I'd have happily sponsored someone to grab his phone off him and punt it straight down the north face. Bad enough that the Scottish hills are alive to the sound of ringtones.
As a succesful host of TV's "Ken Hom's HotWok" I have nothing to add to this discussion. Except to say that if you haven't already tried watched my show, you should. Goodbye.
Yes, I have 'done' England and have returned...I got up to Scafell Pike and we were able to visually 'bag' five countries from the peak. Not something you can do often, I hear. Unfortunately my London hostess was close to a nervous breakdown so I didn't get much time away from there, which caused me much chafing and irritation ;-). Next time I'll have to come on the sly and head straight for the hills. Between public transport and hostels the dollar doesn't seem so weak after all...but London? Faggettaboutit.
Mountaineering has always been awash with attention seekers publicity grabbers and box ticking boasters of every description - and at all levels. Consider (don't!) the Hill Walkers Register and the Nuttalls not to mention somebody near you trying to "raise money for charity" by essentailly blagging a free holiday up Kilimanjaro or wherever. The problem, if that's what it is began with the "conquest" concept and the expansion of the media in the post war era. Individuals who have sought to finance their climbing habit by sponsorship became and are household names because of media coverage and commercial interests. This bloke is an obvious target but is by no means unique. Best ignored as much as one is able. Have a good weekend. Oink Oink Woffle Woffle..........
I don't know....the thought that I could be virtually further away, i.e. more out of touch by flipping my car over the guard rail down in a hollow in the road a mile away where the cell tower can't reach, than on earth's highest peak seems to me to merit a paradigm shift of some sort.
I am working on a cunning plan - if I knew anything about technology I would design a signal blocker that actually looked like a phone so eg when I hear the "I'm on a train" plonker interrupting my meditations I whip out my 'phone' and send out microwave jamming signals and then looked as surprised as anyone that our deeply meaningful conversations have turned into a million decibel white noise........
