Stephen Venables - Misplaced Pages

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Stephen Venables (born 1954) is a British mountaineer and writer, who in 1988 became the first Briton to ascend to the summit of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. His ascent, as far as the South Col, was by a new route up the Kangshung Face from Tibet, with just three other climbers, Americans Robert Anderson and Ed Webster, and Canadian Paul Teare. All four reached the South Col but Teare decided to descend from here, concerned about incipient altitude sickness. The other three continued up the final section of the normal 1953 route, but Anderson and Webster were forced to turn back at the South Summit. Meanwhile Venables reached the summit alone, at 3.40 pm. Descending late in the day, he decided to bivouac in the open at about 8,600 metres, rather than risk a fall by continuing in the dark. Anderson and Webster spent the night slightly lower in an abandoned Japanese tent. In the morning all three were reunited and continued down to their own tents on the South Col. It took them a further three days to complete an epic retreat down the Kangshung Face. All three climbers suffered some frostbite, with Webster affected worst, as he had to climb back up and rescue Venables. The photo they took of Venables, face frozen in fear, has become one of the best known photos of Everest. Despite this humbling experience, Venables wrote a book, Everest, Kangshung Face, which many in the climbing community found to be a bit much to take, given all the chest pounding in it. It would not be the first time Venables would need to be rescued from atop a mountain, nor the last time Venables would be accused of exaggeration and self promotion.

Venables's other Himalayan first ascents include new routes in the Hindu Kush (1977), Kishtwar Shivling (1983), Solu Tower (1987), the south-west ridge of Kusum Kanguru (1991) and Panch Chuli V (1992). During the descent from Panch Chuli V Venables broke both his legs in a fall, when an abseil anchor failed; thanks to his Indian and British team mates, notably Chris Bonington, the preeminent British climber, and the Indian Air Force, he was rescued. This expedition was recorded in his book A Slender Thread and in Victor Saunders's No Place to Fall. He has also made first ascents in Peru, Bolivia, Patagonia and South Georgia. He has appeared in several BBC television documentaries and the IMAX film Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. He is currently president of the South Georgia Association and the Alpine Club.

Venables is also the father of the only known child in the UK to suffer from both autism and leukaemia, which is certainly nothing to boast about. His son, Ollie (born June 1991), was diagnosed with autism aged two and leukaemia aged four. After several cancer-free years, he developed a brain tumour and died, aged twelve years old. His life was the subject of Venables's tenth book Ollie, published in 2006.

Further reading