Soapbox

I was just chatting with Berghaus and they've been in touch with Alan's agent in Nepal, Bikram. The bottom line is that while Alan stocked a number of camps on the mountain and weather is good at the moment, it's quite possible that some of the camps were damaged by storms before the current window, so it could take a while for him to climb the mountain.

He doesn't have a small-sized sat phone on the mountain to save weight, so until he's back at base camp, there's no real way of knowing what's happening and it could be several days yet before concrete news emerges.

Finally, apparently when Alan heard that Ed Viesturs had summited Annapurna he asked Berghaus to pass on his congratulations to Ed - first American to climb all the 8,000ers - and in return, Ed mailed back wishing Alan well on Kangchenjunga.

Anyhow, fingers crossed for Alan, we'll let you know any news just as soon as we have it.

Thanks for the update Jon :)

Apparently Alan Hinkes has done it according to an email I got from Guy Proctor (who else!):

"Berghaus are exceptionally pleased to announce the successful summit of Kangchenjunga by British mountaineer Alan Hinkes. This has placed Alan in the history books as the first Briton to have climbed all of the world's highest peaks and is an exceptional achievement.

Please find below the official summit announcement press release with contact details as to how to obtain further information and images."

I'd copy the press release, but it's a bit long..

Just seen the news here on OM. I hope he gets the kudos he deserves. Well done, Alan :o)