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 and Nanga Parbat: a Shakespearean mountaineering tragedy
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.
Read moreThe kindness of strangers is helping a young Sherpa recover from frostbite
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.
Read moreIn Ladakh two men tackle climate change by making artificial glaciers
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.
Read moreIntroducing Grant Axe Rawlinson, the human-powered adventurer
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.
Read moreWhy a crowdfunded mountain rescue raised $200,000 in under a week
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.
Read moreHi Kickstarters, but this is wrong in so many ways
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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