"Learning to Lead…….Charged with this were 2 teachers with extraordinary qualifications: Di Gilbert – the first British woman to have led a expedition to the top of Everest – and Dave Rudkin, a young instructor and climber of supreme ability. Both were hyper-qualified, infectiously cheerful, knowledgeable about green things swiped from the ground and engagingly approachable. As leaders, they were pyrotechnic examples……..” SIMON INGRAM, Trail, December 2007 "cherry-apple cheeks, Heidi-blonde pigtails and the brightest of blue eyes." Hi Ginny, I’m Di, your guide". Di G, Respect! I say. She is like one of those Tank Girl heroines as she jumps into the bunker where the last container is frozen deep and seemingly unbudgeable. The pilots all stand around smoking, grateful for a break, while Ms Gilbert hammers into the ice, wielding her spade like a lethal weapon." GINNY DOUGARY, The Times March 2004 "There are certain achievements that we all hear about and think ’Wow’. At only 31 years of age, Di Gilbert, has spent most of her life enjoying the great outdoors. She is one of a select in-demand guides and climbing instructors, who travel the globe, teaching people how to climb safely and leading teams of enthusiasts to the tops of some of the most treacherous mountains in the world. Oh yes, she just became only the second Scottish women in history to climb Mount Everest." GARY FISHER, Inside Aberdeenshire October 2005. "In a testosterone – drenched fraternity of mountaineers, Diahanne Gilbert is a refreshingly unexpected sort of leader. No faintly colonial bragging from behind ice-beaded whiskers here. Instead, I"m sipping tea at the home of a cheerful blonde Aberdonian whose obvious link with the world"s tallest peak is the hint of residual windburn on her cheeks" NICK THORPE, The Times. Read Article