Higher than the Eagle Soars

On the evening of Friday 8th October, Repton O Block pupils, along with many members of the local village community, attended a public lecture by Stephen Venables. Stephen is a British mountaineer and writer who started climbing as a student, and the title of his talk, “Higher than the eagle soars”, was taken from his 2007 autobiography. It focused mainly on Stephen’s ascent of Everest in 1988, in which he became the first British man to reach the summit without oxygen. The climb was to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic Everest expedition in 1953. The team consisted of only four climbers, two Americans, one Canadian and Venables, the only British member. Not only did the team climb without oxygen but they also climbed a new route to the South summit, and went without porters, making it a very dangerous expedition. Venables was the only member of the team to reach the summit, arriving at 4:30 in the afternoon. This meant that he was unable to make it back to the nearest camp before dark and had to spend the night sleeping on the side of the mountain. He did, however, make it back down the mountain the following morning, meeting with the other members of the team on the way. This was an inspirational talk, illustrating how determination can help people to achieve the apparently impossible. The expedition is recounted in further detail in Stephen’s book “Higher than the eagle soars”, winner of the Banff Mountain Literature Award, a recommended read for those interested in mountaineering and the life of outdoor adventure.

Earlier in the afternoon Stephen had given a lecture to the Upper Sixth as part of their Lecture Programme.