Mick Fowler
Encyclopedia
Michael "Mick" Fowler is a British
mountaineer
. He was awarded the Piolet d'Or
and Golden Piton with Paul Ramsden for their 2002 ascent of Siguniang (6250m), was voted "the Mountaineer's Mountaineer" in a poll in The Observer
, and was described by Chris Bonington
in 1981 as "the most successful innovative mountaineer of the last twenty years". He specialises in on-sight climbing
, and challenging, unclimbed lines on peaks of 6000 m-7000 m: he has never climbed an eight-thousander
, as he is unwilling to take the necessary time off work from his job at HM Revenue and Customs (formerly Inland Revenue
), where he is Assistant Director of Capital Taxes. He has also pioneered rock climbing
on sea stacks, and the use of ice-climbing techniques on the soft chalk cliffs of England's South-East.
He has written two volumes of memoirs, the second of which was shortlisted for the 2005 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
, and he won the Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature at the 2005 Banff Mountain Book Festival http://www.topworldbooks.com/detail.aspx?s=24587.
He was introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering as a teenager by his widowed father George, who took him to the Alps
in 1969 at the age of 13. In the 1980s, he was regarded as the driving force behind a group of London climbers who would regularly drive to the north of Scotland, a round trip of 1,300 miles, for winter weekends. His record was 11 consecutive weekends.
He lives in Melbourne, Derbyshire
with his wife and fellow-climber Nicki and their two children, Tessa and Alec.
Sea cliffs:
Sea stacks:
Ice climbs:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
. He was awarded the Piolet d'Or
Piolet d'Or
The Piolet d'Or is an annual mountaineering award given by the French magazine Montagnes and The Groupe de Haute Montagne since 1991...
and Golden Piton with Paul Ramsden for their 2002 ascent of Siguniang (6250m), was voted "the Mountaineer's Mountaineer" in a poll in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, and was described by Chris Bonington
Chris Bonington
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL is a British mountaineer.His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest and the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna.-Early life and expeditions:Educated at University College School in...
in 1981 as "the most successful innovative mountaineer of the last twenty years". He specialises in on-sight climbing
On-sight climbing
On-sight climbing means to attempt a rock climbing route for the first time without inspection or any form of "beta" ....
, and challenging, unclimbed lines on peaks of 6000 m-7000 m: he has never climbed an eight-thousander
Eight-thousander
The eight-thousanders are the fourteen independent mountains on Earth that are more than high above sea level. They are all located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia....
, as he is unwilling to take the necessary time off work from his job at HM Revenue and Customs (formerly Inland Revenue
Inland Revenue
The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty...
), where he is Assistant Director of Capital Taxes. He has also pioneered rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
on sea stacks, and the use of ice-climbing techniques on the soft chalk cliffs of England's South-East.
He has written two volumes of memoirs, the second of which was shortlisted for the 2005 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for 'an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.' It was established in memory of Peter Boardman and Joe...
, and he won the Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature at the 2005 Banff Mountain Book Festival http://www.topworldbooks.com/detail.aspx?s=24587.
He was introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering as a teenager by his widowed father George, who took him to the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
in 1969 at the age of 13. In the 1980s, he was regarded as the driving force behind a group of London climbers who would regularly drive to the north of Scotland, a round trip of 1,300 miles, for winter weekends. His record was 11 consecutive weekends.
He lives in Melbourne, Derbyshire
Melbourne, Derbyshire
Melbourne is a Georgian market town in South Derbyshire, England. It is about 8 miles south of Derby and 2 miles from the River Trent. In 1837 a then tiny settlement in Australia was named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister, and thus indirectly takes...
with his wife and fellow-climber Nicki and their two children, Tessa and Alec.
Rock and ice climbs (first ascents)
Conventional rock climbs:- Linden (E6) in 1976 at Curbar Edge in Derbyshire (As one of the first E6 climbs in Britain this received extensive press coverage)
- Stone (E5) in the Hebrides
- Ludwig (E6) at Gogarth
- Stairway to Heaven (E5) on Skye
- Caveman (E6) in Devon
Sea cliffs:
- Henna (450 ft, XS) and Bukator (600 ft, XS) on the North Devon/Cornwall coast
- Monster Crack (500 ft, XS) (first free ascent of the chalk cliffs at Beachy Head)
- Clo Mhor Crack (E3) (the only route on the biggest cliffs in mainland Britain, at Cape WrathCape WrathCape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland, in northern Scotland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain. The land between the Kyle of Durness and the lighthouse that is situated right at the tip, is known as the Parph, two hundred and seven square kilometers of...
in ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) - BeriBeri (E4), on the Isle of HoyHoyHoy is an island in Orkney, Scotland. With an area of it is the second largest in the archipelago after the Mainland. It is connected by a causeway called The Ayre to South Walls...
- Big John (E4), on Hoy (the first one day, and first free, ascent of the biggest sea cliff in Britain)
Sea stacks:
- Branaunmore (IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
) - Lovers Leap Rock (Ireland)
- Doonbristy (Ireland)
- The Needle (Hoy)
- Spindle (Shetland)
- Clett Rock (ThursoThurso-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
) - Old Harry
- The Tusk
- Press Gang Pinnacle
Ice climbs:
- The Fly (VI) on Creag MeagaidhCreag MeagaidhCreag Meagaidh is a mountain on the northern side of Glen Spean in Scotland. It is a complex mountain, taking the form of a flat summit plateau from which five ridges radiate, and is most famed for the cliffs surrounding the corrie of Coire Ardair on the north-eastern face...
- Deep Gash Gully (VI) on SkyeSkyeSkye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
- The Shield (VI) on Ben NevisBen NevisBen Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....
(the first Scottish winter route to be given a guidebook rating of VI) - Cascade (V), on Craig Rhaeddr
- Central Ice-fall Direct (VI) on Craig Rhaeddr
- a 65 ft ice streak created by a leaking toilet outflow at St. Pancras stationhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&xml=/health/2005/07/11/hmick09.xml.
Mountains
- Taulliraju (PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
), South Face, with Chris Watts - Killimanjaro, Western Gully, with Caradog JonesCaradog JonesCaradog "Crag" Jones is a noted Welsh climber. Whilst he has achieved a number of firsts on peaks around the world, he is most well known for being the first Welshman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, a feat he achieved on 23 May 1995, at the age of 33. As such he was the 724th climber to...
- Mount KennedyMount KennedyMount Kennedy is a peak in the Saint Elias Mountains within Kluane National Park, in Yukon, Canada. Its 4250-m to 4300-m summit lies within 10 km of the Alaska Panhandle. Dusty Glacier lies against it to the north....
(YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
), N Buttress, with Andy CaveAndy CaveAndy Cave is a British mountaineer. He was nominated for the Piolet d'Or for his ascent of the North Face of Changabang.-Biography:Born in 1966, Andy Cave grew up in Royston, a small coal mining village in South Yorkshire. On leaving school with few qualifications at 16, he followed family... - Taweche (Nepal), NE Pillar, with Pat Littlejohn
- Golden Pillar of SpantikSpantikSpantik or Golden Peak is a mountain in Spantik-Sosbun Mountains subrange of Karakoram. Its northwest face features an exceptionally hard climbing route known as the "Golden Pillar". It lies east of Diran and northeast of Malubiting.-Climbing:...
(Pakistan) with Victor SaundersVictor SaundersVictor Saunders is a British mountaineer and author. He trained as an architect at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London... - Hunza PeakHunza PeakHunza Peak lies in the westernmost subrange of the Karakoram range along with the Ladyfinger Peak . It lies on the southwest ridge of the Ultar Sar massif, the most southeasterly of the major groups of the Batura Muztagh...
and Bublimoting (Pakistan) with Caradog Jones - 1993 Northwest Face Cerro Kishtwar (India) with Steve Sustad
- 1997 North Face of ChangabangChangabangChangabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it are serious undertakings. It has been the site of many significant climbs...
in the GarwhalGarhwal DistrictGarhwal lies in the northern region of India. It is a part of the state Uttrakhand and is bounded on four sides by Tibet , Uttar Pradesh, Kumaon region and Himachal Pradesh....
Himalaya of IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, First Ascent with Brendan Murphy and Andy CaveAndy CaveAndy Cave is a British mountaineer. He was nominated for the Piolet d'Or for his ascent of the North Face of Changabang.-Biography:Born in 1966, Andy Cave grew up in Royston, a small coal mining village in South Yorkshire. On leaving school with few qualifications at 16, he followed family...
(summit); with Fowler and Steve Sustad climbing to the summit ridge. A 1,600 m (5,250 ft) route which involved steep, sustained ice, mixed rock and ice, and hard rock climbing. Unfortunately Murphy was hit by an avalanche and swept off the face to his death on the descent. - Arwa Tower (India), NW Face, with Steve Sustad
- Siguniang (China), NW Face, with Paul Ramsden
- Kajaqiao (China), with Chris Watts