Old friends reunite to climb peak nobody has before

Vic Saunders (left) and Mick Fowler took this selfie on the summit of Spantik in 1987

Two mountaineers are planning to ascend a peak in the Himalayas that nobody has climbed before, almost 40 years after their first major expedition together.

Mick Fowler, 67, and Vic Saunders, 73, were regular climbing partners in the 1980s before they fell out of touch.

They reunited for an expedition in 2016 but their plans to do more were put on hold when Mr Fowler was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.

He was able to return to climbing in 2019 following successful treatment.

'A great adventure'

Mr Fowler, who lives in Matlock in Derbyshire, said they were both excited about the potential of the 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," he said.

"This should be a great adventure and a fitting way to continue our long climbing partnership.”

He teamed up with Mr Saunders, who now lives in Chamonix in the French Alps, in 2019 for two attempts to make a first ascent of Chombu in India.

However, they were thwarted by a combination of bad weather and illness caused by freeze-dried food that had gone off.

Mr Fowler has been able to continue climbing since his cancer treatment

Following his cancer diagnosis, Mr Fowler doubted whether he would be able to return to the Himalayas.

However, he said that having a stoma had not stopped him, despite carrying colostomy bags being a "hindrance" due to the additional weight.

The climbers have not announced exactly where they are going.

"We tend not to announce exactly where it is in advance because there's always a possibility that if you announce a very fine objective that somebody else will decide that they can get there first," Mr Fowler said.

"We did have that experience once in India and we've been very wary about announcing exactly where we're going to go since then."

Mr Fowler (left) and Mr Saunders hope to be the first to reach the peak

The same peak was attempted by a Polish team in 2011 and a British team two years ago, he said.

"They've given us a lot of very useful information, but we will be the first team to attempt the north side of this mountain," Mr Fowler said.

They were due to fly out on Saturday, and if the expedition goes to plan, they will return to the UK towards the end of September.

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