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Victor Saunders

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Victor Saunders (born c. 1950) is a British climber,[1] mountain guide and author. He has summitted Mount Everest six times, and has climbed all the Seven Summits. His first book, Elusive Summits, won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature in 1991.

Climbing

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Saunders began climbing as a child in Scotland.[2] He would later attend Gordonstoun school, and later trained as an architect[3] at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

Saunders first gained recognition for his climbing in 1978 with his first ascent of Shield Direct, Ben Nevis. It was the first route on Ben Nevis to be graded VI.[4] Later that year, he climbed the north face of the Eiger in winter.

In the 1980s, he began to make expeditions to the Himalayas and the Karakoramwith fellow British climber Mick Fowler. The pair would continue to climb together for the next four decades.[5]

Across the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges, Saunders would go on to make notable first ascents on the North Pillar of Spantik, the east face of Uzum Brak and the first winter ascent on Langtang.[6]

At age 44, he left architecture to become a professional mountain guide.[7] In 1996, he was certified as a UIAGM/IFMGA ski and mountain guide and joined the SNGM (National Syndicate of French Mountain Guides) in 2003. Saunders first reached the summit of Mount Everest in May 2004, and went on to climb it five more times.[8][9]

In 2015, writer Eric Vola published Les Tribulations de Mick et Vic, a collection of climbing stories from Saunders and Fowler. It encouraged the climbers to reunite to climb in the Himalayas once more.[4]

In 2016, he and Mick Fowler made the first ascent of Sersank Peak (6,100m) in the Indian Himalaya.[10] It was their first time climbing together since 1987. Saunders was 66 years old at the time.[11]

In 2020 Saunders became president of the Alpine Club.[12]

In 2024, he and Fowler made the first ascent of the NW face of Yawash Sar, a 6,258m peak in Pakistan. Climbed in alpine style, the ascent in Pakistan's Karakoram was made forty years after the pair's first climb in the region.[5] At the time of the climb, Fowler was 68 years old and Saunders was 74.[13]

Personal life

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Saunders is the son of George Von Saloschin, a Jewish immigrant from Munich who fled Germany with his family in 1936. They immigrated to the United Kingdom where Saunders' father was given a place at Gordonstoun school. His father changed the family name to Saunders when he joined the Royal Marines.[14]

Saunders lives in Les Houches,[15] near Chamonix, France.[16]

Notable climbs

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The climbs are listed in date order.

Publications

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  • Elusive Summits: Four Expeditions in the Karakoram, 1990
  • Trekking and Climbing in the Andes (Trekking and Climbing Guides), 2002, by Kate Harper, Val Pitkethly and Victor Saunders
  • Alpes Occidentales: Trekking y Alpinismo, 2002, by Victor Saunders and Hilary Sharp
  • Himalaya: The Tribulations of Mick & Vic co-written with Mick Fowler, which won the Grand Prize at the Passy International Mountain Book Festival, 2015
  • No Place to Fall: Superalpinism in the High Himalaya, 2017
  • Structured Chaos: The Unusual Life of a Climber, Vertebrate Publishing, 2021[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Beaumont, Peter; Douglas, Ed (21 May 2006). "Has mighty Everest been reduced to a playground?" – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. ^ Satkevic, Evelina (7 July 2021). "An interview with Alpine Club president Victor Saunders". Dr. Melanie Windridge. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Bonington's last big challenge: the secret summit of Tibet". The Independent. 26 January 1998. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b Franz, Derek (25 October 2016). "Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders make first ascent of Sersank Peak's north face". Alpinist. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Mick Fowler & Victor Saunders make first ascent of Yawash Sar (6258m) in Karakorum". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  6. ^ "On the Couch with Victor Saunders: British Mountaineering legend | World Expeditions". worldexpeditions.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  7. ^ Rose, David. "How British climber Victor Saunder's Jewish identity helps him summit the world's highest mountains". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley".
  9. ^ "Join Cooperative Activities".
  10. ^ "Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders / Sersank Himalaya details and photos". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  11. ^ Franz, Derek (25 October 2016). "Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders make first ascent of Sersank Peak's north face". Alpinist. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  12. ^ Travers, Emma (28 January 2020). "International winter climbing meet attracts top ice climbers". www.thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  13. ^ gripped (24 September 2024). "Alpinists, 74 and 68 Years Old, Climb Matterhorn-Like Karakoram Peak". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  14. ^ Rose, David. "How British climber Victor Saunder's Jewish identity helps him summit the world's highest mountains". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  15. ^ Pfanner, Eric (13 July 2012). "A Blinding Rush of Snow Leaves Tragedy in the Alps". New York Times.
  16. ^ a b "Victor Saunders | Guide". Adventure Consultants.
  17. ^ Benavides, Angela (24 September 2024). "Veteran Climbers Fowler and Saunders Bag Another Alpine-Style First » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  18. ^ gripped (24 September 2024). "Alpinists, 74 and 68 Years Old, Climb Matterhorn-Like Karakoram Peak". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  19. ^ "ALE Summits Mount Tyree". 25 February 2017.
  20. ^ Franz, Derek. "Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders make first ascent of Sersank Peak's north face". www.alpinist.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Maltese climbers conquer Everest". Times of Malta.
  22. ^ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley".
  23. ^ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley".
  24. ^ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley".
  25. ^ "168 Summits of Everest from Nepal in 2004: South Side Summits". www.everestnews2004.com.
  26. ^ Saunders, Victor (2021). Structured Chaos: The Unusual Life of a Climber. Sheffield, United Kingdom: Vertebrate Publishing.
  27. ^ Dolan, Katherine (28 April 2021). "Structured Chaos (at Altitude) with Victor Saunders". Katherine Dolan Writes. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
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