Few people take on even one of the 8,000ers, as you’re effectively climbing in the death zone with so little oxygen humans struggle physiologically to survive, so how did Hinkes motivate himself to take on the lot? He says: “Climbing the 8000ers was a very difficult challenge, it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until I’d climbed eight including K2 (the hardest) and Everest (the highest) that I decided to go for all 14. At that time only five people had ever climbed them all.” The list now sits at 33, though some climbers have had their climbs subsequently disputed if they couldn’t prove they were at the summit, as was the case when Hinkes climbed Cho Oyu.

“I think selfies should be banned.”

Nonetheless it’s a pretty small club of climbers. What traits do they all have in common I ask Hinkes? “You definitely need single-mindedness to climb mountains, and I often think that Yorkshire stubborn focus on the summit has helped me. But are climbers more single-minded than other top sportsmen? I’m not sure. If you look at someone like Andy Murray and the sacrifices he makes to be the best, like being away from his family so much, then I don’t know.”

“But you do need a certain personality to climb above 8,000m as you’re in the death zone. You can get summit fever and it can cloud your judgement. Most people that try to climb all 14 don’t because they get killed (or stop or give in). Climbers often get killed on their 12th or 14th mountain. I’ve had quite a few near death experiences… descending Kangchenjunga for one. Most people get caught on the descent as they lose focus but I do feel I’ve had a sixth sense, an intuition that’s helped me.”

Hinkes recalls a happy childhood, with a lot of freedom to roam about in nature, building dens, exploring forests, climbing hills and scrambling up rocks. At 15, a teacher at his school in Northallerton got him into rock climbing and he grew quickly hooked. His love of clambering around rocks lead him to become a geography teacher, though he jokes that he stopped teaching: “When the government outlawed capital punishment.” In truth it was when his climbing expeditions abroad grew more ambitious, and the summer holidays simply weren’t long enough to fit them in.

Throughout his climbing career, he’s worked with the charity Outward Bound and is a strong believer in the physical and mental benefits of getting young people outdoors and immersed in nature. He says: “I’ve seen first-hand what it can do for kids. They arrive crying because they don’t want to leave home and they’re used to city life but at the end of the week they’re crying because they don’t want to go back home.”

“No mountain is worth a life. I’ve never lost a digit to frostbite, I’ve got all my bits and digits intact.”

Hinkes is a firm advocate that those kind of experiences in nature offer something unique to people. He says: “Football, cricket, tennis…all those sports are good but they’re not in nature, and we know nature does good things to us.”

He acts as a guide on the annual Fjallraven Classic a 110km hike through Swedish Lapland which is designed to give ordinary people a chance to get into the outdoors. He says: “It’s a great entry-level event for people wanting to get more serious about hiking. It really does feel remote.”

And he’s pleased to see his beloved British hills busier than ever at the weekends. He says: “Perhaps it’s social media but there does seem to be a rise in awareness of the hill areas for walking and climbing or just a nice ramble.”

Given Hinkes’s twitter feed photos and the fact he tells me he’s done a Park Run that morning it’s clear he still gets out in nature a lot but how does he feel if he can’t? “Enervated. Yeah I’ve got to get out. The Fells are my fix. Rock Climbing, fell walking, ice climbing. I feel less tired and more relaxed when I get out; refreshed and rejuvenated.”

He tells me he sometimes goes out with friends but is happy hiking by himself too. “You’re often more approachable if you’re out by yourself, and I can hike at my own pace.” Which in case you’re wondering is fast, by the end of a hill-walk he’s often running downhill.

He likes to walk away from the main routes too: “It makes things more interesting and the ground is often softer too, as most people prefer the paths.” And he’d still take a map over GPS, even when he knows the route as he enjoys the practice of map-reading.

Is anyone impressing him in climbing right now? “Well Greg Boswell fights bears…”

And finally, I ask Hinkes what mountaineering and seeing the world from on high has taught him about life? “That life is for living. Carpe Diem. But also that it’s important to appreciate the small things, like a dawn chorus in spring or early summer or a skylark. That health and fitness is important but also that all of us humans need to chill out and get along.” We may not have been to the top of the world but we’re firmly with him on that.

Alan Hinkes is a Fjallraven ambassador 

To book a place on the Fjallraven Classic and be guided by Alan Hinkes OBE himself head to Jagged Globe

To read the rest of Mpora’s April Planet Issue head here

To find out more about Alan Hinkes head here

You may also like:

Kenton Cool And The Legend Of Everest

Sherpa | This New Movie Will Change Everything You Think About Everest

Filter Fail | Is An Excessive Use Of Photoshop Giving Travellers False Expectations