2000
Mick
Fowler (United Kingdom)
Mick
Fowler was first introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering by his father when he was
in his early teens. His first experiences of the French and Swiss Alps were gained when he
was only 13!
 Since then, his climbing career has broadened to such an
extent that he has been at the top of his field in a wide variety of climbing disciplines
over the last 20 years and his activities have received widespread publicity. He is now a
very well known figure on the British climbing scene and increasingly so internationally.
Today Mick Fowler is widely recognized as the first
ascentionist of countless high-standard rock and ice climbs which he has been making all
over Britain for the last 20 years. Mick is also acknowledged to be Britian’s
pre-eminent adventure climber with a reputation for forcing technical and adventurous
climbs in remote situations where extreme commitment is required.
The range of climbs he has achieved is outstanding, from
remote Scottish Sea stacks and huge sea cliffs accessible only by boat to vertical frozen
waterfalls. Some, such as the ascent of an ice smear dribbling down the side of
London’s St. Pancras station, could not fail to attract the public eye…and the
front page of the UK national newspaper the Daily Telegraph. He was the first
climber to ascend the White Cliffs of Dover using axes and crampons and he also made the
first ascent of the chalk cliffs at Beachy Head.
As might be expected, much of Mick’s climbing skill
and experience was gained outside the UK. Following his early introduction to the Alps, he
cut his serious climbing teeth on traditional test pieces such as the North Faces of the
Eiger and Matterhorn before broadening his horizons to the greater ranges.
Mick has regularly led expeditions to the greater ranges
since 1982, making major first ascents on Taulliraju (Peru), Ushba, (Russia), Spantik and
Hunza Peak (Pakistan), Changabang, Cerro Kishtwar and The Arwa Tower (India) and Taweche
(Nepal).
For the last 20 years, Mick has also been a regular
lecturer and contributor to the mountaineering press. His articles have been published in
Britain, India, Holland, France, Germany, Spain and the United States.
His first book, Vertical Pleasure, was published in
1995 and Mick is currently working on a sequel planned for publication in 2000.
He was voted "The Mountaineer’s Mountaineer"
in the Expert’s Expert series in the UK national newspaper The Observer and
has been the subject of lengthy features in the mountaineering press in Britain, America,
Germany and Spain.
Chris Bonington has described Mick as "…in his
own way as remarkable as Reinhold Messner, but he has never bothered to chase conventional
records, making instead an extraordinary collection of new routes whose common denominator
is immense seriousness and individuality."
Mick lives in Derbyshire with his wife Nicki and two young
children, Tessa (7) and Alec (4). He is a past Vice President of the Alpine Club and a
current management committee member of the Mount Everest Foundation.
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