author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
Apart from the occasional brief hour of silence, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have to listen to the roar of the wind. Here at Base Camp it manifests itself in the form tent canvas bashing against our
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He may not have the grandest memorial at Everest Base Camp North, but of all the mountaineers who have died trying to climb Everest from the north side, George Mallory made the most significant contribution to future climbs. In three
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After a week of rest and acclimatisation at Base Camp (5160m) tomorrow we leave for our first foray higher up the mountain, and will be gone for nearly two weeks. The plan is spend two days trekking up to Advanced
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An apology in advance: it’s going to be a philosophical post today instead of the usual waffle. It’s been another clear day at base camp, apart from the distinctive plume of cloud blasting off the summit. I wandered up a
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While climbers on the south side of Everest have a nine day trek up the Khumbu to Base Camp, on the north side it’s possible to drive in by bus. The sensible route involves a tarmac road most of the
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There are two routes to the north side of Everest from Kathmandu. The more interesting one, and the one I took on my two previous visits to Tibet when I climbed to the North Col of Everest and made an
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I leave for Nepal today, from where we’ll drive across the border into Tibet. We should arrive at Everest Base Camp on the north side in about a week’s time. I’ll have a satellite connection at base camp as we
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It’s become standard practice for people travelling in Central Asia or the Indian subcontinent to take a photograph from above of a mosaic of colourful spices at some market. As that’s now a cliché, I’m not going to do that.
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I can’t quite believe it, but on Saturday I’ll be leaving for my fourth 8000 metre peak expedition in as many years, and this time it’s the big one. Two months of impossible jetstream winds meant my attempts on Gasherbrums
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Here’s Edward Norton’s description of his clothing when he climbed Everest with George Mallory in 1924. Personally I wore a thick woollen vest and drawers, a thick flannel shirt and two sweaters under a lightish knickerbocker suit of windproof gabardine
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