Himalayan Trust Speakers Evening: Kiwi Mountaineering in the Himalayas
Description
From the very beginning, the Himalayan Trust climbed and built on the same trips. A group would walk into the Khumbu, spend a month raising a schoolhouse or a hospital ward, then spend the next month on the high peaks putting up first ascents. Build a school, climb a mountain, and call it one expedition. Adventure and giving were never two things.
Seventy years on, that thread is unbroken, and it is still carried by real people. Join us in Christchurch for a relaxed evening of short talks, a panel and an audience Q&A with five New Zealand mountaineers whose stories run from Sir Ed’s era to the next generation heading for Everest.
A night of big mountains and the bond between New Zealand and Nepal, and a chance to support the Trust's education, health and clean-water work in the Everest region.
The details
Wednesday 5 August 2026
Doors 6:00pm, talks from 7:00pm, finishing around 9:00pm
Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham St North, Christchurch (central city, ground floor, fully accessible)
Drinks available on the night. All ages welcome.
Tickets $15
We’d love to see you there.
Lineup
John McKinnon
One of the first volunteer doctors at Khunde Hospital and part of the first ascent of Thamserku, climbing in Nepal in Sir Ed's era.
Phurenje Sherpa
Trust board member, with Everest, Cho Oyu and twenty years guiding on Aoraki Mount Cook behind him.
Holly Beckham
Wāhine Māori mountaineer on a path to become the first wāhine Māori to climb Everest.
Alastair McDowell
One of the country's sharp young alpinists, on his attempt on Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain on earth.
Alexander Hillary (MC)
Sir Ed's grandson and the Trust's General Manager, on climbing Ama Dablam.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
