In July 1997 Alan Hinkes sat below Nanga Parbat, at 8125m the ninth highest mountain in the world. With Everest and K2 under his belt, he may even have allowed himself to day-dream it was all over. Within a few days it was.

While eating at base camp, an overfloured chapati caused a gargantuan sneeze which put his back out and left him screaming in agony on the floor. It was an ignominious and extremely painful end to his attempt to climb his six remaining 8000m peaks in one season and become the first Briton to climb all 14 of the world's highest mountains.

Next month Hinkes returns to Nanga Parbat, his eye still firmly on target, but a longer timescale in mind. If he can complete his 14 peaks by the turn of the century, by which time he'll be 45, he'll be a happy man.

Nanga Parbat may be one of the smaller 8000m peaks, but it has a fearsome reputation and has only had one ascent by a British team since its first ascent, solo to the summit, by Herman Buhl in 1953. The mountain's easy accessibility meant it was the first really big Himalayan peak to be attempted.

Alfred Mummary, who wittily and self-mockingly described every mountain as going through three stages, 'An inaccessible peak - The most difficult climb in the Alps - An easy day for a lady', met his match there in 1895 at the age of 40. Between the wars, Nanga Parbat became to Germany what Everest was to Britain and Annapurna to France. In just two pre-war expeditions, 1934 and 1937, no less than 26 German climbers and their Sherpas died on the mountain. By way of comparison, in 1939, Fritz Wiessner got to within 300m of the summit of K2 (8611m), regarded by many as one of the hardest of the 8000m peaks.

For those in the know, Nanga Parbat it is not a peak to mess with. In 1970 the first man to climb all 14 of the 8000m peaks, the great Tyrolean mountaineer Reinhold Messner, made the first ascent of the mountain's Rupal Face with his brother Gunther. Descending from the summit down the unclimbed Diamir Face, Gunther was overwhelmed by an avalanche. Eight years later Messner returned to climb the Diamir Face alone, the first complete solo of an 8000m peak.

Although 1997 ended so badly for Hinkes, he did manage to knock off Everest's neighbour Lhotse, reducing his outstanding tally to five: Kangchenjunga (8586m), Makalu (8493m), Dhaulagiri (8167m) Nanga Parbat (8125m) and Annapurna (8091m). But these unclimbed peaks remain a formidable obstacle and Hinkes isn't getting any younger. ''As you get older the more you want to live, the more you realise you are not invincible,'' he told The Herald in 1996, adding that he didn't want to die for the sake of his daughter Fiona.

But he has started a project which, certainly for the present, he seems intent on completing, and he still has to face two of the world's five highest peaks. Makalu is already a thorn in Hinkes' side. Approaching the mountain in spring 1995 he fell from the path and ripped open his thigh on a length of bamboo. Returning to health impressively swiftly, Hinkes went on to climb K2, but Makalu remains unclimbed.

Then there's Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest peak and a formidable challenge. Hinkes will be only too aware of how in 1995 Kangchenjunga put an end to his colleague Benoit Chamoux's chances of becoming the fourth man to climb all 14 peaks. At 5pm on October 5, with 13 of the 8000ers in the bag Chamoux was forced to turn back just below Kanchenjunga's summit and was never seen again.

Meanwhile, there's only one contender in the wings with his eyes on becoming the first 8000m Briton. Jonathan Pratt has already climbed five 8000ers including four of the highest - Everest, K2, Lhotse and Makalu and is currently attempting Kanchenjunga. Aged 38 he has made it clear that he is here to stay and that time is on his side.

In 1995 Pratt was banned from climbing in Pakistan after irregularities concerning his expedition's liaison officer. As he left for Kanchenjunga he learned the ban had been lifted, and he was free to attempt his remaining 8000m peaks in Pakistan. If he succeeds on Kangchenjunga then the pressure on Hinkes can only increase.

But with all the public interest surrounding the 8000m peaks it is so easy to forget the hundreds of climbers like Chris Bonington who are heading off to the Himalaya this summer with their eye on smaller, but no less challenging peaks and faces. It is with them that the true future of mountaineering lies, not with keeping scores. As the great, late, Polish mountaineer Jerzy Kukuczka said: ''Counting mountains like goals in a football match only leads to delusion.''