Ed Farrelly
A student who can trace a family connection back to the first successful Everest summiteers will attempt to become the youngest Briton to climb the world’s highest mountain.
Ed Farrelly will make the attempt via the South-East Ridge of Everest this summer, aged 19.
The Surrey climber, whose great great uncle was ambassador in Nepal in 1953 and gave the pennant from his car to the expedition team to be held aloft by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, will make the climb to raise cash for Depression Alliance and the Alzheimer’s Society.
He is currently in training in Argentina for the June 2011 expedition, but is no stranger to altitude climbing. He said: “In November 2010 I became the youngest person ever, aged 18, to summit Baruntse, a 7,129m (23,389ft) mountain in Nepal.
“I guess you could say the expedition was my first big break but it didn’t come without a bit of luck, in all only 15 people summited in the 2010 season, we were just in the right place at the right time.
“Mountaineering has a great way of stripping away all the normal barriers associated with age, experience and background and lets you be yourself. There is no place for pretentiousness, I know it’s a cliché to say but it exposes the very best and worst in people and it’s exactly why I love doing it.”
His grounding in the outdoors began at the age of five, with trips to the mountains of Snowdonia with his father, who held a military Mountain Leader qualification. “From early on I had a healthy respect for the mountains but was also aware that if you had what it took the possibilities were endless,” he said.
“During my A-levels I took – I know it sounds odd to say – respite and comfort winter climbing, walking and climbing in Snowdonia on weekends and holidays. I also spent part of the 2009 summer season in Chamonix, France and Arolla, Switzerland and among other things climbed Mont Blanc.”
Last year, he spent the summer in the Tien Shan range in Kyrgyzstan, learning valuable lessons for his Everest attempt when bad weather forced him back on an attempt on the 6,371m (20,902ft) Peak Chapayev. “Mountaineering isn’t always about reaching the top; it has, as in life, its ups and downs,” he added.
The 18-year-old plans to study environmental geography at York University following his June expedition to the Himalaya this year.
The Everest attempt is being sponsored by Lowe Alpine, Tiso, Cébé, MBC, Hi-Tec and Breathe Unity Athlete Management, which has just signed him to its team.
Mr Farrelly said: “I am always thinking of new challenges and expeditions I would love to get involved in. My dream of climbing Everest was not the start and it won’t be the end. In the words of Les Brown, ‘live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory’.”
