THESE never seen before images capture the first time a British climber conquered Mount Everest’s most dangerous ascent – after lockdown gave him time to go through them.
The 1988 photographs show Stephen Venables on top of the eastern side of the world’s highest mountain – the infamous 3350 metre Kangshung Face.
Photographer and mountaineer Venables never got round to processing and scanning the ground-breaking film – until lockdown.
He was part of the American/British expedition that climbed the Kangshung route, which is well-documented as a dangerous path, becoming the first Briton to reach Everest’s 8849 metre high summit without the use of bottled oxygen.
Venables, 66, from Edinburgh, said: “It has been a huge pleasure spending some lockdown time scanning and digitising them.
“It’s very nostalgic bringing back happy memories of some very intense, and occasionally terrifying, experiences in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
“It was one of the most fulfilling and happy experiences of my life, from the moment I left London in February 1988 to the moment I returned in June.
“It provided a lifetime of happy memories.
“Photography is an integral part of expedition life – an attempt to capture extraordinary experiences.
“In 1988, of course, we were shooting on film, and many of my Kodachromes have been sitting almost untouched in files for nearly 33 years!”
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