author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
On the eve of the Paralympics there was a timely film on UK television this week about a group of remarkable disabled mountaineers on an expedition to the Himalayas, which also provided some insight into one of the most talked
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It was a glorious bank holiday Sunday yesterday, so I thought I would get out into the countryside and explore the Test Way, a 44 mile long-distance walking route in rural Hampshire.
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So the government of Nepal has u-turned on a decision made earlier this year to ban solo trekking in the country. It’s a victory for common sense. Nepal is currently the best place in the world for solo trekking, and
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I suspect I’m going to shock a few people with this post. During my ascent of Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, last month I took not only performance enhancing drugs (aspirin, diamox and – I’m told – Russian vodka) but a cable car, a chairlift and, most shocking of all, a snow cat (that’s a tracked vehicle, not a clawed feline).
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I recently had to lengthen my crampons to fit a new pair of a boots. This wasn’t the straightforward procedure I was expecting it to be: because of the design of the crampon I had to take the entire thing
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With the news last week that Sandy Allan and Rick Allen have completed the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat (8125m), the longest continuous ridge on any 8000 metre peak, I was reminded of the colourful history of this giant mountain in Pakistan, the most westerly of the 8000ers, once considered to be a German mountain, and now at least temporarily dressed in tartan.
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