Essential Skye reading: The Black Ridge by Simon Ingram

Essential Skye reading: The Black Ridge by Simon Ingram

I’m only just starting to delve into the literature of the Black Cuillin, but I’ll be surprised if I come across a better book than this one. Erudite and poetic, yet marvellously accessible in places, this is simply a great book by a great writer.

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

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

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.

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His father, Frank Smythe – biography of a Himalayan legend

His father, Frank Smythe – biography of a Himalayan legend

It’s been a while since I wrote at length about Frank Smythe, the legendary British mountain explorer who was something of a celebrity in the 1930s when he became one of the first people to make a career of climbing,

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Is The Last Great Mountain by Mick Conefrey the last great book about Kangchenjunga?

Is The Last Great Mountain by Mick Conefrey the last great book about Kangchenjunga?

It’s not clear why Kangchenjunga should be considered the last great mountain, but whatever: this book is a comprehensive history of all expeditions up to its first ascent in 1955. I learned a lot from it, and I can thoroughly recommend it, however well acquainted you are with Kangchenjunga’s history.

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Humboldt and Boussingault on Chimborazo: how high did they climb?

Humboldt and Boussingault on Chimborazo: how high did they climb?

How high Humboldt and Boussingault climbed on Chimborazo has been the subject of much debate. When Edward Whymper made the first ascent in 1880, he was baffled by their descriptions of the climb. So what happened, and how high did they really get?

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