Sir Chris Bonington will join Doug Scott and one winner on the fells

Sir Chris Bonington will join Doug Scott and one winner on the fells

Fancy a walk on the Lakeland fells with two of Britain’s most eminent mountaineers, with the added glow of knowing you’re helping people in dire need?

Or perhaps you’d like tea with one of the country’s best loved comics and travel documentary makers?

These are among prizes on offer for winners of two online auctions being organised to raise cash for victims of the Nepal earthquakes.

The British Mountaineering Council has teamed up with the Alpine Club to offer once-in-a-lifetime chances to join celebrities for an outdoor experience to remember.

Everest summiteers Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott are offering to take to the fells for the person who puts in the top bid for their services. And Monty Python actor and comedian Michael Palin will take afternoon tea and provide an hour’s captivating conversation for two other auction winners.

Record-breaking Everest mountaineer Kenton Cool, who has summited the world’s highest mountain more than any other Briton, will also accompany one winner on a hillwalking or climbing trip.

You can bid for a climbing session with Shauna Coxsey, Hazel Findlay, and Steve McClure or Alpine legend Mick Fowler, the climbing taxman.

The eBay bidding opens on 28 June and will be followed by a second auction starting on 2 July.

If you’re more of an armchair mountaineer, there are some fascinating pieces of memorabilia on offer, including Stephen Venables’s crampons and Pete Boardman’s boots worn on Everest expeditions. A signed photograph by Gurkha campaigner Joanna Lumley will also be in the auction.

Pete Boardman's boots

Pete Boardman's boots

Proceeds will go to Community Action Nepal, the charity founded by Doug Scott, which supports the mountain people of the Himalayan country.

BMC patrons and former Alpine Club presidents Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott, who recently took part in a 24-hour ice climb for CAN, said: “We’re calling for everyone to get behind this auction. It’s your chance to bid for some very unique items – including us.”

Sir Chris Bonington, Doug Scott CBE and Leo Houlding joined BMC president Rehan Siddiqui to record a video message to encourage people to bid. They said: “We’re all mountaineers helping the mountain people of Nepal. It’s an online auction so we don’t have a hammer, but we do have an ice axe.

“So please dig deep and bid high. Make mountaineering history and help us help the people of Nepal.”

The auction is the brainchild of new BMC president Rehan Siddiqui who said: “It’s been almost two months since the catastrophe in Nepal shocked and saddened the world, and the immediate attention of media has moved away from the earthquake in Nepal.

“It is important that we refocus the media’s attention on the problems of the Nepalese people and we hope that international interest in this auction will generate substantial funds for the charities.”

“Support for the Nepalese people is particularly strong amongst the mountaineering, climbing, trekking and other outdoor activities community, who have long held a deep regard for this region and its wonderful inhabitants.”

Mike Westmacott's Everest butterfly collection

Mike Westmacott's Everest butterfly collection

Anna Lawford of the Alpine Club said: “Alpine Club members are keen to support this auction for Nepal.

“Since exploration, climbing and trekking have been the main reason British people visit Nepal, we believe that the mountaineering community in Britain should be leading fundraising efforts to raise money for rebuilding Nepalese communities.”

Other items up for grabs include team member Mike Westmacott’s collection of moths and butterflies collected during the 1953 Everest expedition, an Everest 1953 silver engraved cigarette box and Himalayan paintings by James Hart-Dyke and Julian Cooper.

Proceeds from selected items, including top of the range gear from Sherpa Adventure Gear, will go to help the Paldorje Sherpa Education Fund to provide immediate relief on the ground to benefit the children of Sherpa families in remote villages.

Details of other goodies up for auction are on the BMC website.

Some articles the site thinks might be related:

  1. New Keswick exhibition tells story of first Kangchenjunga ascents
  2. Time is running out to pledge cash to Mend Our Mountains crowdfunder
  3. Walkers urged to join moonlit ascent of Blencathra to help Nepal quake victims
  4. Sherpa Adventure Gear launches appeal to help remote Nepal quake villages
  5. Kendal Mountain Festival: the land of white waterproofs and false moustaches