Climbing on your high horse need not risk lives

And we all have our Everests at some time or another; enormous imaginary mountains we need to climb for many reasons.

Having been a skier, I also appreciate the challenge of real mountains, even when you are scared rigid.

Virgin snow, untouched glaciers, the disturbing silence and ancient rock faces – all of these, I get. But for the life of me, I simply can't understand why anyone would want to climb Britain's highest building, London's Shard, just to draw attention to an issue.

I'm still trying to work out why six women complaining about oil drilling in the Arctic would choose a 15-hour, 1000ft vertical hike up a monstrous modern edifice to say so.

All such an escapade does is irritate because of the obvious risks to participants, and the diversion of others from their legitimate work. In this case, dozens of police and paramedics were dispatched to the scene, distracting them from their usual duties. The stunt even closed platforms at London Bridge station.

Part of me almost admires the women for having made their way up the Shard to bring their strong views to wider attention.

But the rest of me still thinks that far from helping, such escapades are destined to just spell trouble with a capital T.

Remember the Fathers4Justice organisation? They campaigned for equal parental rights, but instead of just taking their protest in to Parliament, had one of the group scaling the building and spending five hours hanging around up there at obvious risk to himself and to others. A silly prank which also prompted a costly security review of safety around Westminster.

And listen up all you worthy protestors, people get fed-up, angry, exasperated with you – and that's before the outrage about taxpayers having to cough up for the spectacle.

I am all for a bit of vision and difference to persuade the rest of us to support good works. But even the most committed tend to withdraw membership if faced with really daft, attention-seeking methods.

Unlike Everest, you can't climb a 72-storey skyscraper or swing from Big Ben just because they're there!