Hinkes - What The Papers Say

With Alan Hinkes becoming the first British climber to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks, we thought we'd take a quick spin through the meeja for a look at what sort of coverage he's getting for an outstanding feat of mountaineering... The most extensive report is from the Telegraph which quotes a friend as saying:

'"Alan is a typical Northerner. He likes real ale, chips, eggs, chapatis and cups of tea. They are the first things he eats when he comes off a mountain."

'Congratulations to Alan Hinkes and a British first for Berghaus

Alan Hinkes summited Kangchenjunga at 7pm on 30 May and became the first Briton to climb all of the world's 14 8000m peaks.  Everyone at Berghaus is on cloud nine and we're chuffed to bits for him.  This is truly a momentous day for him and Berghaus.  He called in this afternoon to give us the good news and this is what he had to say about his epic final summit.

'Mountaineer Alan Hinkes has become the first Briton to reach the summit of the world's 14 highest peaks. Mr Hinkes, aged 50 and from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, secured his place in the record books by climbing Kangchenjunga in Nepal.'

You can also check out video footage on the BBC site with shots from his first attempt on Kangchenjunga and audio of Hinkes speaking from base camp. Link from this page (righthand side).

'Eight years after his lofty ambitions were put paid to by a rogue chapati, a 50-year-old former geography teacher has become the first Briton to climb all 14 of the world's highest mountains over 8000 metres high.

In 1997, Alan Hinkes had scaled nine of the 14 peaks and was enjoying a chapati on the side of the 10th - Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan - when flour from the bread made him sneeze so hard that he slipped a disc. He was left in agony and spent days hobbling down the mountain.'

' A middle-aged schoolteacher turned mountaineer has become the first Briton to conquer the world's 14 highest peaks. Only 12 others have managed the feat.

Alan Hinkes, 50, reached the summit of Kangchenjunga in eastern Nepal in spite of treacherous conditions and a high risk of avalanche. He called it "the hardest climb of my life". The ascent marked the completion of "Challenge 8000", his attempt to conquer all of the world's peaks above 8,000 metres.'

'A former geography teacher has made climbing history by becoming the first Briton to conquer all 14 of the world's mountain peaks over five miles high.

Alan Hinkes, 50, became only the 13th climber in history to manage the feat when he reached the summit of Kangchenjunga, in Nepal, the world's third highest peak and one of the most treacherous.'

' A friend said: "Alan is a typical Northerner. He likes real ale, chips, eggs, chapatis and cups of tea. They are the first things he eats when he comes off a mountain."

Includes a strange 8,000-metre summit graphic which shows a passenger jet flying below summit level...

'A campaign has been launched in North Yorkshire to honour record-breaking mountaineer Alan Hinkes... David Blades, the mayor of Mr Hinkes' home town of Northallerton, thinks the climber should be given a knighthood after his "fantastic achievement.

'Mr Blades said Northallerton town council would be meeting later this month to decide how it could honour its famous resident. One option is to award him honorary citizenship of the town and Mr Blades said they would also be talking about making a formal recommendation that he should be knighted.

'EXTREME altitude mountaineer Alan Hinkes has made history by becoming the first Briton to climb 14 of the world's highest peaks.

Mr Hinkes, from Harrogate, reached the summit of Kangchenjunga - 8,587 metres - on Monday, marking the completion of Hinkes' Challenge 8000, his attempt to be the first Briton to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000 metre (26,247ft) mountains.'

'Alan is an International Mountain Guide, and high profile British climber, but in-between expeditions he still finds time to support the work of the BMC. He is deeply involved with local climbing issues in the North East, being Chair of the North East Area Committee, and is a member of the BMC International Committee...

BMC Chief Executive, Dave Turnbull said:

"Alan's ascent of all 14 of the worlds 8000 metre peaks is an outstanding achievement and a milestone in British mountaineering history. The effort required for success on just one of the world's highest peaks is considerable but to climb all 14 requires immense personal drive and focus sustained over many years. Alan's ascent of Kangchenjunga (8586m) assures him a place in the record books alongside Reinhold Messner and other mountaineering greats."

'Alan Hinkes summits Kangchenjunga - Bags his 13th 8000er!' Mount Everest.net is still maintaining that Alan's climb of Cho Oyu is questionable and suggests that he may return to Cho Oyu.

'Hinkes claims Kangchenjunga as his 14th 8000er, which would made him the first Briton to achieve such a goal. However, there is no official confirmation on Alan reaching the actual summit of Cho Oyu. In fact, neither Liz Hawley nor AdventureStats have Alan logged for a Cho Oyu summit (see previous stories).

'Climbers whose summits are questioned often come back for a second climb to remove all doubts. One of the "easiest" of the 8000ers, Alan might well come back for a proper Cho Oyu summit and put an end to the controversy.'

Interestingly, 'the controversy' seems to exist mainly in the small world of mounteverest.net.