author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
Night-time ascents spoil the enjoyment of a climb, and should be avoided wherever possible. But on some popular, guided peaks, climbing at night has become the norm, and reaching the summit is considered more important than enjoying the experience.
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When you’ve put so much time, money and physical commitment into a climb, it’s never easy to turn around just fifty metres from the top. Here are some stories from Aconcagua which help to shed light on when that decision should be made.
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Last week the world’s mainstream media were awash with stories about the world’s first dog to climb Mount Everest. It was a heart-warming tale about a cute little doggie who had been rescued from a garbage dump in India and went on to become a pioneering canine mountaineer. But how on earth could it be true?
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Having the right guide can mean the difference between success and failure, particularly on a mountain like Aconcagua, where many guides don’t appreciate the great expense – financial, emotional and physical – that clients are putting into the climb, and
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Yesterday I returned to the UK again after a short visit to Argentina, and am surprised not to see any snow. Since August, when I left for Cho Oyu in Tibet, it seems that barely a week has passed when
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It’s a small world indeed. Two days ago I was sitting on the tarmac at London’s Heathrow Airport, wondering if my flight was ever going to take off. The plane had already taxied down the runway in a howling blizzard
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