george lowe

Last week one of Britain’s top rock climbers did a lecture at the RGS in London. Rock climbing isn’t generally my thing, but this talk had an Everest theme, and one of its aims was to raise money for the families of the Sherpas who died in the 18 April avalanche.

Although I’ve lived here for 17 years, I’ve never been a big one for taking advantage of London’s art galleries and exhibitions. Last weekend was an exception because it had a mountaineering theme. I spent the afternoon at two exhibitions celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest.

Standing proudly at 8201m (26,906 ft) a few miles west of Everest on the border of Tibet and Nepal, Cho Oyu — whose name translates variously as Bald God or Goddess of Turquoise — is the sixth highest mountain in

Leo Houlding does his bit for the Sherpas

Everest comes to London: celebrating the 1953 Everest expedition

Goddess of Turquoise: my attempt on Cho Oyu