Once upon a time there was a man who climbed both summits of Mera Peak and narrated an audiobook about it

A couple of weeks ago, my wife dropped a bombshell.

It’s not what you’re thinking. Edita is currently working in Haiti on a humanitarian mission, which means that we’re waking up each morning separated by a five-hour time difference. I understand that there isn’t much to do in Haiti on an evening, and earlier this month, Edita let slip that she’s been passing the time by listening to my last audiobook on Spotify.

This was a bombshell for two reasons. Firstly, somebody actually listens to my self-narrated audiobooks. Secondly, Spotify famously pays artists $0.004 per stream. This means that not only is Edita missing the sound of my voice, but she’s actually paying about 25 cents to listen to it, which may not sound like much, but is at least 25 cents more than I expected.

The good news for Edita and my other quantum of listeners is that I’ve just released another one. Islands in the Snow is now available on all the best audiobook channels, including Spotify, iTunes, Audible and many more.

Islands in the Snow has been available as an ebook and a paperback for a while, but until now it’s not been possible to appreciate the book while riding a horse. As of this month, that’s all changed. If you’re good at multi-tasking then there are now a variety of activities that you can undertake while following my footsteps through the Himalayas, including cooking, running, gardening and even skydiving.

In 2009, I set out on an 8,000m peak warm-up expedition with my then regular climbing partner Mark Dickson (who has now given up mountaineering and makes award-winning chilli jam). We decided to do the Amphu Labtse crossing in Nepal and climb two popular trekking peaks, Mera Peak and Island Peak. For the majority of the trek we were accompanied by our friend Siling and an army of porters and kitchen crew. We were also followed up the Hongu Valley by a sizeable KE Adventure group led by the legendary trekking guide, Ade Summers. When we returned to the Everest region, I left the others behind and set off into the Gokyo Valley for a week of solo teahouse trekking.

The Amphu Labtse crossing is one of the world’s great treks. It terminates in the higher reaches of the Everest region after traversing two contrasting valleys, the Hinku and Hongu. The first is a little busier, fringed by alpine forests and lined with broad yak pastures in the shadow of Mera Peak, one of Nepal’s more accessible trekking peaks. In contrast, the Hongu Valley is wilder and more remote. The forests and pastures are replaced by wide grasslands, rocky moraine and glacial lakes. To get in and out, it’s necessary to cross two glaciated passes, the Mera La and the Amphu Labtse. The second of these features a short ice climb.

The area was first explored with a tourist’s eye in 1953 by Colonel Jimmy Roberts, who is now considered to be the grandfather of trekking in Nepal. Roberts also made the first ascent of Mera Peak, but there was some confusion over whether he actually reached its highest point. In fact, there was some confusion whether I had reached its highest point when I slumped onto the summit of Mera Central like a beached whale in 2004, after being hauled up by a team of Sherpas (admittedly, whales are rarely seen at that altitude).

In 2009, I was much stronger and more experienced at high altitude, and I was determined to lay to rest the question of whether Mera Central or its adjacent summit Mera North is actually the highest point.

If you’re a fan of trekking in Nepal then I recommend this audiobook as its sure to bring back pleasant memories. If you’ve never been trekking in Nepal, then you can learn what it’s like while you bake a cake. Why not give it a try now (the audiobook, not the cake) by clicking on the big green button below.