The first British man to climb Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen, Stephen Venables, will give a talk on his mountaineering hero Eric Shipton. He spoke to Chris Price about the explorer.

One of the greatest explorers of the 20th century, Eric Shipton dedicated his life to exploring mountain ranges across the world.

Yet although he was very well-known at the time of his expeditions in the 1930s through to the 1950s, he was denied his place in history.

Despite climbing the twin peaks of Mount Kenya and reaching the summit of Kamat, the highest peak climbed at that time he reached it in 1931, he was sacked from the Everest expedition in 1952, a venture he had been widely expected to lead.

Shipton was replaced by John Hunt, who would lead the British exhibition in 1953 which saw Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest.

Among today’s mountaineering fraternity, it is seen as one of the great travesties of their sport.

“Shipton was the first to cross the Patagonian ice caps and the second person ever to ascend Mount Kenya,” said mountaineer Stephen Venables, who is hosting a show about the explorer’s career, The Legend of Eric Shipton.

“He achieved an astonishing amount and wrote some wonderful books which are widely read. Yet among the general public he is less well known which is a shame as he knew more about Everest than anyone.

“During a training expedition for the Everest ascent, there were grumblings from some members that he was lackadaisical and not organised. Success was vital and they said he didn’t have his heart in it.

“So the committee in London sacked him without much ceremony. For Shipton it was a hard blow and disappointment. Had they succeeded he would have been a global name. Instead, in the eyes of the public, he faded from view.”

It was Shipton – who died in 1977 aged 69 – who inspired Stephen’s own mountaineering career. Venables became the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen in 1988. He reached the summit alone, after climbing with a small American-Canadian team by a new route up the Kangshung Face.

“The reason we went against oxygen was because in those days it was very heavy and expensive,” said Stephen, 57.

“We wanted to do it like Shipton. His greatest achievement was to show what you could achieve on a minimal budget with a team of three or four climbers. That way of attempting big climbs is what inspired my generation. Why put an oxygen mask on your face when you can do it without?

“It is the hardest thing I have ever done. I was at my absolute limit. I didn’t know whether I was up to it. At 29,000 ft life is pretty tough. You cannot survive that long at that altitude. I was pushed harder than ever before or since.

“I got to the summit late in the afternoon and it was clouded over and the view was non-existent but you don’t do it for the view. We spent two months on the mountain. It was just glorious.”

'Everest is so crowded these days’

Stephen’s early days of climbing were spent on Bowles Rocks and High Rocks in Tunbridge Wells and Harrisons Rocks in Groombridge.

A goal of his is to climb in Antartica, which he will realise next February. Among his favourite climbs are his ascents of Eiger and his ascent of Everest. Venables also became the first person to reach the summit of Kishtwar Shivling in the Himalayas in 1973. Yet another attempt at his career defining moment, the Everest ascent, would be out of the question.

He said: “It would be very tempting but I think I would struggle to do it now. I’m 57 and it would be hard to justify the risk. I could possibly do it using oxygen but I fear that would be a bit of an anti-climax. It seems to me if you take enough oxygen nothing should stop you from getting to the top, so what’s the point?

“Everest is so crowded these days so I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. I go to the Himalayas to find solitude, not be part of a crowd.”

Yeti footprint – or a joke?

Another of Eric Shipton’s great accolades is being the man behind the only known photograph of a Yeti footprint. While attempting to scale Mount Everest in 1951, Shipton took photographs of a number of large prints in the snow, at about 20,000 feet above sea level. Using an ice axe to show their scale, the pictures were printed in the Times, although many people contend the prints are those of a mundane creature that have been distorted by the melting snow. Shipton was also a notorious practical joker.

“No one could work out what it was,” said Stephen. “I mean, they printed the photo in the Times.

“One of his colleagues thought he made it himself. He just embellished a human footprint. I kind of like that idea. It is one of the great unsolved mysteries.”

The Legend of Eric Shipton with Stephen Venables is at Tunbridge Wells’ Assembly Hall Theatre on Sunday, April 1, at 8pm. Tickets £13. Box office 01892 530613.