UKC

Thirty-five years after first extending his reach beyond the well-trodden European Alps, Simon Yates continues to pursue his passion for exploratory climbing. Belying his lowland beginnings in the bucolic Leicestershire countryside, Yates climbing career has taken him from technical climbs on soaring spires in Patagonia – such as the East Face of The Central Tower of Paine – to attempts on the 8000'ers and the overwhelming vastness of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat. Along the way, the understated Yates has tied in with such paragons of British climbing as Doug Scott, Mick Fowler and Andy Parkin.

In recent years – and the core narrative of his third book, The Wild Within – Yates has sought out objectives in remote parts of Greenland, Alaska and Chile. I caught up with Yates to find out more about his far-flung climbs, as well as some of the highlights of his storied career.