author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
With a drip feed of FIFA corruption allegations hitting the headlines, I’ve decided to use this week’s blog post to highlight a case of sporting integrity beyond the call of duty, and in doing so salute Italian mountaineers.
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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.
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I’ve recently finished reading Cho Oyu by Herbert Tichy, an account of the first ascent of Cho Oyu in 1954. The book is hard to get hold of, but it’s as good as Maurice Herzog’s Annapurna, regarded by many as one the best mountaineering books ever written.
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Mountains that are rich in history have a special attraction, but finding out about them isn’t always easy. Many of the stories about Mulanje in Malawi are as hazy as the legendary mists that sweep across its upper reaches.
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Frederick Cook was one of the most notorious con men in exploration history who tried to fake the first ascent of Denali. What makes his story so engaging is the way photographs have been used to shred his claim so convincingly.
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Since Jon Krakauer’s seminal disaster porn classic Into Thin Air came out in 1997 publishers have flocked to release books about mountaineering disasters, but every time I see a new book like this I can’t help wishing they had never been published. Why? For me there are two reasons.
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I’ve been pretty lucky with my adventures so far. Although they don’t always go according to plan I’ve never experienced a major disaster. I had a chance to reflect on this while I was sheltering in a mountain hut in Patagonia reading John Quillen’s account of his attempt on Broad Peak last year.
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The headline ‘Mallory’s body discovered on Everest in 1936’ appeared widely on social media sites last week. Had new revelations emerged about whether Mallory reached the summit of Everest? No, the real subject of the story wasn’t George Mallory at all, but arguably a much more interesting character.
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In 1924 the mountaineering legend George Mallory vanished into mist on Everest’s Northeast Ridge, never to be seen again. In 2009 and the bestselling novelist Jeffery Archer wrote a novel about it called Paths of Glory, but was it historically accurate? Let’s have a look.
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There has been a flurry of books about Everest published this year to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first ascent. This one stands out because it challenges many widely held beliefs and provides a very different perspective of the 1953 expedition than most other accounts.
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