In this Mount Everest Foundation lecture, Brian Hall tells the story of climbing through the 1970s and 1980s, looking particularly at his memories of 11 friends with whom he climbed: Alan Rouse, Paul Nunn, Joe Tasker, Pete Thexton, Georges Bettembourg, Mike Geddes, Alex MacIntyre, John Whittle, John Syrett, Sam Cochrane and Roger Baxter-Jones.
Starting with rock climbing at Leeds University, they progressed to the hard game of mountaineering in Scotland, the Alps, Patagonia and the Andes, before going to Nepal on expeditions to Jannu, Nuptse, Everest, Ogre 2 and K2.
Brian asks why they took such risks and remembers these friends with fondness, celebrating their achievements while looking back at a very different world from today. This was the golden age of Himalayan climbing, an epoch that marked the change from heavyweight expeditions to fast and light alpine style. They thought it was a safer way to climb but in the end the statistics show otherwise.
High Risk has won:
- Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature in 2022.
- The Himalayan Club Kekoo Naoroji Award 2022
- NZMFF Best Mountain & Adventure Narrative 2023