author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has just launched a new appeal, Mend Our Mountains, with the ambitious target of raising £1 million to repair footpaths in UK mountain areas. Here’s why I’m happy to dip my hand in my pocket for this worthwhile cause.
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Tomek Mackiewicz’s death on Nanga Parbat carries a number of characteristics of a Shakespearean tragedy. It has a tragic hero with a tragic flaw that will ultimately lead to his downfall. It involves a tragic waste, an external conflict, and even a catharsis.
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Earlier this week a fundraising appeal for Sange, a 19-year-old Sherpa who suffered severe frostbite on Everest this year, reached its ambitious target of $42,000.
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Today I’m going to tell you a story so bizarre that when I first read about it, I thought it must be fake news. But it’s true, and it’s a tale worth telling. It shows how individuals and communities can react to climate change in a way that works in harmony with nature.
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My old Everest tent mate Grant Axe Rawlinson specialises in a form of travel he calls human-powered adventure – carrying out long personal challenges without resorting to motorised transport. I’ve been reading his book and following his latest challenge.
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When I first became aware of a crowdfunded appeal to search for two climbers who had been missing for days on a remote peak in Pakistan, my immediate impression was that it was both desperate and futile. Not everyone saw it that way, and what happened next was remarkable.
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I don’t know too much about the organisation Kickstarter, so I hesitate to be too critical about them, but this morning an item appeared in my Twitter feed about a campaign of theirs which appeared to be taking bad taste
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