The era of adventure travel is precipitating a quiet revolution in mountaineering: it’s called commercialisation. Now, whether your climbing experience amounts to the steps of your local or the vertiginous walls of the Matterhorn, there are companies that will take you to the top some very large mountains. £40,000 and you can attempt Everest; £2,000 and you can try one of the many smaller but still impressive 'trekking' peaks, most of which are higher than the Europe or America’s highest summits. And while it may sound like lunacy for someone with no previous Himalayan experience to attempt a 6000m mountain, with a gently inclined summit, a well organised expedition and a professional UK mountain guide, hundreds of beginners manage it every year.
Trekking peaks