On their return from their expedition to Pakistan in June 2023, Basque climbers Iker and Eneko Pou described her as “the living example of the new generation of hard-walking women mountaineers.” At 37 years old, with the ambition to promote more accessible and egalitarian mountaineering, Fay Manners has not finished making a name for herself. Meet this all-round mountaineer.
After completing a series of openings around the world in 2023, including “Waa Shakil” (6b/M5), a mixed line of almost 2200 m on Trango II (6,327 m) in Pakistan, and “Mental Breakdown“, an ascent of the Father Tower in Greenland’s Mythic Cirque, this winter, British mountaineer Fay Manners has decided to concentrate on a discipline she’s particularly fond of: extreme skiing.
On the 17th of February, 2024, she completed – with Tom Lafaille – the first ski descent of the Charlet-Straton ridge on the Aiguille de l’Argentière, in her adopted Mont-Blanc massif. A spectacular line that combines commitment and technicality, and above all marks the start of a steep slope season that the athlete hopes will be fruitful. Fay Manners tells us all about her career and projects.
On the South Face of the Aiguille du Moine. ©Coll. Manners/Lafaille
Alpine Mag: You started doing mountaineering quite late, at 20 years old. How did you discover this world?
Fay Manners: I grew up in the UK. When I was younger, I used to play a lot of field field hockey. I wanted a