A tax officer became one of the greatest climber of the world
Mick Fowler was introduced to climbing in the Swiss and French Alps by his father when he was 13. During his teenage years he developed an enthusiasm for exploratory climbing which has seen him establishing new climbs at or near the top of most fields of climbing over the last 35 years.
Britain’s pre-eminent adventure climber
In the 1970s and 80s he was the first ascentionist of some of the first rock climbs in the UK to be graded E6 and the first Scottish winter climbs to be graded VI. He became reknowned as Britain’s pre-eminent adventure climber and was the first to climb the famous white cliffs of Dover (using ice axes and crampons), Beachy Head and numerous other first ascents on committing sea cliffs and sea stacks around the British coast.
His first ascents
In mountaineering terms he had completed the six famous north faces in the Alps by 1980 and then moved onto the greater ranges where he has been a regular expedition climber since 1982, specialising in eye catching lines on peaks between 6000m and 7000m. His first ascents now include major lines in many of the world’s most spectacular ranges including Taulliraju (Peru), Changabang (India), Tawoche (Nepal), Spantik (Pakistan), Ushba (Russia), Kennedy (Yukon), Siguniang (Sichuan) and Kajaqiao (Tibet).
The Mountaineers’ Mountaineer
He has been voted the Mountaineers’ Mountaineer in the UK national newspaper The Observer and, together with Paul Ramsden, was awarded the prestigious Piolet d’Or (France) and Golden Piton (USA) awards for ‘the year’s best climb’ for his ascent of Siguniang’s North West face in China’s Sichuan province.
All his climbing is done in his holidays from his career in the UK tax office where he currently holds the position of Assistant Director of Shares and Assets Valuation.
He lives in Derbyshire, England with his wife Nicki and two children Tess (18) and Alec (15).
