Everest
The Iceland Everest Expedition 2011 aims to plant the Iceland Foods flag on the summit of Everest and to raise at least £1 million for the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation to fund research into early-onset Alzheimer’s disease through our Charity of the Year for 2011/12, Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The expedition in April-May 2011 will be led by seasoned explorer David Hempleman-Adams and include novice climbers Malcolm Walker (65), founder and CEO of Iceland, and his son Richard Walker (30), whose personal objective will be to reach the North Col at 23,031ft (7,020m).
The members of the team
Expedition Leader
David Hempleman-Adams LVO OBE DL
David Hempleman-Adams (54) is one of the world’s most experienced and celebrated explorers and adventurers. He was the first person to complete the Explorers’ Grand Slam by conquering the North and South Magnetic Poles, becoming the first Briton to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole, walking to the North Geographic Pole and scaling the highest mountain in each of the seven continents, including Everest. He has also set numerous records as a balloonist.
Deputy Expedition Leader & Base Camp Manager
Graham Hoyland
Climber, author and film director Graham Hoyland was the 15th Briton to climb Everest and during one of his nine expeditions to the mountain was responsible for the discovery of George Mallory’s body. He writes for the Independent newspaper and worked as a BBC director on programmes such as Dragons’ Den, the Today programme and Around the World in 80 Faiths. At present he is sailing around the world in his quest to be the first person to sail the seven seas and climb the seven summits. Quite honestly he would rather be at home drinking tea and reading the paper.
Climbing Leader
Alan Hinkes OBE
Alan Hinkes is the first Briton to climb the world’s highest mountains. These are the 14 8000m peaks, all of which are in the ‘death zone’, where human survival rate is measured in hours. They are the most dangerous mountains on the planet. Alan is part of an exclusive club of only 12 people alive who have achieved this feat, which is the same number of people who have stood on the moon. Many have perished attempting this challenge.
Novice Climbers
Malcolm Walker CBE
Malcolm Walker (65) is a lifelong entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Iceland Foods, Britain’s leading frozen food specialist with over 730 stores. Iceland has a long track record of support for good causes as a founder member of the Per Cent Club, and has given over £4 million to charity in the last five years alone. Malcolm is a keen and experienced skier but is a late though enthusiastic convert to mountaineering.
Richard Walker
Richard Walker (30) is the founder and managing director of Bywater Properties, a private company investing in the UK and Polish commercial property markets. Richard has always loved adventure and travel, and has had numerous expedition experiences, starting at school when he obtained his Bronze, Silver & Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Despite numerous alpine training trips, he is still a newcomer to high level mountaineering, completing a successful ascent of Kilimanjaro in January 2011.
Climbers
Graham Duff
Squadron Leader Graham Duff (36) has lifelong passions for mountaineering and flying. He grew up climbing with his father in the Lake District, joined the Air Training Corps at 13 and obtained his private pilot’s licence several months before his driving licence. He joined the RAF in 1996 and in 2010 completed three years as a member of the Red Arrows. He has already climbed three of the Seven Summits.
Charles Hobhouse
Charles Hobhouse is from a farm near Bath which he inherited from his father in 1991. After leaving school he went straight to Australia where, as well as doing various stints as a jackeroo, he developed a love of overland travel. He never got as far as further education but spent three years travelling Africa and Latin America where he climbed several 4,000 to 6,000 metre high mountains but only because he happened to be passing by them. He has never walked higher than 6,000 metres.
Rodney Hogg
Rod Hogg (44) is a former paratrooper and triathlete who took up rock climbing in 2004 and has gained a wealth of mountaineering experience, mostly in mixed/winter conditions. Some of his notable achievements have included Denali, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Matterhorn, Traverse of the Eiger and Mont Blanc.
Rikki Hunt
Rikki Hunt (57) is a successful businessman who became the youngest managing director of any British oil company in 1991, and is the author of ‘Creating a Thinking Organization’. He is a passionate believer in encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to challenge themselves, to think and to learn. Rikki has climbed four of the Seven Summits, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua and Elbrus, and has twice skied to the North Magnetic pole twice. On the second occasion he was accompanied by the first disabled man to reach the Pole, Geoffrey McGonagle and the trip was filmed by Central TV. Rikki was also marooned with his family for a survival programme called The Real Swiss Family Robinson which was filmed by the BBC.
Justin Packshaw
Justin was brought up in the Mediterranean so has always had a great love for the sea and the outdoors. He left school and was an officer for eight years in the British Army. On leaving, he did an MBA at Edinburgh University and is now Managing Director of the luxury fashion label, De Roemer.
George Rodway
Dr George Rodway holds a PhD in physiology from University of Pittsburgh, USA and is a qualified nurse practitioner. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing. He has over 30 years of mountaineering experience in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, with a background in mountain rescue. George is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of the Alpine Club, American Alpine Club, International Society of Mountain Medicine, and a life member of the Himalayan Club. He writes and lectures extensively on the history of high altitude mountaineering and high altitude physiology and medicine. He is also Chairman of the Publications Committee of the Wilderness Medical Society.
Bob Wilson
At the age of 63 retired Chartered Surveyor Bob Wilson has no intention of slowing down. In his early 20s he had an unaccountable wish to reach Tierra del Fuego. He travelled by every form of transport throughout South America for nine months, eventually working a passage back to Europe on a cargo ship. A particular highlight was being locked alone in a cell at a very remote border crossing between Bolivia and Chile. At that moment he decided he could probably cope with most things and that he was really quite good at travelling. In recent years he has visited many parts of the world pursuing a love of trekking which includes a passion for cold and high places. He will be very satisfied to reach the North Col of Everest which is a tad higher than his personal best. To be involved in The Iceland Everest Expedition is a very exciting opportunity and he relishes the prospect of learning from a great team of very experienced adventurers.
Communications Manager
Gina Waggott
Gina Waggott is a self-shooting camera operator, script editor, sound recordist and technology co-ordinator for the BBC. She has worked on many film projects both in the UK and abroad, from BBC2′s flagship series Coast, to producing short pieces for news bulletins. Outside the day job, she has published articles, websites and undertaken many public speaking roles in the voluntary sector, including to the United Nations and European Commission. Gina prefers to be outdoors hiking and climbing whenever she can and has recently been filming and sailing around with world with her partner, Graham.
Aconcagua
Aconcagua, “The Sentinel of Stone”. Its name has roots in the Quechua language and when translated means “The Sentinel of Stone”.
Aconcagua, at 22840 feet (6962 meters) is the highest summit outside the Himalaya. The mountain stands in Argentina on the border with Chile, it does not lie in the actual Andes, but in the Frontal range, slightly to the east. It has a very steep and massive face on its south and a gentle slope on the north, with a huge glacier, the Polish glacier, flowing to the east and a series of aretes and couloirs to the west. As the highest point in South America, Aconcagua is one of the much sought after “Seven Summits” and a world renowned peak.
The mountain has two summits – North (6959 meters) and South (6930 meters), joined by a ridge (Cresta del Guanaco) approximately one kilometer long. The usual non-technical routes are the Normal Route from the Horcones valley and the Polish Traverse from the Vacas valley. Aconcagua is a serious undertaking and is often underestimated resulting in serious injuries every year. The best climbing period is mid-November to March.
Denali
The local Athabaskan name for the mountain is Denali (“the Great One”). Also known as Mt. McKinley it is unsurpassed in challenge or scenic beauty, offering one of the world’s greatest expedition challenges. Denali at 6194 meters (20320 ft) is the highest mountain in North America situated 150 miles (250km) to the north of Anchorage in the Alaska Range, close to the Arctic Circle.
The mountain is a granitic pluton with a crystallization age of around 56 million years. Over tens of millions of years, Denali has been uplifted by tectonic pressure while at the same time, erosion has stripped away the (somewhat softer) sedimentary rock above and around it.
While it is exceeded in elevation by peaks in South America and Asia, its arctic environment, characterized by extremely cold weather and harsh storms, and its great height above the Alaskan plain make it a severe test of personal strength, team work, and logistics. Denali has a larger bulk and rise than Mount Everest, even though the summit of Everest is about 9,000 feet (2,700 m) higher as measured from sea level, its base sits on the Tibetan Plateau at about 17,000 feet (5,200 m), giving it a real vertical rise of a little more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The base of Denali is roughly a 2,000-foot plateau, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) above its surrounding plain. Five large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain.
As the tallest mountain on the North American continent and its status as one of the Seven Summits and its fearsome and well-justified reputation for being the hardest and coldest of these summits provides an incredible challenge for climbers from all over the world. It is often said that the greatest challenge of Denali is not the climbing, but the weather. While most of the world’s highest mountains are near the equator, Denali is closer to the North Pole. Denali is located in the middle of the southern Alaskan mainland, 200 miles south of the Artic Circle at 63° North Latitude. This is 35° further north than Everest; this is the same latitude as northern Hudson Bay and central Scandinavia.
Elbrus
More information on Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak, coming soon….
Kilimanjaro
More information on Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, coming soon…