Hinkes Survives Crevasse Plunge

Yorkshire 8000-metre man Alan Hinkes has failed to climb Kangchenjunga and had a fortunate escape after a snow bridge over a crevasse collapsed on the descent.

Hinkes, after an unsuccessful attempt on Kangchenjunaga (8586 metres) one of the three 8000ers he has yet to climb, was making his way back to base camp when a snow bridge collapsed depositing him in a crevasse. Fortunately he landed on an ice ledge part way down, but he broke his left arm in the fall and was fortunate to survive. 'I am very, very lucky to be alive,' he commented on his satellite phone.

After scrambling out of the slot, he managed to reach base camp and is now recuperating before walking out from the mountain. Hinkes's previous climbing injuries include the infamous chapatti lumbar disaster on Nanga Parbat when he put his back out after sneezing after inhaling the flour from a chapatti and an incident where a bamboo stem was driven through his thigh when he slipped during the walk in to Makalu and had to be helicoptered out.

According to the Observer he is becoming 'Britain's unluckiest living mountaineer' but we reckon he's been pretty fortunate just to survive this one.

Hinkes attempt on Kangchenjunga was foiled by poor conditions and deep snow. More information on the Berghaus website.

Hinkes 8000s: Hinkes has now summited on 11 of the world's 14 highest mountains. Kangchenjunga would have been number 12 and the remaining two are Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, often confused with a banana-flavoured cocktail.