author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
The Himalayan Times reported last week that Sherpas who climbed Everest this year will not be receiving summit certificates. Whyever not? Once again I try to shed some light on the bizarre workings of Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
The story of my ten-year journey from hill walker to Everest climber is out now in paperback. But why should you give a toss? Here are five reasons to buy the paperback.
Read more
I love the open geography of Ecuador’s central highlands, a high-altitude landscape of free-standing volcanoes. Six years ago I went there and climbed five of them. This Christmas I will be making a long overdue return visit.
Read more
The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has recently lost a significant part of its annual income. In this week’s post I look at the NMA’s work to see what programmes will be affected and what this change is likely to mean for mountain tourism in Nepal.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more