New profile film puts spotlight on Derbyshire climber Mick Fowler and five decades of adventure

Part of outdoor retailer Blacks’ Everyday Life Outdoors series, the 15-minute production has been made with support from Mick’s sponsor Berghaus and includes an interview about his experiences and motivations, and plans for the future. The film is free to view and includes archive images from some of the 67-year-old mountaineer’s most significant expeditions in the UK and around the world.

Through its Everyday Life Outdoors content series, Blacks seeks to inspire people with authentic and amazing stories from the outdoor community. The series explores transformative accounts by people who have changed perseverance to positivity, adversity to adventure, differences to diversity, and resilience to representation within the outdoors.

Mick Fowler lives in Matlock and is one of the world’s most accomplished and respected climbers. First introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering by his father at the age of 10, Mick has been climbing prolifically since the 1970s. During almost five decades, he has made numerous ground-breaking first ascents, initially gaining a reputation on routes in the Highlands of Scotland, and then in the Alps and greater ranges of the world. The Observer newspaper once described Mick as ‘the mountaineers’ mountaineer’ and he has scooped numerous honours from the climbing world, including The King Albert Medal for Mountain Achievement and three Piolets d’Or, the most prestigious awards in mountaineering.

Specialising in technically challenging peaks between 6000m and 7000m, Mick has been a regular expedition climber since 1982, with numerous first ascents in the Himalaya. He joined the Berghaus athlete team in 2008 and has since been putting the brand’s most technical gear to the test. In 2017, Mick was diagnosed with cancer and underwent extensive treatment, involving an ostomy (a procedure to re-direct the bowel to an exit through an opening in the abdomen wall). Mick has returned to expeditions and now explores the Himalaya with the additional challenge of needing to use a colostomy bag.

With support from Berghaus, the Blacks team sat down for an in-depth interview with Mick, and were given access to his archive of climbing images dating back to the 1970s. The resulting film is now available to view for free at www.blacks.co.uk/everyday-life-outdoors/mick-fowler.

Mick Fowler comments: “It is a strange experience watching myself talk about my life in climbing, but I did enjoy it. I never thought it would be possible to put together such a great short film from the interview, so I’m delighted with the outcome. Of course, it’s never a chore to talk about adventure, and share some of those experiences, and I hope that the film finds a receptive audience and encourages a few people to explore the outdoor world around them.”