Chris Bonington and the first ascent of Kongur Tagh

July 30, 2025 History alan rouse, china, chris bonington, eric shipton, first ascents, joe tasker, kongur tagh, michael ward, muztag ata, pamirs, pete boardman 4 Comments

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.

Did George Mallory climb Everest in 1924? I asked ChatGPT for an answer

December 14, 2022 Humour chatgpt, china, chu yin-hua, everest, first ascents, george mallory, history of mountaineering, interviews, noel odell, sandy irvine, tibet, wang fu-chou 6 Comments

There’s been a lot of hype about the new chatbot ChatGPT. If it can impersonate a real person, then it occurred to me that I could interview George Mallory and find out if he actually reached the summit of Everest in 1924. So I did, and here’s what happened.

Why did a Chinese team climb Everest during the coronavirus pandemic?

June 3, 2020 Opinion and advice china, everest, global health, nepal, records, tibet, yarla shampo expeditions 8 Comments

Last week a team of Chinese surveyors climbed Everest and were among only a handful of people to climb it during the coronavirus pandemic. But aren’t we all supposed to be in lockdown? Not all of us, it turns out. I will try to explain.

A fascinating journey across Tibet

March 25, 2015 Reviews and tributes alexandra david-neel, book reviews, buddhism, china, eiger, exploration, gabriel bonvalot, historical fiction, lhasa, mountain literature, tibet 2 Comments

The more I learn about Tibet, the less I understand. I’ve travelled there three times on expeditions and found it a weird and fascinating place. I was keen to read Race to Tibet, a new historical novel by indie author Sophie Schiller.

Did Chinese climbers reach the summit of Everest in 1960?

March 6, 2013 History bottled oxygen, china, chris bonington, chu yin-hua, dougal haston, everest, false summit claims, first ascents, history of mountaineering, jim whittaker, pete boardman, tibet, tom hornbein, wang fu-chou, willi unsoeld

There has been a lot of gushing editorial written recently to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first American ascent of Everest in 1963. I could write a bit more about the expedition here, but I wouldn’t be adding anything to what’s already out there. Instead I’m going to talk about another expedition which took place on Everest’s north side three years earlier.