Mick Fowler

Mick Fowler (born 1956 in London) is an award-winning British mountaineer and author. He was introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering by his father when he was in his early teens. His climbing career has subsequently broadened to the extent that he has been at, or near the top of the field, in a wide variety of climbing disciplines since his early 20s. Mick does all of his climbing during holidays from his career in the UK tax office. He was voted the ‘Mountaineers’ Mountaineer’ in a poll by The Observer. In 2012, he was awarded the King Albert award for his ‘outstanding contribution to mountaineering’ and in 2013, he and Paul Ramsden became the first pair to win a Piolet d’Or award twice after their ascent of the Prow of Shiva (6142 m) in the Indian Himalaya. Paul Ramsden and Mick Fowler received the Piolet d’Or for a third time in 2016 for their ascent of Gave Ding, 657 m. He was one of the first people to rock climb at the E6 grade of difficulty and winter climb at grade VI (Central Icefall Direct, Craig y Rhaeadr, Llanberis pass 1979). He is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of adventurous rock climbs on sea cliffs and sea stacks, and for the use of ice-climbing techniques on the soft chalk cliffs of England’s southeast coast. As an accomplished author Mick has written two books about his climbs and won several literary awards including; ‘The John Whyte Award’ at the Banff Mountain Festival in Canada, ‘The Best Book Prize’ at the Bormio Mountain Festival in Italy, ‘The Grand Prix’ at the Passy Book Festival in France and ‘Best Outdoor Book’ at the Golden Rhino Awards in China. Mick now serves as President of the Alpine Club and is a Patron of the British Mountaineering Council and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Cumbia.