Alan Geer - Expedition Leader

Alan reigned spreme as our unelected leader and general expert. His most important skills are an extraordinary Tabasco sauce tolerance and the ability to complicate even the most simple situation. Our Hero.

Alan is currently finishing off a PhD in atmospheric physics, which I'm sure is thoroughly engrossing. His unparalleled climbing experience includes an expedition to central Asia where they reached up 4700m on remote peaks. Add to this alpine sucesses such as the Midi Cosmiques Spur (D) and the Aig. D'Entreves (AD) and six years rock climbing and Scottish winter climing and you start to see why we let him do all the work.

Antoine Jeanson - Treasurer

Antoine wins the prize for being oldest and still not having a job. Twenty-six years young, this caravan-based oddball is currently failing to complete a PhD in plasma physics, and who can blame him? A dab hand at growing beards and grinning, he became treasurer by force as he was totally broke at the time. Our money in safe hands.

M. Jeanson has polished off such impressive climbs as the Meije South Pillar (D) and the Barre Des Ecrins (AD). Also partial to a nice bit of ice and rock (if you know what I mean), he has made it up the Formes du Chaos (grade V) and leads at VS grade, alledgedly. Antoine likes cake.

Tom Padgham - Quartermaster

Tom was not only responsible for our equipment, he was also official photographer and was generally expected to lighten the mood and keep us cheerful at a moment's notice. This is totally unfair, but what the hey. A recent graduate in mechanical engineering, Tom spends his spare time running a small jelly factory and cutting his toenails.

Tom knows his Alpine Butterflys from his Italian Hitches and can tell which is the business end of an ice axe. Two seasons in the Alps, including the Ailfroide L'Orientale, and his fair share of rock climbing mean we were more than happy to have him on the end of our rope. He also has the honour of being the only member to make it up all three mountains on the Expedition. Nice One, my son.

Jeremy Thomson - Catering and Publicity

Cooking and writing might sound like a match made in hell, but he volunteered for both jobs. Amply qualified for the catering role after churning out thousands of tasty (read large) meals for the S&G Outdoor Club, and possibly less so for the journalism after editing the student newspaper Felix for a year, Jeremy is responsible for misrepresenting and disorting the facts of the expedition in the form of the official report and this website.

Somehow or other, between lay-ins, lunches and pubs visits, Jeremy has managed to gain a reasonable standard of climbing. Aguille d'Argentiere (PD+), Ailfroide L'Orientale (AD) and the Aig De L'M (D) have all been conqured, while the Breithorn (PD+) was achieved on skis. Lots of rock climbing and the occasional bit of ice complete the picture of a competant climber who nevertheless insists on wearing leather boots and making his own clothing.

Contact Jeremy with any comments about this site, its contents and job offers. He can also help with written features, photographs and photographic copyrights and presentations/slide shows. Email j.thomson@nature.com

Sue Brown

Sue didn't have a specific responsibility, but had more than enough on her plate dealing with us lot. For some reason, she has just started a PhD in Atmospheric Physics at Edinburgh University. Sue likes Yorkshire tea and Buffaloes. We don't have a picture of her because, being a vampire, her image won't appear on film.

Sue was the only member of the expedition to have made it to 5000m before, on an expedition to a remote part of China. She has survived three seasons in the alps and has been to Scotland more times than you've had hot dinners. Rocks are magnetically attracted to Sue's head, and it was quite an achievement to have climbed the Aig De L'M after being hit twice.

Julian Rickard - Safety and Medical

Julian was the lucky man who got first pick of the drugs in our medicine cabinet. A chemical engineer by trade, he is in the middle of a PhD in some obscure corner of his subject. When not breaking the speed limit on his racing bike, Juilan is an avid collector of ZX-81s and also enjoys a good game of murder in the dark.

The extremely frightening Aig Dibona (TD) and the Mont Blanc (4807m) have both been climbed by this man, who was also a pretty nifty rock climber before the shakes set in.