6. Marcel Remy – Timeless Thrill-Seeker

We could be forgiven for believing backcountry adventuring is the preserve of the young, vigorous and slightly foolhardy. For many, after a certain age, too many things creak and crack and ache to consider putting their bodies through much more than a short drive to the supermarket and back. Not so Swiss climber Marcel Remy. Remy is now approaching his 95th birthday, but still retains an appetite for adventure that would make your average millennial feel somewhat short on pluck and hard up on hustle. In August 2017, Remy did something few 94-year-olds could even dream of, let alone consider in all earnestness. As part of a three-man team that included his son, Remy climbed the 450-meter north-west face of the world famous Miroir de l’Argentine in western Switzerland. The climb involved a total of five pitches – the first three on the Voie Normale route and the last two on the stiff Directe route to the summit. The overall grade of the climb is a testy 5a (5.8) – challenging enough for a teenager, let alone a man born shortly after the conclusion of World War One!