ENGLISH mountaineer Simon Yates is a veteran of over eighty expeditions to high and remote mountains around the globe.

Although he shows no signs of slowing down when it comes to tackling ascents he still finds time to talk about his and will be visiting Exeter’s Barnfield Theatre on October 4 as part of his Pleasure and Pain tour of the UK.

Born in Leicestershire he moved to Sheffield University in the 1980s to complete a degree in biochemistry However, after graduation Yates concentrated on mountaineering and did rope access work to support himself financially.

In 1985, he and Joe Simpson made the first ascent of the west face of Siula Grande in the Huayhuash mountain range in the Peruvian Andes.

After Simpson fell and badly broke his leg on the descent, Yates lowered him gradually down the mountain with ropes, but in extreme weather conditions, Simpson fell over a cliff edge. Yates was forced to cut the rope attaching him to Simpson to avoid being pulled over as well. Simpson survived, and recounted the story in the book Touching the Void, which was later adapted into a film..

His current tour features the story of the last decade, of new adventures and climbs in the far north and south, along with summits in South America, Central Asia and the Himalaya.

In 2023, Simon travelled with legendary British mountaineer Mick Fowler to attempt the un-climbed north face of Patkhor in Tajikistan, but contracted food poisoning from their freeze-dried food on just the second day.

After some debate, they continued, but this was the beginning of a series of events that would see them run out of food, retreat below the summit in a storm and Simon taking a bone-breaking 100 metre fall during the descent - leaving him with a painful three day walk to safety.

Tickets for the 7.45pm show can be booked at https://exeternorthcott.co.uk