Everest: The Untold Story to be told in Horsham

A spokesman said: “This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mount Everest/Chomolungma when Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people in recorded history to reach the highest point on the planet. To mark the occasion, Britain’s most successful, record-holding, authoritative Everest mountain guide Kenton Cool has created a new audience with… style lecture show, Everest: The Untold Story to tour UK theatres this summer, presented by Speakers from the Edge, in partnership with Grangers International.

“Where Kenton’s previous tour, Everest: The Cool Way, was a retrospective of his own brilliant and highly-revered mountaineering career, his new show, Everest: The Untold Story, is a fascinating journey through the history of the highs and lows of summit attempts on one of the world’s most magnificent mountains: from its first discovery as part of the Great Indian Trigonometric Survey, through to the perceived bucket list adventure that it is considered today.

“Cool launched the 2012 London Olympics when he reached the summit of Everest for a British record-breaking tenth time, fulfilling a 90-year-old Olympic pledge to take the gold medal awarded to the 1922 British Everest Expedition to the summit of the world’s tallest and most iconic mountain. He has since reached the summit a further six times, the most recent in May 2022, when Cool reached the summit for a record-breaking (for a non-Sherpa) 16th time. The previous year, in July 2021, Kenton successfully climbed K2 for the first time.

“Kenton guided Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the legendary explorer’s attempts to scale Everest, with Sir Ranulph turning back at the first attempt in 2008, but subsequently reaching the summit successfully in 2009 and raising £2.9M for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Kenton also guided Sir Ranulph on a climb of the infamous North Face of the Eiger

“In May 2013, Kenton, along with climbing partner, Sherpa Dorje Gylgen, became the first person in the world to attain the Everest Triple Crown in a single season, when they reached the three peaks which make up the Everest Horseshoe – Nuptse (7864m), Everest (8850m) and Lhotse (8516m) – in just seven days, without returning to base camp, a feat many thought impossible due to the required time at high altitude and its effects on the human body In addition to his phenomenal climbing credentials, Cool became the first Brit to complete a ski descent of an 8000m peak, on Nepal’s Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest mountain. He later made a ski descent of Nepal’s Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain, becoming one of just a small handful of people worldwide.” Tickets on 01403 750220 or visit thecapitolhorsham.com.