Hinkes On Final Straight!

Challenge 8000 Brit' Alan Hinkes is on the final straight of his quest to become the first Briton to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000 metre plus peaks with the announcement that he's off to attempt Kangchenjunga at the end of March.

If he succeeds in climbing the mountain, he'll become one of only 12 mountaineers to manage the extraordinary feat after 15 years of trying. Kangchenjunga at 8586 metres is the world's third highest peak behind Everest and K2 and was first climbed by a team including the legendary Mancunian plumber Joe 'the Human Fly' Brown 50 years ago.

Hinkes has tried and failed to climb Kangch' before, narrowly escaping with his life after a snow bridge collapsed during his descent and depostited him in a crevasse. He escaped with a broken arm, but it could have been much worse and Alan will know just what a dangerous task lies ahead.

'The mountain lies at the eastern extreme of the Himalaya,' observes Hinkes. 'And is exposed to exceptionally bad weather as the monsoon period moves in. This isn't my first visit and I know what lies in store - the terrain is very difficult and once on the mountain there is a very serious danger of avalanche and rockfall.

'I am however not worried, it feels like I'm returning to an old friend and I'm really looking forward to it. As I always say, I climb to live, not to die. The summit is optional but returning is mandatory.'

More details to follow in good time, but we'd like to wish Alan all the best for his second crack at Kangchenjunga. We'll carry updates here, but you'll also be able to follow his progress on the web site of Alan's main sponsors, Berghaus. More OM coverage from our previous articles linked below.

Finally, we were very tickled by the description of Alan as a 'worldwide legendary hero' in a Berghaus press release. Shhhh... don't tell him, it might go to his head ;-)