Outside Online Guests: Alan and Adrian Burgess

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Terrible twins no more
Shedding their image as mountaineer rowdies, twin brothers Adrian and Alan Burgess say they're all grown-up now. Well, maybe not all grown-up.

By Charlotte McGuinn Freeman
Outside Online

The buzz

Alan

The Terrible Burgess Twins--mountaineering's most notorious partiers--are ready to put their reputation for boozing, brawling, and bad behavior to rest. The 47-year-old brothers, both homeowners in the Salt Lake City area, say they've outgrown the most flamboyant habits of their youth. They haven't completely given up mischief, though. Alan's latest hobby is "pirating" 7,000-meter peaks in the Himalayas by climbing them without permits.

What's new

Adrian

The twins are leaving in mid-May to climb the 23,800-foot Mustagh Tower in Pakistan. Mustagh, according to Alan, combines the virtues of good weather, interesting 5.7 to 5.8 rock climbing, and Grade 3 and 4 ice climbing. It's only been climbed three times. Alan's also busy setting up his new company, Camp 5 Expeditions, which will lead trips to the Himalayas, South America, and Alaska. To spread word of their newly respectable behavior, they've penned The Burgess Book of Lies, an autobiographical memoir with chapters including "Early Alps: the Wild Years" and "A Brawl and a Quick Climb." Adrian says "the reason we called it the Book of Lies is because there isn't a lie in it."

Arranged in cooperation with:
Extreme Connection, a Speakers Bureau and Adventure Sports Network