literary awards including the John Whyte Award at the Banff Mountain
Festival in Canada, the Best Book prize at the Bormio Mountain Festival in
Italy, the Grand Prix at the Passy Book Festival in France and Best Outdoor
Book at the Golden Rhino Awards in China. Emma Twyford is one of the
reigning queens of British climbing, best known for her trad climbing prowess.
Her exceptional CV of climbs up to E9 sets an impressive bar for modern day British
trad climbing. In September 2019, she also became the first British woman to break
into the ninth grade, the highest level of sport climbing. As well, Emma has a BSc in
Sport Science and Coaching, is a successful freelance route setter, and runs
women’s route setting workshops.

Events
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In 2024 MHT Archive material has been loaned to several Everest events
commemorating the anniversary of the 1924 Mount Everest expedition, which saw
the disappearance of the climbers George Mallory and Sandy Irvine on the mountain.
These included events at Shrewsbury School (250 attendees), Merton College
Oxford (611 attendees), and Wray Castle, a National Trust property on the shores of
Windermere, (circa 500 attendees per day with a maximum of 1000 per day – the
exhibition lasted for five months) – source The National Trust. A number of
Trustees and Patrons attended the opening ceremonies of these events.
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Preparations were also made for the Everest Revisited exhibition at the Rheged
Centre near Penrith, which is due to be held in early 2025, and organised by MHT
Patron John Porter in association with the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical
Society. Another Patron, Jeff Ford, held an MHT fundraising event in the North Lakes
in October 2024 featuring the ultra-marathon runner Jasmin Paris.