| EXPEDITIONS
The first time Stephen roped up for a climb was in the Swiss
Alps in 1967. For him the Alps are home, and he has climbed and
skied there nearly every year of his life. However, like most
ambitious mountaineers, he was always keen to explore further
afield and in 1977 he made his first expedition outside Europe,
to the Afghan Hindu Kush. That expedition – pioneering new
routes up little-known mountains – set the tone for all his
future expeditioning and even when he climbed Everest it was by
a new route up the mountain’s biggest, least known face.
Most of Stephen’s expeditions have been to the mountains of
Central Asia, but he has also climbed in Peru, Bolivia, Chile,
South Georgia, Southern Africa and East Africa. Over the years
he has enjoyed climbing with some of the world’s finest
exploratory mountaineers, including Harish Kapadia, Chris
Bonington, Ed Webster, John Roskelley, Jim Wickwire, Dick
Renshaw, Tim Macartney-Snape, Conrad Anker and Reinhold Messner.
In Oct/Nov 2010 he will be leading an
expedition to South Georgia
and in Jan/Feb 2011 he plans
an expedition to
Antarctica. |
Ed Webster on his Tyrolean traverse over the
Jaws of Doom, Everest Kangshung Face © Stephen Venables
|
