Simon Yates climbing and
travelling has taken him from Alaska in the west to Australia
in the east, from the Canadian Arctic in the north to the tip
of South America during the last 20 years. During this time he has been fortunate
enough to climb with some of Britain’s leading contemporary
mountaineers including among many Andy Cave, Mick Fowler, Andy
Parkin, Paul
Pritchard, Doug Scott, Sean Smith and Steve Sustad.
He first came to prominence
as a mountaineer in 1985 after the first ascent of the West
Face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes and the ensuing
epic descent described in Simpson’s book ‘Touching the Void’
and the 2003 BAFTA wining docu-drama of the same name.
Simon has made ten visits to
the Pakistani Karakoram, climbing numerous peaks. These have
included first ascents of Leyla Peak (6300m) and Nemeka
(6400m) in Hushe, a second ascent of Lobsang 2 on the Baltoro
and various 6000m peaks on the Hispar glacier. In other parts
of the world, Simon has succeeded with a team making the first
British ascents of Khan Tengri (6995m) in Kazakhstan and for a
time concentrated on big wall climbing in Patagonia and Baffin
Island - the most notable achievement, a new route on the
Central Tower of Paine in Chile. Simon has made three sailing
and mountaineering trips to Chilean Tierra del Fuego resulting
in the first ascent of Monte Ada (2100m), the third ascent of
Monte Frances (2200m) and sailing round Cape Horn. Most
recently (September 2004) Simon returned to Pakistan and made
the first ascent of the S.W.Face of Hispar Sar (6400m), and in
May 2005 climbed a new route on the West Face of Mount
Alverstone (4439m) in the remote Wrangell -St Elias range of
mountains on the Alaskan – Yukon border.
In addition to climbing for
himself Simon has successfully guided clients to the summits
of peaks such as Ama Dablam (6856m) in Nepal, Aconcagua
(6960m) in Argentina and Marble Wall (6400m) and Khan Tengri
(6995m) in Kazakhstan.
Simon's first book -
'Against The Wall' was published to critical acclaim in 1997
and was runner up in The Boardman Tasker Award for mountain
literature. His second book ‘The Flame of Adventure’ was
published in 2001 and was short-listed for a prize in the
prestigious Banff Mountain Book Festival.
In this
lecture Simon takes a humorous and philosophical look at some
of the more notable experiences over his years as a
mountaineer, accompanied by a stunning selection of images
collected during his travels.
Concluding his
review for The American Alpine Journal Jeff McCarthy
noted:
‘In the Flame
of Adventure we look back across one mountaineer’s wild times,
desperate effort, joy and uncertainty. We are privileged to
watch him wrestle that variety of experience into a philosophy
that explains, excuses and inspires.’
image: Simon
Yates ©
