Mountaineers Vic Saunders and Mick Fowler
Seasoned mountaineers Mick Fowler and Vic Sauders will make a new attempt on a Himalayan peak, five years after bad weather and iffy food thwarted their last venture.
The pair will resume a climbing partnership that began almost 40 years ago.
The men plan to fly out later this month to tackle an unclimbed mountain in a remote area of the Himalaya. If the expedition goes to plan, Fowler and Saunders will return to the UK towards the end of September.
The climbers will use kit from the Extrem range of outdoors brand Berghaus, which is supporting their venture.
Mick Fowler and Vic Saunders were regular climbing partners in the 1980s when both men lived in London. They became well known in mountaineering circles for completing many challenging Scottish winter routes, including Shield Direct on Ben Nevis, which was the first to be graded VI in a Scottish guidebook.
The pair also explored the Himalaya and their last climb together before an extended break was the first ascent of the Golden Pillar of Spantik in Pakistan in 1987. They reunited in 2016 to achieve a first ascent on the north face of Sersank in the Indian Himalaya, and had planned more expeditions before Fowler’s cancer diagnosis delayed them.
Following successful treatment, Fowler has returned to fitness and expeditions, and now explores the Himalaya with the additional challenge of needing to use a colostomy bag. In 2019, he teamed up with Saunders for two attempts to make a first ascent of Chombu in India, but they were thwarted by a combination of bad weather and illness caused by freeze-dried food that had gone off.
The two climbers have now identified a new unclimbed objective and will fly to the Himalaya later this month.
Mick Fowler said: “Vic and I are excited about the potential of this trip. We’ve identified an objective that ticks a lot of the boxes that matter to us – the peak is the most prominent and attractive in its location, it is unclimbed, and it is in a remote area that has rarely been visited.
“This should be a great adventure and a fitting way to continue our long climbing partnership.”
