Top mountaineer visits Oban and Mull
Internationally renowned mountaineer Simon Yates will visit Oban and Mull this March as part of his British tour.
Yates became a household name in the mid 1980s after making a life or death decision while descending the infamous Siula Grande mountains in Peru.
In an act which saved both climbers’ lives, Yates cut the rope which attached him to his climbing partner, Joe Simpson, whom he believed to be dead. In a survival story regarded as one of the most miraculous of all time, both men made it back to base camp after days of exhaustion.
The story, which was first told in Simpson’s bestseller Into the Void, has recently been brought back to life in the form of a stage play directed by Tom Morris, which is touring Scotland.
It could be expected that after this terrifying ordeal Yates would have hung up his crampons. Instead, from Asia to the Antarctic, he has conquered some of the most remote and dangerous mountain ranges in the world.
Yates will be in Tobermory on Saturday March 9 at the Mull Theatre, before heading over to Oban at the Corran Halls on Monday March 11. Both lectures will start at 7.30pm.
He will share his stories of 30 years of mountaineering, from Peru in 1985 to some of his more recent expeditions.
Yates is no stranger to the Highlands and Islands. In 2017, he made it his mission to visit every Scottish island that could be reached by public transport.
He said: ‘I’m really looking forward to returning and sharing my international mountain adventures with audiences in Oban and Mull.’ Since his Peruvian expedition in 1985, Yates has also published three books, recording three decades of fascinating mountaineering experience.
The most recent of his books, entitled The Wild Within, included a chapter reflecting on his visits to the Scottish islands. Despite being from Cumbria, he titled the chapter More Like Being Abroad.
One reviewer has stated that: ‘Simon is a totally engaging speaker, who both entertains and inspires.’
This lecture is sure to bring mountaineering to life in a unique and witty way.