Here’s a date for the diary. The charity Porters Progress are holding their annual fundraising lecture at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Thursday 27th November and the speaker will be Tim Emmett, of ‘Wild Climbs’ and ‘Top Gear’ fame.
Emmett’s CV includes such exciting and risky stunts as being the first man to BASE jump off the Old Man Of Hoy (the E1 sea stack just off Shetland). He’s also shown off his front pointing techniques at the ice climbing world championships and of course beaten Jeremy Clarkson and his Audi RS4 up the Verdon Gorge, in the company of Leo Houlding.
And if that’s not enough, his list of interests includes ice climbing, snow boarding, surfing, scuba diving, sky diving kickboxing and BASE jumping. We don’t know when he finds time to eat dinner in all that, but it should make for an exciting evening’s entertainment.
We’ll see you there!
The logistics
The lecture is called ‘Earth, Sea and Sky’ and tickets cost £10, available online from the World Expeditions website.
The lecture begins at 7pm but anyone wanting a cheeky pint beforehand will find the bar open from 6pm, and after the event as well.
Raising money for Porters Progress
The good news is that all profits from the lecture go to the charity Porters Progress, which aims to improve the conditions of porters in the Himalayas by providing education, treatment and other services.
Anyone who’s trekked in the Himalayas, or at least seen the photos, will be familiar with the huge burdens porters often carry, and the poor equipment they sometimes have even at high altitude. Porter Progress seeks to change all that, so they’re well worth supporting.
For more information, see their website.
More events at the RGS
Also coming up are ‘Four short lectures - Journeys to auspicious places in Tibet’ on Tuesday 9 December. The speakers are Doug Scott, Stephen Venables, Dr Mike Searle and Julian Freeman-Attwood, with a wealth of Himalayan experience between them.
The event will start at 18.45 and there’ll be a short auction of Hillary signed prints afterwards.
Again, it’s all in a good cause – this time the charities Community Action Nepal and Promise Nepal will be taking home the profits from the ticket price, which is £20 per person. Email Maggie@shopwyke.co.uk for tickets.
Full details at http://www.rgs.org.
