Geoffrey Hastings

Geoffrey Hastings (1860-1941) was a British mountaineer from Bradford in Yorkshire who made numerous first ascents of rock faces and peaks in the Lake District, the Alps and Norway, and who helped lay the foundations for mountain climbing as a sport. Born in Manningham, he was educated at Marlborough College, worked in his father's worsted business and later as an insurance broker, and was a strong oarsman before he turned to climbing and potholing in the early 1880s. In 1885 he joined an exploration of Gavel Pot on Leck Fell, described as the first extensive cave exploration in Great Britain. With Cecil Slingsby, Walter Haskett Smith and Norman Collie he helped open up climbing in the Lake District, including the first ascent of Needle Ridge on Great Gable in 1887 and of Moss Ghyll on Scafell in 1892. In the Alps he took part in the first traverse of the Aiguille du Grepon and the first ascent of the Dent du Requin. In 1895 he joined Albert Mummery and Collie on the first serious attempt on Nanga Parbat in the Himalaya, turning back with Collie before Mummery and two Gurkhas were lost.