Nirmal Purja’s ascent of all fourteen 8,000m peaks: why is it controversial?

November 6, 2019 Opinion and advice 8000m peaks, explorersweb, first ascents, himalayan database, kim chang-ho, media sensationalism, mountaineering ethics, nepal, nirmal purja, peak bagging, reinhold messner, seven summits treks, sherpas

Last week was one of those weeks when a mountaineering story is so big that it makes it into the popular press. On the face of it, it was a straightforward story of someone smashing a record to smithereens. But if you dig a little deeper, there is another side to it.

Quilotoa: the easiest way in Ecuador to look into a volcanic crater?

October 10, 2019 Opinion and advice andes, ecuador, jean-baptiste boussingault, llanganates mountains, quilotoa, volcanoes 0 Comment

Ecuador has some impressive volcanic craters. Some, such as Cotopaxi and Tungurahua – both of which I’m going to talk about later – take a bit of effort to get to. But first, a more relaxing interlude. Not all volcanoes

What the North Coast 500 has in common with Everest

September 4, 2019 Opinion and advice britain, cycling, everest, feet and wheels to chimborazo, media sensationalism, north coast 500, scotland, tourism 1 Comment

Queues of slow moving traffic, people who don’t know how to drive, human faeces by the side of the road – are we talking about Everest again? No, it’s the North Coast 500, a magnificent road trip in north-west Scotland which I once pedalled round.

An interview with … Mark Horrell (and why not)

July 10, 2019 Opinion and advice business insider, commercial mountaineering, everest, interviews, media sensationalism, nepal 1 Comment

What to do when you spend an evening answering interview questions for a journalist, only for them not to be published? Of course, it’s obvious: publish them yourself on your own blog. So here is the world’s first ever interview with Mark Horrell.

Is it time to boycott the south side of Everest?

June 26, 2019 Opinion and advice alan arnette, china tibet mountaineering association, commercial mountaineering, everest, jagged globe, madison mountaineering, mountaineering ethics, nepal, russell brice, seven summits treks, tibet 15 Comments

The problems which occurred on Everest this year are nothing new, but they have now reached such a degree that it’s time for operators who value their reputation and for those who dream of climbing Everest to take a principled stand.

Why I prefer hiking to biking

June 5, 2019 Opinion and advice britain, cycling, great glen way, hill walking, scotland, scottish highlands 11 Comments

If you’ve been following my adventures on a bike in Scotland and Ecuador, you will know that cycle touring is an acquired taste that I’m still struggling to acquire. By contrast, I love hiking and I was recently given a good lesson why.

Is Dervla Murphy most admired for her writing or her travelling style?

March 20, 2019 Opinion and advice africa, dervla murphy, ethiopia, ras dashen, simien mountains, solo trekking, travel writing 7 Comments

I’ve recently been reading In Ethiopia With a Mule, about a trek across – you guessed it – Ethiopia, in the company of a mule, by the famously brave travel writer Dervla Murphy. She is widely admired for her intrepid travelling style, but does this come at a price?

Introduction to the Apennines – Part 5: Monti della Laga

February 27, 2019 Opinion and advice abruzzo, apennines, hill walking, introduction to the apennines, italy, lazio, monte gorzano, monti della laga, pizzo di sevo 2 Comments

I was lucky to live and work for a year in Rome, where the highest peaks of the Apennines were accessible within a couple of hours. It was a hill walker’s paradise, with a feast of mountains of great variety,

What the devil is a circumhorizon arc?

February 13, 2019 Opinion and advice andes, chile, cloudspotting, ojos del salado 1 Comment

As we made our way from base camp for an acclimatisation hike on Ojos del Salado in the Puna de Atacama region of the Andes last month, we witnessed a strange phenomenon in the sky.

Cerro Vicuñas, the world’s easiest 6,000m peak? Quite possibly

January 16, 2019 Opinion and advice andes, cerro vicunas, chile, chris groves, drohmo ri, incahuasi, jagged globe, ojos del salado, olympus mons, puna de atacama, south america, trekking 13 Comments

Last year I returned from the Himalayas and reported that I may have discovered the easiest 6,000m peak in the world to climb. But there is another place in the world where lots of easy 6,000m peaks can potentially be climbed on a day hike from the road.