John Castle

In 1986 Steve Berry led an expedition to climb the highest unclimbed peak in the world. It also happens to be the highest peak in Bhutan. Two years of laborious preparations had led up to the attempt to get the climbers on the mountain in the limited weather window between the end of the monsoons and the onset of winter. Their team almost reached the summit but they were driven off by horrendous storms. Due to the climbing restrictions in Bhutan, the mountain remains today as the highest unclimbed peak.

TV documentary of the 1975 British Expedition led by Chris Bonington up the South West Face of Everest. A band of cliffs on the southwest face, known as the Rock Band, had defeated five previous expeditions between 1969 and 1973. On September 20, Nick Estcourt and Paul Braithwaite achieved the first ascent of the Rock Band. The summit was reached by two teams: first on September 24 by Doug Scott and Dougal Haston, who survived the highest ever bivouac when they were benighted on the South Summit during their descent. On September 26 four more climbers attempted a second ascent. Peter Boardman and Sirdar Pertemba Sherpa were successful, but BBC cameraman Mick Burke, climbing alone after Martin Boysen turned back, failed to return from the summit.