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Q&A with Stephen Venables

Read our interview with 2024 Patron's Medal recipient, Stephen Venables.

Mountaineer, writer and public speaker Stephen Venables is one of two Royal Medal recipients in 2024. Stephen's career knows many breathtaking highlights. In addition to adventuring the Rockies, the Andes, and the Antarctic island South Georgia (to name a few), he has been credited with multiple first ascents.

Famously, Stephen, after climbing a new route on Everest's immense Kangshung Face with a small American-Canadian team, reached the summit alone. In the process, Stephen become the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen. 

I wanted to go climbing, preferably on big, remote, glaciated mountains.Stephen Venables

What did you want to be, or where did you want to work, when you were a teenager?

"I wanted to be performing Brahms’ first piano concerto, to a sold out audience at the Royal Festival Hall, with a top orchestra like the London Philharmonic. That was never going to happen. In the real world, I had no idea what work I would actually end up doing, but I did love wild mountain country and I wanted to go climbing, preferably on big, remote, glaciated mountains."

Expeditioner in winter gear climbing over the edge of a glacier.
© Stephen Venables (1980)
  • Expeditioner in winter gear climbing over the edge of a glacier.
  • A man climbing an icy mountain.
  • An expeditioner resting at a temporary shelter on the edge of a snow covered mountain.
  • Three expeditioners in winter gear resting inside a tent.
  • An expeditioner in climbing gear on the summit of a mountain with a blanket of clouds below him.
  • Group of expeditioners at a base camp eating and drinking.
  • A group of expeditioners posing for a group photo in front of a sign that says Panch Chuli 1992.
  • Man sitting in an office looking at pictures of snowy mountains.

What has been the highlight of your career, regardless of how big or small, so far?

"Everest. Not because it was Everest, but because of the way we climbed it – the smallest team ever to climb such a hard new route on the mountain, without oxygen or high altitude porters, on the rarely visited East Face. But perhaps more exciting was the day when Maggie Body, the legendary editor at Hodder & Stoughton, said that she was going to publish my first book."

Group of explorers on an expedition resting at base camp in a mountainous, snowy area.
© Ed Webster (1988)
  • Group of explorers on an expedition resting at base camp in a mountainous, snowy area.
  • Men in a snowy, barren and mountainous area resting at an improvised camp.
  • Man in winter gear ascending a snow covered mountain.
  • Expeditioner in winter gear climbing a snow and ice covered mountain.
  • An expeditioner sitting in the snow and resting at a base camp.
  • Expeditioners having breakfast at base camp at the foot of a mountain partially covered in snow and ice.
  • A man in climbing gear on a snowy rock buttress.
  • A man walking in a barren, rocky landscape with snowy mountains in the back.
  • An expeditioner holding on to a rope into a deep open crack in a glacier.
  • Snowy mountains at sunrise with a small figure of a person in the background and a trail of footsteps behind him.
  • A man sitting in front of a pile of books he has published and signing one book.
  • A collection of books written by the expeditioner Stephen Venables.

What are you looking forward to in the future? What’s next?

"In September, Skip Novak and I will be leading another expedition to South Georgia (my twelfth visit to the island) where we have unfinished business – some of the last major unclimbed summits on the island."

Man posing in front of a large group of pinguins and a mountain range in the background.
© Sue Flood (2019)
  • Man posing in front of a large group of pinguins and a mountain range in the background.
  • Group of people seen from a distance in the middle of a snowy mountainous landscape.
  • Six expeditioners in winter gear gleefully posing for a photo while standing in a snow covered landscape.
  • Two people in winter gear skii touring over a glacier while each dragging a sledge with them.
  • A expeditioner in full winter gear on a snow covered glacier pointing to the top of a mountain.
  • Expeditioner in winter gear caught in a snowstorm standing next to an improvised camp in a landscape covered in snow.
  • Expeditioner in winter gear holding up two pickaxes while standing on the summit of a snow covered mountain.
  • Group of men in winter equipment in a snowy landscape holding up a board with Antarctica on it.
  • Group of people on a boat with glaciers in the background.
  • A man at the helm of a boat.
  • Front side of a boat covered with ice.

Missed Stephen Venable's lecture?

If you are a member of the Society and you missed or would like to rewatch Stephen Venable's Monday Night lecture "Everest24 anniversary" (Monday 20 May 2024), then you can now watch the lecture online.

Watch Everest24 anniversary lecture