It's fifty years since Joe Brown and George Band summited Kanchenjunga (8586m), the world's 3rd highest mountain, which has still seen less than 200 ascents. This compares with Everest, which has now been climbed by more than 1500 people. George Band (75) was in Nepal this week to attend celebrations, but Joe Brown was unable to travel due to health reasons. About the climb, Band recalled that "No one had actually been above 20,000 feet, so we were presented with 8,000 feet of unknown mountain on our side, which made it a very exciting and satisfying climb."

Band also commented on the Maoist situation in Nepal and urged travellers to keep visiting, saying that the Kanchenjunga Region was "trouble free". This spring has been a poor weather year in the Himalayas, with very few teams attempting Kanchenjunga. One of the remaining climbers is Brit, Al Hinkes, who this week is making his summit attempt. If he is successful, he will be one of the few mountaineers to have climbed all 14 peaks higher than 8000m.