You don't have to be a climber to appreciate the beauty and fascinating history of many of the worlds famous mountains. First climbed in 1865, the Matterhorn was one of the last alpine peaks to be summitted and Edward Whymper's published account of the first ascent and the tragic loss of life during the descent still makes heart rending reading to this day.

Climbing is my passion and the present pair of smilers sheets were produced to commemorate this extremely photogenic, classic mountain.

The first sheet shows a winter view of the mountain with the Hornli Ridge in the foreground. The second, a view of the summit taken on 13th September 2006. Only 20 copies of each sheet have been printed and to preseve their scarcity and collector appeal no reprints will be made. Ten sheets of each issue have been signed by the celebrated mountaineer Stephen Venables. Among his many mountaineering achievements was a first ascent of Everest by a new route on the Kangshung face, a feat he accomplished without the aid of supplementary oxygen (also a British first). Less spectacular but still a notable achievement was his ascent of the Matterhorn in victorian tweed and hobnailed boots for the Channel 4 documentary series 'Mountain Men'.

Clearly the autograph sheets are expected to sell for higher prices than the unsigned sheets and I regard it an honour to donate 20% of the money raised from the sale of these smilers sheets to Liz Helps, a charity chosen by Stephen in memory of his friend Liz Klobusicky, which is supporting eductional projects for Tibetan refugees in the Himalaya.

Please note, both of these sheets are number 2 of a limited edition of 20.