Amy Beeton

From Notting Hill to Everest, Hannah Palmer talks to writer and mountain climber Amy Beeton about the highs of life on the peaks

Above: On top of the world: climber Amy Beeton on the summit of Cho Oyu in Tibet, the world’s sixth highest mountain at 8,201m/26,906ft. Everest’s West Ridge and summit can be clearly seen in the background

Grove magazine: Where do you live and why?
Amy Beeton: Just off Portobello Road, Notting Hill, or in a tent or snow hole. Portobello because it is multicultural, quirky, full of life and easy. Tents and snow holes because this indicates I’m being challenged, I’m living on only what I need and in the mountains somewhere.

Grove magazine: What was your upbringing like?
Amy Beeton: Pretty normal, actually, and mostly at sea level! I had quite a varied schooling and wore a Sari or Punjabi suit in my early days as I went to an inner city, mostly Asian school. My parents used to take me to North Wales, the Lakes and the Peak District which influenced my later yearnings.

Grove magazine: When did you discover your love of climbing?
Amy Beeton: Aged 24. In a stark moment of clarity, I decided that I never wanted to go a mindless beach holiday again and cancelled mine the night before I was due to go. A stark memory of being coerced to the top of Snowdon, with promises of an ice cream, aged three, and the memories of the satisfaction afterwards filled my head. I took off to the Picos mountains in Northern Spain, alone, and never looked back.

Grove magazine: What inspires you to attempt such dangerous challenges?
Amy Beeton: I like concurrent mental and physical challenges and mountaineering offers both. Preparation for a mountain – as well as whilst actually climbing – is all about risk reduction and so my rational mind reduces what seems like ‘danger’ to acceptable and attainable.

Grove magazine: What has been your scariest experience?
Amy Beeton: I’ve had many so it’s hard to select one. Probably when I thought I was going to be buried alive in a ferocious storm in Alaska. I kept myself awake for six days and six nights through sheer determination to make it through and live.

Grove magazine: Have you ever sustained any injuries while climbing?
Amy Beeton: No major ones, however, I have many life-long scars. My most enduring ones I achieved when two bolts from a sled I was dragging for weeks in Alaska, bored their way through my many thermal layers and into the flesh of my then emaciated hips. My long johns became fused to my flesh and the pain was immense.

Grove magazine: What do you miss most about the area when you go away?
Amy Beeton: Everything here is easy, centrally heated and within reach. Everything on a mountain is difficult; lack of oxygen to the brain, dark, -45 degrees with wind chill, sleep deprivation, etc. it makes the most normal action immensely effortful. After endurance in extremes I absolutely appreciate the simplest of life’s pleasures – food, water, a bed and loved ones.

Grove magazine: Where is your favourite place on earth?
Amy Beeton: Most mountain ranges around the world represent something potent, special and memorable for me. However, I have a particular love of the Himalayas, its majesty, people and their cultures.

Grove magazine: Where in the Notting Hill would you eat your last meal before an expedition?
Amy Beeton: Either Thai Rice or Essenza. I’m a fan of cosy gastropubs and good restaurants without first and second sittings. I refuse to have my eating time dictated to me, my pre-departure meal would have to be savoured!

Grove magazine: What’s your motto?
Amy Beeton: The secret to happiness is freedom. The secret to freedom is courage.

Grove magazine: What do you love most about Notting Hill?
Amy Beeton: Its variety, colour and bustle; the sounds and smells of the market, the fact that it is more bohemian and characterful than many London boroughs, Hyde and Holland parks and the proximity of good friends.

Grove magazine: After climbing Everest what challenges are left?
Amy Beeton: The world offers a myriad of extraordinary challenges and mountain ranges. Wherever there is tectonic plate activity, therein lies a challenge.

Grove magazine: Tell us a secret about Notting Hill... 
Amy Beeton: Most secrets must remain so, in my book! However the ‘best kept’ one has to be Robert Annis, the Relax and Release massage therapist. My body would snap from tension whilst training, if it weren’t for Rob’s massages. They’re utter bliss.

Grove magazine: What’s next?
Amy Beeton: I have three trips to the Alps planned over the next two months. The Alps provide excellent training on more technical routes. I'll be Ice Climbing up a few water falls and some North faces in the French, Italian and Swiss Alps whilst i’m there. My next large expedition is in the process of being planned and will take place later this year.