Nigel Vardy

{{Short description|South African mountaineer and motivational speaker}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox mountaineer

| name = Nigel Vardy

| image = Nigel Vardy Frostbite.jpg

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| image_caption = Vardy in hospital, 1999

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| main_discipline = Mountaineering

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| nationality = British

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Nigel Vardy is an English mountaineer whose experiences of recovering from severe frostbite injuries led him to become a motivational speaker and author.

Vardy was rescued after being overtaken by darkness at high altitude on a climb of Denali in Alaska in May 1999,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/may/23/peterbeaumont.theobserver|title=Lone hero plucked from stormy Alaskan peak|first=Peter|last=Beaumont|date=23 May 1999|accessdate=16 March 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}} facing temperatures of {{convert|-76|F|C}}.{{cite web |title=The man who survived at -76 degrees [graphic images] |url=https://shouldersofgiants.com/2017/07/16/man-survived-76-degrees-graphic-images/ |website=Shoulders of Giants |accessdate=30 July 2020 |date=16 July 2017 |archive-date=24 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024164648/https://shouldersofgiants.com/2017/07/16/man-survived-76-degrees-graphic-images/ |url-status=dead }} He suffered severe frostbite{{cite journal |last=Reichert |first=Joe |year=2000 |title=Exceeding Abilities - Off Route, Inadequate Equipment and Water, Hypothermia, Frostbite |journal=Accidents in North American Mountaineering |publisher=The American Alpine Club |volume=7 |issue=53 |pages=19–22 |issn=0065-082X}} and his injuries led to the amputation of all his toes, fingers and his nose.{{cite news |title=Touching the void |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/oct/20/features11.g23 |accessdate=30 July 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=20 October 1999}}{{cite news |title=Students encouraged to scale the heights of ambition |url=https://nottinghamlocalnews.com/students-encouraged-to-scale-the-heights-of-ambition/ |accessdate=30 July 2020 |work=Nottingham Local News |date=29 November 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2006 a 45-minute documentary was broadcast of his party's incident on Denali for the TV series I Shouldn't Be Alive.{{cite web |title=Frozen at twenty thousand feet |url=https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/film/frozen-at-twenty-thousand-feet-2006 |website=MNTNFILM |accessdate=30 July 2020}}

Months of recovery followed his accident, but Vardy eventually returned to climbing, explored mountains across the world, and three years later successfully returned to high-altitude climbing by reaching Island Peak in Nepal.{{cite news |title=Climber returns from Himalayas |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2417865.stm |accessdate=30 July 2020 |work=BBC News |date=7 November 2002}} In 2014, despite his lack of toes, Vardy reached Gunnbjørn Fjeld, the highest mountain north of the Arctic Circle, as well as undertaking a further mountaineering expedition in Nepal.{{cite news |title=Explorer returns from latest trek |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-derbyshire-27276674/belper-explorer-nigel-vardy-returns-from-latest-trek |accessdate=30 July 2020 |work=BBC News |date=5 May 2014}}{{cite news |title=In pictures: Quest for the summit |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3826495.stm |accessdate=30 July 2020 |work=BBC News |date=21 June 2004}} He also became the first Briton to achieve the "seven peaks-seven islands" challenge, summitting the highest peaks on the world's seven largest islands.{{Cite news |date=2021-10-01 |title=Frostbite climber Nigel Vardy to feature in Bear Grylls project |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-58752203 |access-date=2022-12-21}}

Vardy uses his experiences of rescue, recovery and return to mountaineering as a motivational speaker, and is sometimes known as "Mr. Frostbite". In 2016 Mountain Rescue magazine announced that he had become an associate of the Buxton Mountain Rescue Team in the Peak District, helping to fund raise and train others.{{cite journal |title='Mister Frostbite' joins the Buxton Team |journal=Mountain Rescue |date=2015 |volume=55 |pages=29–31 |url=https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Issue55Winter2016.pdf |accessdate=30 July 2020 |issn=1756-8749}} Vardy was appointed a "Get Outside Champion" by the British Ordnance Survey in 2017,{{cite web |title=Nigel Vardy |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/filter/?ambassadors=nigel-vardy |website=OS GetOutside |publisher=Ordnance Survey |accessdate=30 July 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Sills |first1=Edward |title=Belper Mountaineer Selected As 2017 Ordnance Survey Champion |url=https://nailed.community/2017/02/21/belper-mountaineer-selected-2017-ordinance-survey-champion/ |accessdate=30 July 2020 |work=Nailed - Belper Independent News |date=21 February 2017}} and is an ambassador for the Mountain Heritage Trust.{{cite web |title=Team & Careers - Ambassadors and Officers |url=https://www.mountain-heritage.org/about/team-and-careers |website=Mountain Heritage Trust |accessdate=30 July 2020}}