Phil Crampton

Philip James Crampton, commonly known as Phil Crampton, is a British born mountaineer and expedition leader, and owner of the mountaineering company Altitude Junkies.

Mountaineering

Crampton's climbing achievements include successful ascents of Everest (6 times), Cho Oyu (7 times) and Manaslu (3 times). He has led more than 30 expeditions to 8000m peaks, including Everest from both the Nepalese and Tibetan sides, Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, Manaslu and Shishapangma.

Crampton was an expedition leader with the mountaineering operators SummitClimb and Mountain Madness before setting up his own company, Altitude Junkies, in 2002. With Jon Otto he helped to set up the Tibet Mountaineering Guide School in Lhasa to train native Tibetans in the skills needed to guide mountaineering expeditions, and he taught there for many years.

Expedition resumé

Crampton has led expeditions to the following mountains:

• Aconcagua (Argentina)
• Alpamayo (Peru)
• Broad Peak (Pakistan)
• Cho Oyu (Tibet) (7 times)
• Denali (Alaska, USA)
• Everest (Nepal) (4 times)
• Everest (Tibet) (6 times)
• Ganesh I (Nepal)
• Gasherbrum I (Pakistan) (3 times)
• Gasherbrum II (Pakistan) (3 times)
• Kang Guru (Nepal)
• Manaslu, (Nepal) (5 times)
• Muztagh Ata (China) (3 times)
• Pumori (Nepal) (2 times)
• Shishapangma (Tibet) (2 times).

• "Altitude Junkies Leaders". Altitude Junkies website. Retrieved 9 September 2013. 

Rescues on Everest

Crampton was involved in the rescue of the Australian mountaineer Lincoln Hall, who was found alive high up on Everest's Northeast Ridge in 2006 after spending a night above 8,500 metres (27,887 ft). Hall had been left for dead and his death reported in the Australian press before he was found by members of the SummitClimb expedition team the following morning. Crampton's precise role in the incident remains unclear. Previously in the expedition Crampton had aborted his attempt at 8,610 metres (28,248 ft) at the Second Step to bring down a team mate, Juan Pablo, who had been struck down with cerebral edema, and of his own rescue Hall described him as "the unsung hero of that morning". In 2010 he assisted in the rescue of a commercial client Mike Herbert after he became ill with high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) at 8,700 metres (28,543 ft) on Everest's Southeast Ridge.

Personal life

Crampton was born in Nottingham, England, and when not on expedition divides his time between Kathmandu and Woodstock, New York, both of which he calls home. He is married to an American, Trish Crampton. He is proud of his Nottingham heritage, and describes his heroes as the mountaineer Doug Scott, the fashion designer Paul Smith, and the former Nottingham Forest football manager Brian Clough, all of whom had roots there.