The mountains and I have shared many magic moments. They don't judge, and they don't care about my gender. This is my place.
Ever fancied climbing up the steep and often precipitous edge of an icy mountain over several days, perching a tent (and perhaps losing one of the poles south mid construction!) on a narrow ridge for your night’s sleep, whilst continually adapting and being alert to whatever nature throws at you, be it avalanches, snow storms or blazing sunshine. Most of us would find this difficult to entertain but this is the fascinating life of alumna and professional British alpinist, Fay Manners (DAHS 2005).
Having had no real exposure to climbing as a child, it was a chance climb on a bouldering wall in New York that began a love of climbing. This progressed to the mountainous terrain of north Wales and eventually going on to being a professional alpine climber.
Now based for the last 7 years in Chamonix Mont Blanc, France, Fay can be usually found in the high mountains either ski mountaineering or alpine climbing. She has recently teamed up with outdoor athletic and recreational apparel company, The North Face, who work with a number of intrepid athletes. Aside from her busy climbing pursuits, Fay runs her own data consulting company, BadManners Ltd, and is also working with Unilever as a Business Intelligence Consultant. Fay really is living the dream: living in the mecca of the alpine world and combining what she loves with her day job.
Fay has traversed some of the most challenging peaks of the world including the Grande Jorasses, crack-climbing in Cadarese, Alaska’s Bacon and Eggs on Mini-Mini-Moonflower and the Cassin Ridge on Denali and skiing above the Arctic circle in Norway.
Female alpinists are few and far between. Fay’s ambition is to inspire women to pursue their interest in alpinism, she told us: "I think it is a good testament for students to chase their dreams and not simply feel like they have to follow one set career path.” Her long-time ambition is to climb the rock faces of Greenland, but in Fay’s true twist of style, she plans to mix it up a bit and sail there first.
Read a recent in-depth UK Climbing article by Fay here.
To view Fay’s perilous Alaskan climb from the safety of your armchair, click here.
