author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
There was another big controversy on Manaslu this year. It was widely reported that record numbers reached the summit, but it now appears that a problem with the rope fixing meant that the majority didn’t reach the main summit at all, but one of the two foresummits.
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Cho Oyu is generally considered the most achievable 8000m peak for amateurs to climb. Despite this, even the best mountaineers have had difficulties climbing it, and two of the early expeditions there experienced contrasting fortunes.
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Andrew Lock was the first Australian to climb all fourteen 8000m peaks. I agree with Sir Chris Bonington: his book is honest, gritty and riveting. It’s also refreshing and humorous in places, and well worth a read if you can get your hands on a copy.
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In 1950 a French team led by Maurice Herzog made the first ever ascent of an 8000m peak when they climbed 8091m Annapurna, during one of the first mountaineering expeditions to Nepal. It’s possible to view their ascent in one of two ways.
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I’ve spent a disproportionate amount of time in the last couple of years blogging bad news from the Himalayas and Karakoram. It’s only fair I help to restore the balance by reporting on a mountaineering story with a happy ending.
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The early history of the 8000m peaks has traditionally been seen as a competition between Europeans and Americans to become the first nation to climb one, but the Sherpa contribution should never be forgotten.
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The fourteen peaks over 8000 metres have enjoyed a special status throughout the 20th century and were subject to many races to climb them. In the first of a short series of posts about their early history I introduce three memorable characters.
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K2’s history has been covered in depth in a number of well-known books, so why another one? The reason I wanted to read this one was because I very much enjoyed reading Mick Conefrey’s other mountaineering history about the 1953 Everest expedition.
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It’s time once again to pay tribute to a friend who has sadly lost his life in the mountains. Last week Samuli Mansikka stood on the summit of Annapurna, his tenth 8000m peak, but he did not return.
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I’ve recently finished reading Cho Oyu by Herbert Tichy, an account of the first ascent of Cho Oyu in 1954. The book is hard to get hold of, but it’s as good as Maurice Herzog’s Annapurna, regarded by many as one the best mountaineering books ever written.
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