British mountaineer in ‘climb of generation’ watched Russian attempt end in tragedy before him

A young British climber who completed a mountaineering feat described as possibly the climb of this generation has told how he continued after an attempt ahead of him ended in tragedy.

Tom Livingstone, 27, and Slovenians Luka Stražar and Aleš Česen, last week became the first climbers to conquer the legendary north face of Latok I.

The fearsome northerly route to the 23,442ft peak in Pakistan’s Karokoram mountains has earned special status among mountaineers after seeing off the sport’s best and defeating more than 30 expeditions.

The danger of the unclimbed face was underlined late last month when a Russian climber fell to his death and his companion was rescued by helicopter after being stranded…