Recall the Epicoun:
Night, welling up so soon,
At the stiff frozen dawn,
When time had ceased to flow
-The glacier ledge our unmade bed –
I hear you through your yawn:
’Leaping crevasses in the dark,
That’s how to live!’ you said.
No room in that to hedge:
A razor’s edge of a remark.
I A Richards (from ‘Hope’)
Mountaineering is a passion of mine and I have been an active rock climber, alpinist and skier since the late 1960’s. During that time I have led twelve expeditions to the world’s great mountain ranges. I was one of the ten British Mountain Guides to first receive the International Mountain Guides (UIAGM) carnet in 1978, and was the inaugural Chair of the Mountain Guides Professional Standards Committee. In recent years, I have led a number of expeditions to Nepal in support of charities for those with disabilities. Amongst these was the MacIntyre ‘An Everest to Climb’ expedition where four mentally disabled mountaineers, together with MacIntyre’s Patron The Duchess of York, reached the summit of Pokalde (5800m). More recently, in April 2004 I guided a group from MacIntyre to the North Col of Everest (7033m).
• 1978 - Denali, Alaska, 6194m
• 1978 - Nanda Devi, Garhwal Himalaya, 7816m
• 1980 - Mexican Volcanoes – Popocatepl 5452m, Ixtaccihuatl 5286m, Orizaba 5700m
• 1981 - Ecuador Volcanoes - Cotopaxi 5911m and Chimborazo 6310m
• 1983 - Kusum Kanguru, Nepal, 6356m
• 1986 - Peak Lenin, Pamir 7134m
• 1987 - Mt Kenya North Face, 5199m
• 1992 - Kahn Tengri, Tien Shan, 7010m
• 1993 – Pokalde, Nepal 5806m
• 1995 – Pokalde 5806m, Imja Tse 6160m, Lobuje 6119 and Gokyo Ri 5483m, Nepal
• 1999 - Helambu Circuit, Nepal
• 2004 – Mt Everest, North Col, Tibet, 7033m
• Hiraeth for Ahwahnee, The Climbers Club Journal, 1975
An account of an early ascent of the North West Face of Half Dome in the Yosemite Valley
• Further thoughts on the expedition climbing game, The Canadian Alpine Journal 1980
A reflection of the death of my friend Ben Beattie on Nanda Devi
• Zen in the Art of Climbing, The Climbers Club Journal, 1982
An initial attempt to make some sense of why we climb
• Volcano Climbing in Ecuador, The Canadian Alpine Journal 1983
An account of climbing Cotopaxi and failing to summit on Chimborazo
• Professor Falls, The Climbers Club Journal, 1984
Ice climbing in the Rockies
• Kusum Kanguru, a lightweight expedition, Alpine Journal 1985
A new route done alpine style in the Khumbu, Nepal
• Descending Peak Lenin, Alpine Journal 1991/92
In 1986 I was caught in a storm just beneath the summit of Peak Lenin during an alpine style attempt; this is the story of the descent.
• The Boardman - Tasker Award, 2003
My speech as Chair of the Judges when we gave the prize to Simon Mawer for The Fall
• A message from advance base camp on the north side of Mt Everest, April 2004
The email message I sent following our descent from Everest North Col
• An Everest to Climb
The television documentary made for Carlton that Matt Dickinson directed of our MacIntyre ‘An Everest to Climb’ expedition where four mentally disabled mountaineers, together with MacIntyre’s Patron, Sarah, The Duchess of York, reached the summit of Pokalde (5800m).
• Arête des Cosmiques
When he was 12 my son Jeroen made an ascent of the Arête des Cosmiques on the Aiguilles du Midi, Chamonix, Sam Coward filmed the climb.
• Pauls Story
A film by John Whittle of an alpine ascent in Chamonix by Paul Sillitoe the disabled climber with whom I have previously climbed on Pokalde and Everest.
For further information see – www.profdavidhopkins.com