Soon thereafter I sat down with my father Colonel Morris Willoughby who had been an avid Himalayan climber prior to second World War and who had spent most of his military career posted on the North Western Afghani Front of what was then then the British Empire. We compared notes on the damage complainers do to the morale of teams and at that moment we decided to compile a list of ‘ I Will Not Complain’ Regulations that everyone had to sign should they wish to join us on future expeditions.

The first signatories of the “I Will Not Complain” Declaration were those who joined me on my African Three Peaks expedition to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya and Mt. Stanley over a three week period. The actual purpose of that trip was to find future team members who embodied the spirit of adventure combined with curiosity, passion and courage and who understood that life is full of unexpected challenge and that there is no point in complaining – especially half way up a mountain !  The African Peaks expedition was a great success and was led by Stephen Venables who later became the first Brit to summit Mt Everest without oxygen in 1993 and who remains an avid ‘ I Will Not Complain’ ambassador.