Catherine Destivelle

Catherine Destivelle

Its previous claims to fame were that it was the home of the sickly sweet mint cake that fuelled many a mountain ascent and that it was where the Grumpy Old Fellwalker chose to lay his flat cap and create his masterpieces of Lakeland literature.

Now, Kendal, the small former Westmorland town of 28,000 souls is carving out an unlikely reputation as the place to be if you’re interested in all things mountainous.

How’s this for a roll call of top mountaineers: Reinhold Messner, Andy Kirkpatrick, Doug Scott, Kenton Cool, Andy Cave, Catherine Destivelle, Sir Chris Bonington?

They’re all speaking at the event, and there are more than 20 film premieres, including the world’s first showing of Au Delà des Cimes, which profiles climber Destivelle, and The Sky Pirates of Hoy, showing the first Base jump from the Old Man of Hoy.

Reinhold Messner

Reinhold Messner

Festival-goers who want to get a little closer to their mountaineering heroes can bid for outdoor wear worn by the likes of Andy Cave, Kenton Cool and Andy Kirkpatrick. Cool’s jacket, worn while he was guiding Sir Ranulph Fiennes up the Eiger’s North Face, is just one of the items up for auction in the novel Fabric4Life scheme run by Granger’s and Oxfam.

Visitors can enter their sealed bids for the clothes but be warned: the garments are in ‘less than original condition’ but have been restored by Granger’s to the best possible performance.

The auction will be widened out to take in all Oxfam’s shops, where you can also leave your cleared-out gear to be restored and sold to raise cash for the charity.

Add to this the announcement of the winner of the Boardman Tasker mountain literature award, a bike night and wild water night, and it’s clear the Kendal Mountain Festival aims to put itself at the pinnacle of the mountain calendar.

The festival runs from Thursday 20 November until Sunday 23 November. Full details are on the KMF website.