Alan Hinkes climbs world's 14 highest peaks!

On 30 May British mountaineer Alan Hinkes reached the summit of Kangchenjunga (8586m). In doing so he became the first Briton to summit the world's fourteen 8000m peaks

PlanetMountain.com

June 2005

Traduci in

On 30 May British mountaineer Alan Hinkes reached the summit of Kangchenjunga (8586m). In doing so he became the first Briton to summit the world's fourteen 8000m peaks.

Hinkes' summit bid for the third highest mountain in the world proved to be no easy task, as poor weather and high risk of avalanches seriously hampered progress. Hinkes left Base Camp at 6000m on 26 May together with climbing partner Pasang Gelu. Fresh snow slowed them down and they were unable to reach Camp 3, resulting in a forced to bivy at around 7400m. On 29 May the duo made a first attempt for the summit but were turned back by the weather.

Hinkes, phoning from Base Camp, recounts "A second summit attempt saw us leave at about 1am on the 30 May. Â More snow had fallen but we made good time. Â My climbing partner Pasang had to stop around 15 minutes short of the summit due to exhaustion. Â I reached the summit on the 30 May at around 7pm in driving snow and wind. Â It was the worst summit conditions I can remember. Â I took the obligatory photo spent around 10 minutes on the summit and then began my descent."

"The final summit push was without a doubt the hardest climb of my life... Â The weather had not been good which meant there was an awful lot of fresh snow to break through. Â Risk of avalanche was incredibly high and every step of the way was a matter of physical and mental endurance... Getting back to base camp was one of the best feelings of my life. Â I sat down in my tent and thought I've finally done it!"

Congratulations Alan!

Alan Hinkes' 14 8000m
1987 Shisha Pangma
1988 Manaslu
1990 Cho Oyu
1991 Broad Peak
1995 K2
1996 Everest
1996 Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak)
1996 Gasherbrum II
1997 Lhotse
1998 Nanga Parbat
1999 Makalu
2002 Annapurna
2004 Dhaulagiri
2005 Kangchenjunga