Adventure Alternative

Adventure Alternative Staff Profile

Name: Gavin Bate
Position: Adventure Alternative Director

Gavin started Adventure Alternative in 1991 during a long period of travel and exploration. His colourful life has endless experiences with stories to match, from the extreme to the ridiculous. From carrying 50kg and assisting his climbing partner off the summit of Everest to being arrested on suspicion of being a spy in Algeria during a solo trans Saharan trek.

Gavin has led four Everest Expeditions as well as the Millennium Summits Expedition. In 2000 he led the successful British team on the SE Ridge which made the first ascent of the mountain in the new Millennium. In 2002 he and friend Will Canning attempted the north face/northeast ridge route without Sherpa support or supplementary oxygen. They turned back at the Second Step when Will dislocated his kneecap, resulting in a difficult three day descent in stormy conditions.
In 2005 he climbed Everest by the SE Ridge alone and without oxygen, turning back just short of the summit because of queues. Eschewing Base Camp for the original 1953 Base Camp used by John Hunt's team, and managing with only one fly camp on the mountain at Camp 2, Gavin made a 32 hour non-stop climb time to 8748m and back down to Base Camp.
In 2007 Gavin returned to Tibet to attempt a traverse of Everest (northeast ridge/ southeast ridge) without supplementary oxygen, or high camps. Just below the summit he contracted a violent pulmonary oedema and made a very dramatic descent to Base Camp in 13 hours with Sherpa Pasang Tendi.

Gavin has lived most of his adult life on expedition or abroad; much of it in Kenya and especially in the slums of Kibera outside Nairobi. He worked occasionally with aid agencies and, touched by his experiences in developing countries and refugee camps, set up the trust called Moving Mountains which supports children and community initiatives in Kenya, Nepal and Niger. He then set up a Kenyan registered NGO under the same name. Both organisations now provide a vital link and support for many hundreds of people. Moving Mountains is now a large charity and supports many projects in East Africa and has built model green villages in the Himalaya.

Adventure Alternative is owned outright by Gavin and is based in Northern Ireland and is now one of the leading adventure travel companies in the UK and Eire offering a range of adventures from safaris to gap trips, to mountain guiding trips. plus it operates a Kenyan registered Safari company.

This is what Gavin says about his experiences:
"It seems to me that in my life I am either on an expedition or planning one. A lot of the motivation comes from wanting to see dreams come true. From crossing the Sahara on my own in the early days to running rehabilitation camps for hundreds of street children in the shanty towns of Kenya, to organising the British expedition to summit Everest by the south side in the year 2000 and climbing the highest peaks on each of the seven continents in one, to having made such great and good friends along the way.
Thinking back on all those small adventures, I recall so many moments that have become exceptional. They started off as dreams, idle thoughts on the back of a matchbox that developed through long days and nights to become A Plan. And just imagine the joy, the satisfaction and the sense of living when those bold dreams became reality, rolled into new experiences and eventually turned to memories.
For me, it gives Life meaning. And not just for myself...so many people have been a part of those dreams in the latter years and some of them have joined my team at Adventure Alternative, which is good news because I believe that any good organisation can best be measured by the strength and quality of the team behind it. I have the great fortune to employ some very fine leaders for my trips and we are all intent on providing an exemplary service."

Gavin travels extensively now as much as he did before, but more in the role now of delegating the running of operations to staff around the world, and promoting his particular style of management and leadership.
“Nothing is left to chance. Setting up these companies and providing the degree of service and safety that I do requires a strict style of management. I have seen some awful examples in my life of people mis-managing people and situations, especially when I used to work on scrap ships in places like India and Pakistan,  and I learnt mainly what not to do. I then devised my own style of leadership which is now coming to fruition because I have the trust in the people I have trained and now employ”.

Gavin loves to read and especially enjoys visiting Italy and places of beauty and fine architecture. Music is important and good food, taken in fine company and enjoyed over time to appreciate with friends. Friends play a vital part in Gavin’s life and he says “I am fortunate to have some wonderful friends in some very diverse places, many of whom have become involved with the charity”. Sport is important too and he enjoys an extremely healthy lifestyle. There is always time to enjoy films and good conversation and to cook.