author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
I know some people found my previous post a bit heavy. So to cheer everyone up at the end of a dark season in difficult times, and to prove that this isn’t just another serious climbing blog, here’s something a little more light-hearted.
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I don’t often go to the movies, and last time I did the film started with a crazy man standing alone on a wall up a sheer cliff face. There was a feeling of déjà vu when I went to a local cinema again a couple of weekends ago.
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On International Mountain Day last month, I watched the documentary film Mountain – an hour and a half of sheer, unadulterated mountain porn. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves mountains.
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When I first heard about the death of Ueli Steck on Everest’s west peak, Nuptse, I was shocked, but not mystified. It sounded like a simple climbing accident, and nothing more. But an enlightening interview with the Nepalese climbing guide who found his body raised many new questions.
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The word inspirational has been used a lot in tributes to Ueli Steck, who died last weekend. Ueli did things which no ordinary person could do, but there was something about him that appealed to people both inside and outside the climbing community. Here’s what he meant to me.
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A short while ago I attended a lecture by the Swiss climber Ueli Steck, known affectionately as the Swiss Machine, and later wrote about how ridiculous his mountaineering career has been. Last week I went to see him again after he had done something even more ridiculous.
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This is a post I have been meaning to write for a while. Much has been written by westerners about Sherpas over the last hundred years, but the voice of the Sherpas themselves is rare. I can’t provide it, but I can provide my own perspective of a people who have given me many happy memories, taken me to places I could never have been without them, and put their lives at risk to help me.
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Some of you have been asking for an insightful analysis of the punch up on the Lhotse Face over the weekend. As usual people have been falling over themselves to report the story without waiting for the facts to emerge, and in the Footsteps on the Mountain team we’re not averse to joining the stampede.
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Snow on the hills is great, but it’s best not to go out walking when it’s actually snowing, so last weekend I took the easier option and spent it indoors at the Outdoors Show at London’s ExCeL conference centre, if
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If you read the title of this post and think I’m about to slag off the Swiss climbing superstar, famous for his speed ascents in the Alps and Himalayas, then you should know upfront that I’ll be doing precisely the
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