Moran studied geography at Cambridge University and subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant, basing himself in Sheffield.
For the next twenty years they ran summer alpine mountaineering courses, based out of Argentière in France, and Evolène in Switzerland.
[note 1] As a climber and runner, Moran made numerous traverses of the 7.5 miles (12.1 km)-long Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye.
This mountaineering undertaking normally takes a full day of climbing and scrambling but, in 1993, Moran set a new record of completing the traverse in 3 hours and 33 minutes.
[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] [19][20][21] His 2002 route, The Godfather (Grade VIII, 8) on Beinn Bhàn, is regarded as a "sought-after test-piece" and a "winter prize".
All contact was subsequently lost with Moran's group, and a search by the other party failed to find them, but noted evidence of a large avalanche on their route.
On 8 July, a GoPro camera, found close to where one of the bodies was retrieved, revealed some of the last movements of the party on 26 May as they traversed a delicate snow ridge, which is believed to have collapsed beneath them, triggering an avalanche which killed them.