Because there’s a lot to see and do, and a lot of people to do it with.
Climbing Gave Ding with climbing partner Paul Ramsden. Making it to the top of the Golden Pillar of Spantik. Rescuing the family dog from a Derbyshire cave.
He’s been making those memories since he was 13, when his dad took him rock climbing at Southern Sandstone.
After a brief ‘teenage revolt’, he quickly fell back in love with climbing a few years later.
Rock. Ice. The Alps. Peru. All of it.

In 2017, a cancer diagnosis halted Mick’s plan to climb Chombu in North India. Two years later, he got out there – only to be defeated by bad weather on the first try. On the second, food poisoning stood in his way.
Third time lucky? Well, no. In 2022, the “awful weather and climbing conditions” kept him from the summit. Chombu remains unclimbed.
But while Mick doesn’t plan to go back, Chombu hasn’t knocked his attitude. He’s busy researching his next trip. Or – more likely – trips.
Next up is La Meije in the Alps. Mick says it’s been on the books for a while. But once he’s done and dusted with that, he’ll get straight into picking the next one.