I’m Mr Frostbite. Let me take you on an incredible journey.
Mountaineering is a passion. It’s something I love, but it has cost me dear. My story may not be unique, but it’s something I want to pass on to the world at large, in my role as an inspirational speaker, I want to inspire and motivate people , young and old, to face up to the kind of challenges that I did – and come through with a smile on their faces, saying I did that, and I’m proud of it.
Let me introduce you to the survival instinct. It’s something I’m sure you’re all aware of – the superhuman desire to survive all the odds and stay alive, no matter what the causes, or the consequences. If you think you don’t have the survival instinct, you haven’t been to one of my guest talks on the subject of mountaineering, nor have you seen me speak with my inspirational keynote called, ‘Frostbitten’.
A few years ago on the slopes above Meribel I bumped into some of the RAF Telemark Ski Team. They asked me if I had a light, I said no, but offered them a hip-flask full of Whisky. One of them was a medical officer and noticed my shortened fingers. She asked “are you badly injured?” I explained my situation and within minutes I was having tea with a Major and stood surrounded by people shaking their heads in disbelief. ”You can’t ski telemark without toes!” they said. It sounded like the same voices that said I’d never climb again after suffering severe frostbite. It was the start of a relationship that has seen me ski with the Army Telemark Ski Association, the GB Telemark Team, lecture at Sandhurst and the Royal Citadel in England, and Rauris in Austria. Continue reading
Life is based on risk. We would not have been born unless our mothers took risks, yet the modern world seems to be hell bent on removing them. When I say removing, should I say eradicating them and stersalising life. We have evolved as human beings by taking risks – from planting the first crops to crossing the great oceans of our world.
Christmas comes but once a year, and when it comes, it brings good cheer, oh and decorations, shopping, wrapping, panic and bedlam. The modern world is possessed with the desire of want rather than of need, and constantly demands more. I mentioned this to Zena Hawley of the Derby Telegraph as we talked about my recent invitation to Buckingham Palace (see my blog on a Royal Night to Remember).
I still feel a bit shell-shocked from last nights reception as I write this blog, but I’ll do my best…
I often come home from an expedition and find the doormat covered in post. Many of the letters are full of sales pamphlets, offers and bills, but one postmarked Buckingham Palace caught my eye. I carefully opened the envelope to find a wonderful invitation to the Palace to commemerate Robert Falcon Scott’s fateful South Pole journey in 1911 – 1912.
The Kendal Mountain Festival is the highlight of the climbing calendar in the UK, but for me it wasn’t always that way. I had visited the festival years back and even had my Discovery Channel documentary “Nightmare at 20,000ft” premiered there, but I always felt a little lost. Was it because I was on my own? Or the fact that I didn’t know a soul? Who knows, but it all changed one day on the Hornli Ridge.
It’s on occasions like this where countries stand still and pay their respects. War is not something to be celebrated, nor is it something that should be boasted about. It is something whose lessons need to be learned unless we risk repeating the destruction that it can bring.
As a professional speaker I find it difficult not to criticise others on stage about this or that. Is their layout good? Are their images of high quality? Can the presenter speak well and engage their audience? This was an evening where I had nothing to worry about. Julie Summers presented ‘Everest needs you Mr. Irvine’ at Derby Guildhall and stunned us all with her incredible knowledge, depth of research, wonderful pictures and heartfelt passion about her Great Uncle, Sandy Irvine.
Last Friday I joined climbing legends Niall Grimes and Andy Kirkpatrick on stage for “Word of Mouth” at Alpkit’s The Big Shakeout at Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire.
I love speaking on the radio. Whether it’s a live broadcast in a studio or a pre-record on a telephone line, radio interviews allow wonderful debate and are easy to listen to when we are on the move or when we are working.
‘Once Bitten is my story…I came home a different man.” – Nigel Vardy (AKA Mr Frostbite)
Please click the ‘play’ button to watch the video above.
September is the month when Balls, Parties and Speaking Engagements return from the summer break. I’ve spoken in numerous schools across the UK with my keynote ‘Once Bitten’ and have a busy few months coming up. My messages of Self Belief, Determination and Turning Your Ideas into Reality seem to be proving popular.
Apart from being an amazing score on a Scrabble board, you’ve probably thought little about Kyrgyzstan, or the Kyrgyz Republic, which is one of the world’s six independent Turkic states. One translation of Kyrgyz is thought to mean unconquerable or undefeatable.