Alpinist from Horsham and Ardingly loses toes to frostbite after gruelling expedition in Pakistan’s Karakoram mountain range

James Price, 25, who now lives in Flumet in the French Alps, said several of his toes had to be removed after he took part in a gruelling challenge in the Karakoram mountain range.

But James is optimistic that this will not prevent him from doing the sport he loves.

“I don’t think it’s going to stop me,” he told the Middy. “It’s one of the risks and it’s something I’ll have to adapt to when I come out of hospital.”

James, who went to St Robert Southwell Catholic Primary School in Horsham and then Ardingly College, embarked on his six-week adventure in August.

The first two peaks that he ascended, working with a joint Pakistani and French team, were shorter ones for acclimatisation. They became the first to make the ascent of Pheker Peak (5,465m), and the first to traverse Mirshikar Peak (5,464m).

James’s next challenge was the Batura wall, a 7,000m high chain of summits.

“I was trying to do a traverse of these peaks, which had never been attempted before,” he said.

James said he left the village of Passu on September 11 with 30kg of kit and supplies for three weeks and returned on September 29.

He explained that one of the peaks in this ‘wall’, or crest, is Muchu Chhish, the highest unclimbed peak in the world. James came close to its summit after previously reaching the summit of Passu Sar where the temperature was -28°C.

But a forecast storm and strong winds scuppered his plans to ascend Muchu Chhish and James spent 30 hours camping and waiting for good conditions that did not materialise.

He decided to use his last day of relatively good weather to start his descent.

While camping on the long journey back, James removed his boots and realised his toes were blue-ish and stone cold.

“It was when they started to warm up where I really realised I had done some damage,” he said, and described the pain as ‘agonising’.

When the weather improved, still days from the village, James had to put his boots back on, descend five vertical kilometres and travel 70km back to civilisation.

Once there he was treated at a local clinic and hospitalised as soon as he got back to France.

James, who used to be a health care assistant, became a full-time alpinist two years ago. He got into ‘the more complicated side of climbing’ at 18, having previously hiked on the North and South Downs.

James said alpinism is an intense sport that can put pressure on a climber’s loved ones, which can be ‘hard to manage’. But he said it is also creative because people consider many factors like risk-management and problem-solving.

“And just being in nature and up there seeing these beautiful sunrises and sunsets, there’s something in it you never forget,” he said.

Follow James on instagram @jamesprice241.

Filmmaker Sebastién Carniato, who captured the adventure, is raising funds for his film ‘Call of Karakoram’. Visit fr.ulule.com/the-call-of-karakoram.