An evening with Mick and Vic, British climbing’s answer to Vic and Bob

One of the great things about being back in London again is that I get to attend some of the many mountaineering lectures at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). This commendable social mobility scheme enables ordinary folk like me, who are neither wealthy, aristocratic nor very good climbers to spend an evening among the world’s climbing elite in an atmosphere that resembles an Eton Old Boys reunion.

Few lectures have exemplified this better than one a couple of weeks ago by Mick Fowler and...