Anatomy of a crampon

August 8, 2012 Opinion and advice chongba sherpa, climbing equipment, everest, grivel g14s, la sportiva olympus mons, mountaineering boots, needle sports, outdoor gear 1 Comment

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

Met Office website facelift is a godsend for hill walkers

July 20, 2012 Opinion and advice beinn dorain, met office, scotland, tumblr post, weather forecasts 0 Comment

For a while now I’ve been using the excellent Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) website before I head for the hills, but that may be about to change now that the Met Office website has had a revamp. Standard regional

Why Altitude Junkies is my choice for the 8000m peaks

June 20, 2012 Opinion and advice 8000m peaks, adventure tours pakistan, altitude junkies, commercial mountaineering, everest, expedition logistics, gasherbrum, high altitude mountaineering, jon otto, manaslu, mark dickson, mountaineering ethics, phil crampton, tibet mountaineering guide school, valerie parkinson 11 Comments

“We’re a couple of high-altitude junkies.” Pete Boardman This is a follow up to last week’s post about choosing an 8000 metre peak expedition operator. In that post I offered up some pointers to help you make the right choice

How to choose an 8000m peak expedition company

June 13, 2012 Opinion and advice 8000m peaks, cho oyu, commercial mountaineering, everest, expedition logistics, high altitude mountaineering, himalayas, k2, karakoram, mountaineering ethics, nepal, pakistan, sherpas, tibet

So you’ve done a few high altitude mountaineering expeditions and you’re ready to climb your first 8000 metre peak, but there are many options and companies offering their services at a bewildering disparity of prices. How do you tell them

5 media myths about Everest busted

June 1, 2012 Opinion and advice alan arnette, blogging, chongba sherpa, climbing fatalities, everest, grant rawlinson, media sensationalism, mountain safety, mountaineering ethics, nepal, ralf dujmovits, sherpas, summit day, the guardian, tibet

There’s nothing some journalists like more than a bit a death. It generates controversy, helps sell copy, and gives them an opportunity to drum up hatred against people who live more interesting lives than they do. And this year on

4 pairs of mountaineering boots

March 14, 2012 Opinion and advice aconcagua, everest, gasherbrum, gear reviews, la sportiva olympus mons, mera peak, millet everest, mountaineering boots, muztag ata, old post, phil crampton, scarpa omega, scarpa phantom

Mountaineering can be an expensive hobby, particularly if you end up buying the same things again and again. I’ve just bought my fourth pair of mountaineering boots in preparation for Everest next month, not because I need four pairs of

The modern traveller’s obsession with gadgets

March 7, 2012 Opinion and advice blogging, digi comms, everest, gadgets, gps, kenton cool, kindle, mountain photography, navigation, satellite phone, solar panels, travel blogging, trekking 6 Comments

Here for your titillation is a photograph of some of the electrical equipment I’ll be taking to Everest next month. I use the word ‘titillation’ because I know there’s bound to be somebody reading this who loves gadgets, and much

5 off-the-beaten-path treks in Nepal

February 29, 2012 Opinion and advice annapurna circuit, baruntse, everest, everest base camp, himalayas, homestay accommodation, hongu valley, langtang, makalu, makalu base camp, manaslu, manaslu circuit, naar and phu, nepal, pisang peak, tamang heritage trail, trekking

There’s no doubt about it, Nepal is opening up, with new areas being explored by trekking agencies every season as the government makes more permits available to encourage tourist income into poorer regions of the country. While the busy Everest

Which is harder, the Second Seven Summits or the first one?

February 8, 2012 Opinion and advice aconcagua, carstensz pyramid, denali, dychtau, elbrus, everest, hans kammerlander, k2, kilimanjaro, mount kenya, mt logan, mt tyree, mt vinson, ojos del salado, peak bagging, puncak trikora, rock climbing, seven summits, trekking 11 Comments

Last month the Italian climber Hans Kammerlander became the first person to climb the Second Seven Summits, in other words the second highest peak on each continent. According to 7summits.com, 348 people had climbed the main Seven Summits, the highest

The high-altitude slow plod

February 1, 2012 Opinion and advice acclimatisation, altitude sickness, eric shipton, frank smythe, garhwal, high altitude mountaineering, hill walking, kamet, lewa sherpa, manaslu, phil crampton, porters, slow plod, summit day, trekking 1 Comment

The importance of keeping a good pace and rhythm when walking up a mountain During his expedition to Kamet in the Garhwal Himalaya, Northern India in 1931 – at the time the highest mountain that had ever been climbed –