Michael Fowler (born 1956) is a British rock climber, ice climber, mountaineer, and climbing author. Fowler was voted the "Mountaineers' Mountaineer" in a poll in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', and with Paul Ramsden, won the 2002

Piolet d'Or An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

(or Golden Ice Axe) awards for their ascent of

Mount Siguniang Mount Siguniang (; , ''Skubla'') is the highest mountain of Qionglai Mountains in Western China. It is located in the bordering area of Rilong Town, Xiaojin County and Wenchuan County in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Pr ...

in the

Qionglai Mountains Qionglai Mountains () is a mountain range in the Sichuan Province of China. It runs in the general north-south direction, and is located mostly within the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in the north-central part of the province. ...

in the

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

Province of China. 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 in the Indian

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

. Paul Ramsden and Mick Fowler received the Piolet d’Or for the third time in 2016 for their ascent of Gave Ding, 6,571 meters (Nepal).

Climbing career

Fowler was introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering as a teenager by his widowed father George, who took him to the Alps in 1969 at the age of 13. In the 1980s, he was regarded as the driving force behind a group of London climbers who would regularly drive to the north of Scotland, a round trip of 1,300 miles, for winter weekends. His record was 11 consecutive weekends. He was one of the first people to rock climb at the E6 grade of difficulty (Linden Route, Eliminates Wall,

Curbar Edge Curbar Edge is a gritstone moorland escarpment above the village of Curbar, in Derbyshire, England and close to the villages of Baslow, Calver, and Froggatt. It is located within the Peak District National Park at an altitude of . It is regard ...

; 1976) and winter climb at grade VI (Central Icefall Direct, Craig y Rhaeadr,

Llanberis Pass The Llanberis Pass ( cy, Bwlch Llanberis; alternative English name, Pass of Llanberis) in Snowdonia carries the main road ( A4086) from the south-east to Llanberis, over Pen-y-Pass, between the mountain ranges of the Glyderau and the Snowdon ma ...

; 1979). He is widely recognized 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.

Other climbing

Fowler served as president of the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whic ...

from 2011 to 2013 after winning the first contested election in the organization's 150-year history. Fowler wrote two volumes of memoirs, both of which were shortlisted for the

Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3,000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for "an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature". The pr ...

. He won the Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature at the 2005

Banff Mountain Book Festival The Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada. Grand Prize * 1994: Chris Bonington and Audrey Saukeld (editors), ''Heroic Climbs'' * 1995: Thomas Wharton, ''Icefields'' * 1996: Stephen Ve ...

and the best book prize at the Bormio Mountain Festival (in Italy) in 2012.

Personal life

Since 1977, Fowler worked full-time for

HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

, where he holds the position of Assistant Director, Shares and Assets Valuation. Since 2008, he has also worked with the outdoor company Berghaus. Fowler lives in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

with his wife Nicola and their two children, Tessa and Alec.

Notable ascents

Rock climbing

Single pitch

* Linden ( E6) in 1976 at

in Derbyshire (as one of the first E6 climbs in Britain this received extensive press coverage) * Stone (E5) in the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

* Ludwig (E6) at Gogarth * Stairway to Heaven (E5) on

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

* Caveman (E6) in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Sea cliffs

* Henna (450 ft, XS) and Bukator (600 ft, XS) on the North Devon/

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

coast * Monster Crack (500 ft, XS) (first free ascent of the chalk cliffs at

Beachy Head Beachy Head is a chalk headland in East Sussex, England. It is situated close to Eastbourne, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. Beachy Head is located within the administrative area of Eastbourne Borough Council which owns the land, for ...

) * Skeleton Ridge (HVS) on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

* Clo Mhor Crack (E3) (the only route on the biggest cliffs in mainland Britain, at

Cape Wrath Cape Wrath ( gd, Am Parbh, known as ' in Lewis) is a cape in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain. The cape is separated from the rest of the ...

in Scotland) * BeriBeri (E4), on the Isle of Hoy * Big John (E4), on Hoy (the first one-day ascent of the biggest sea cliff in Britain) * Great White Fright (VI),

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Also includes the following

sea stacks A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorpholog ...

: * Branaunmore (Ireland) * Lovers Leap Rock (Ireland) * Doonbristy (Ireland) * The Needle ( Hoy) * Spindle (

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

) * Clett Rock (

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great ...

) * Old Harry, The Tusk and Press Gang Pinnacle (

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civi ...

) * The Knee ( Duncansby Head)

Ice climbing

* The Fly Direct (VI) on Creag Meagaidh * Gully of the Gods (V) in

Applecross Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which i ...

* The Shield Direct (VI) on

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; gd, Beinn Nibheis ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. The summit is above sea level and is the highest land in any direction for . Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian ...

(the first Scottish winter route to be given a guidebook rating of VI) * West Central Gully (VII)

Torridon Torridon (Scottish Gaelic: ''Toirbheartan'') is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. However the name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torri ...

* Deep Gash Gully (VI) on

* Cascade (V) and Central Ice-fall Direct (VI on Craig Rhaeddr,

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

) * A ice streak created by a leaking toilet outflow at St. Pancras station

Mountaineering

* 1982

Taulliraju Taulliraju (possibly from Quechua ''tawlli'' a kind of legume, ''rahu'' snow, ice, mountain with snow,babylon.com
...

(Peru), South Face, with Chris Watts * 1983 Killimanjaro, Western Gully, with Caradog Jones * 1986 West Face Direct of Ushba (

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

) with Victor Saunders * 1987 Golden Pillar of

Spantik Spantik (Balti Language) or Golden Peak is a mountain in Spantik-Sosbun Mountains subrange of Karakoram in Hispar Valley of Shigar District, Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region admin ...

(Pakistan) with Victor Saunders * 1991

Hunza Peak Hunza Peak () lies in the westernmost subrange of the Karakoram range in Pakistan, along with the Ladyfinger Peak (Bublimating). It lies on the southwest ridge of the Ultar Sar massif, the most southeasterly of the major groups of the Batura M ...

and Bublimoting (Pakistan) with Caradog Jones * 1993 NW Face Kishtwar Kailash (India) with Steve Sustad * 1995 Taweche (

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

), NE Pillar, with Pat Littlejohn * 1997 North Face of

Changabang Changabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it are serious undertak ...

in the

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Garh ...

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...

, India. First Ascent with Brendan Murphy and Andy Cave (summit); with Fowler and Steve Sustad climbing to the summit ridge. Murphy was hit by an avalanche and swept off the face to his death on the descent. * 1999 Arwa Tower (

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

), NW Face, with Steve Sustad * 2000 Mount Kennedy (

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

), N Buttress, with Andy Cave * 2002

(

), NW Face, with Paul Ramsden * 2005 Kajaqiao (

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

), with Chris Watts * 2007 Manamcho (

) with Paul Ramsden * 2010 Sulamar North Face (

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

) with Paul Ramsden * 2011 Mugu Chuli West Face (West

) with Dave Turnbull * 2012 Prow of Shiva (

) with Paul Ramsden * 2013 Kishtwar Kailash West Face (

) with Paul Ramsden * 2014 NW Face Hagshu (

) with Paul Ramsden * 2016 North Face of Sersank (

) with Victor Saunders

Awards

*King Albert Mountain Award, 2012

Bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links

Mick Fowler's climbing profile on Climbandmore.comInformation about Mick's Sponsors Berghaus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Mick 1956 births Living people English mountain climbers British rock climbers People from Melbourne, Derbyshire Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK) Sportspeople from London Ice climbers