In response to our inquiry about solicitors braving the Arctic (see Obiter, 25 September), we have been sent a chilling tale. In fact Alistair Duff, a partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing has a number of stories to tell.

It all started in 1987, when Duff, along with some fellow mountaineering fanatics, ran into the record books, by completing the highest-ever marathon, at Everest base camp.

He hasn’t been able to stop since. In June 2003, he climbed 13 virgin summits in Arctic Greenland and named one of them Mt HBJ. He had hoped to climb another virgin summit after a firm merger but, luckily for cartography, Mt HBJ Gateley Wareing is yet to exist. Duff said: ‘I climb most years in the greater ranges and have climbed in Nepal three times, Pakistan twice, Tibet, India, Kazakhstan, Alaska and Bolivia.’

Back home, Duff puts on slide shows for the rest of the firm, getting his message across ‘that there is more to life than being a lawyer’. Although he admits to being one of the firm’s oldest partners, he reckons that with the right training it’s possible to tackle the world’s toughest ranges until well into your 60s.