The fate of Langtang village two years after the Nepal earthquake

One of the most jaw-dropping experiences of my recent visit to Langtang was passing through Langtang village, the site of a devastating landslide during the 2015 earthquake. Yesterday was the second anniversary, so it seems like the right moment to remember what happened.

For busy executives: the world’s shortest 8,000m peak expedition

April 19, 2017 Humour bottled oxygen, commercial mountaineering, interviews, mountaineering ethics 12 Comments

It’s been a while since we did our last interview on the Footsteps on the Mountain blog, but I can promise you this one has been worth waiting for. Earlier this week we caught up with a man who raised a few eyebrows by announcing the shortest ever 8000m peak expedition.

Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers has been fully revised in digital format

April 15, 2017 My books and writing 8000m peaks, amazon, gasherbrum, karakoram, mountain literature, pakistan, thieves liars and mountaineers, travel diaries, travel writing 0 Comment

A quick book update. I’m in the process of publishing revised editions of the Footsteps on the Mountain Travel Diaries. The revised digital version of Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers is available now at a bargain price from the main online bookstores.

From wasteland to wonderland: a trek in Langtang

April 12, 2017 Trip reports edita, ganesh himal, gosainkund, helambu, himalayas, jamie mcguinness, langtang, langtang lirung, naya kang, nepal, nepal earthquake, project himalaya, shishapangma, teahouse trekking, trekking, trekking peaks, yala peak 8 Comments

I’ve been meaning to go to Langtang for a long time. It was Nepal’s third most popular trekking destination, but this changed suddenly after the Nepal earthquake. The region is getting back to normal again and I was long overdue a visit. Here’s the story of my trek.

Reality Check: Will there be a huge clear up of garbage on Everest this year?

April 5, 2017 Opinion and advice asian trekking, commercial mountaineering, everest, media sensationalism, mountain environment, nepal, nepal earthquake, waste management 5 Comments

In this era of fake news, the BBC has launched a Reality Check series to analyse popular news stories that sound plausible and assess whether or not they’re bollocks. I thought it might be fun to run one the BBC’s own stories through a reality check.