Stephen Venables


Stephen Venables is a British mountaineer and writer, and is a past president of the South Georgia Association and of the Alpine Club.

Mountaineer

In 1988, Venables became the first Briton to ascend 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.
Venables's other Himalayan first ascents include new routes in the Hindu Kush, Kishtwar Shivling, Solu Tower, the south-west ridge of Kusum Kanguru and Panch Chuli V. 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 teammates 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 is a past President of the Alpine Club.

Personal life

Venables is the father of the only known child in the UK to be diagnosed with both autism and leukaemia. His son, Ollie, 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.

Awards and honors