As part of LGBT+ History Month, we profile 3 LGBT+ climbers, starting with Geoffrey Winthrop Young. 1/10

'GWY' as he was widely known, was a titan in the mountaineering world. A president of the Alpine Club, he left an influential literary legacy & was prime mover in the foundation of the BMC. 2/10

While his climbing career was halted by the outbreak of WWI, Young was prolific in the years before. He established new routes, particularly the south face of the Täschorn, but also on the Breithorn, Monte Rosa & Weisshorn. 3/10

He was also bisexual, living in an era when being a gay man was illegal. GWY was up at Trinity College, Cambridge when Oscar Wilde was in jail. 4/10

During his life, Young was closeted & the exact nature of his sexuality is something that we may never fully define - though he has been described as both gay and bisexual. 5/10

While Young married & had 3 children, it was known among his close friends & to his wife that his sexual preference was for men. 6/10

In the 1970s, when his biographer Alan Hankinson first approached his widow Eleanor about writing GWY’s life, she demurred, & it was another 10 years before Hankinson could get to work. 7/10

In GWY’s letters & diaries was ample evidence of this secret part of his life. When Hankinson finally summoned the courage to ask Len whether her husband had been gay, ‘her eyes filled with tears before she replied: “Yes, he was.” 8/10

A conscientious objector, Young served in an ambulance unit, 1st at Ypres & later in Italy. In Italy, he was seriously injured & one of his legs was amputated. He did however return to climbing, remarking that his disability made every movement into an absorbing challenge. 9/10

In 1928, & with the use of a prosthetic, Young succeeded in climbing the Matterhorn.

If you’d like to learn more about his life, then we'd recommend Alan Hankinson’s biography ‘Geoffrey Winthrop Young: Poet, Educator, Mountaineer’. 10/10