author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
Wedged between the foothills of three huge mountain ranges – the Karakoram to the south, Pamirs to the north-west, and the Kunlun to the west – is Kongur, a complex massif of interlinked peaks and ridges. It was completely unexplored in 1980 when Michael Ward and Chris Bonington set off an a reconnaissance.
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The whole of Europe is in the middle of a scorching heatwave. Here in the Cotswolds the grass is as brown as a hay bale and the thermometer has been touching 30°C. It seemed like a good time to go hill walking in the Lake District, where good weather seemed guaranteed for a change.
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Much of the media coverage around Everest this year has focused on a brace of unusual speed ascents that have been framed as a game changer for aspiring Everest climbers. But there was another technological advance that is likely to change the job description for Sherpas much more significantly.
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Standing just 1.65m tall and weighing 82kg, nobody would ever have suspected Babu Chiri of being an athlete if he walked into a bar. But in 1998, he was one of the top three in the world at his specialist event of climbing Everest.
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There have been many books about Sherpa mountaineers over the years, but few have been written from the perspective of Sherpas themselves. One that comes close is Sherpa by Pradeep Bashyal and Ankit Babu Adhikari, which I read recently.
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There was forecast to be one day of glorious weather over the Easter weekend. I nabbed it to take a day trip to the Brecon Beacons in South Wales, now known as Bannau Brycheiniog, and climb its highest peak via an extended route through a quieter part of the range.
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There is a moment in your life when you start reminding yourself of your dad. For me that happened earlier this month while I was editing Edita’s videos of myself trekking the GR20. It wasn’t a pleasant realisation.
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A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post about climbing tiny Little Solsbury Hill above the city of Bath, the setting for Peter Gabriel’s 70s progressive rock classic. Two years on, here I am writing a blog post about another small English hill that was once the subject of a classic 70s prog rock album.
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It’s that special time of year when you get to see more of my amazing videos. A full eighteen months ago, Edita and I had the great pleasure of trekking the GR20, the infamous long-distance trail along the spine of the mountainous island of Corsica.
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I’m delighted to say that Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers, the thrilling diary of my very first 8,000m peak expedition to the Gasherbrums in Pakistan, is now available as an audiobook. It’s the fifth one that I’ve narrated and produced myself and I’m happy to say that they just get better and better.
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