The first man ever to have got on top

December 25, 2013 Humour camping, first ascents 2 Comments

Here’s some Christmas cheer for those of you who have been enjoying a plump turkey and a really good stuffing today. I tore the following page from the comic Viz when I was much younger than I am now, and it has been sitting quietly in a picture frame on my hallway wall for many years. I feel it’s time it received wider audience.

Why would anyone spend Christmas in Patagonia?

December 18, 2013 Expedition dispatches alberto maria de agostini, andes, argentina, cerro san lorenzo, chile, patagonia, south america, southern patagonian ice field, tierra del fuego, torres del paine, weather 0 Comment

There’s not really a good time of year to visit Chilean Patagonia. Quite a lot of wind circulates the globe at that latitude and slams into its mountains with full force, producing severe and prolonged storms and freezing temperatures. So why will I be returning there this Christmas for the first time in ten years?

The Eighth Summit: the highest mountain in Central America

December 11, 2013 My books and writing central america, doug mantle, guatemala, peak bagging, seven summits, trekking, volcan tajumulco, volcanoes 1 Comment

I thought my ascent of the highest mountain in Central America, an extinct 4220m volcano in Guatemala called Volcán Tajumulco, was going to be little more than a tick in the box, but that was far from being the case. Its summit was a real surprise, with a view as fine as any mountain I’ve climbed.

Frank Smythe is more interesting than George Mallory

December 4, 2013 History chris bonington, darjeeling, eric shipton, everest, frank smythe, garhwal, george mallory, gunther dyhrenfurth, himalayas, history of mountaineering, kamet, kangchenjunga, malaria, mountain literature, sandy irvine, tenzing norgay 14 Comments

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.

How not to do a mountaineering presentation

November 27, 2013 Reviews and tributes broad peak, cathy o'dowd, chogolisa, dhaulagiri, doug scott, first ascents, hermann buhl, himalayas, k2, kurt diemberger, ladakh, mick fowler, mountain talks, nanga parbat, robert schauer, royal geographical society, sandy allan, sherpas

Climbing has as much in common with public speaking as it does with hosting a dinner party. I’ve seen some great lectures by mountaineering legends over the years, but last week I attended a lecture that was about as slick as a mountaineer’s chin after two weeks in an ice cave.

Everest’s most extraordinary false summit claim

November 20, 2013 Humour aconcagua, alan arnette, argentina, augusto ortega, everest, everest base camp, false summit claims, ladakh, media sensationalism, nepal 14 Comments

Last week the world’s mainstream media were awash with stories about the world’s first dog to climb Mount Everest. It was a heart-warming tale about a cute little doggie who had been rescued from a garbage dump in India and went on to become a pioneering canine mountaineer. But how on earth could it be true?

George Mallory was murdered … by Jeffrey Archer

November 13, 2013 Reviews and tributes book reviews, everest, george finch, george mallory, historical fiction, history of mountaineering, mountain literature, sandy irvine, tibet

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.

Carpe diem – Cheesewring, Cornwall

November 6, 2013 Reviews and tributes britain, buddhism, cheesewring, climbing fatalities, hill walking, obituaries, rock climbing 5 Comments

There are many things death can teach you, but one of the most rewarding is to seize the day because life can change in an instant. If there’s something you always wanted to do then start making plans to do it, because otherwise it may pass you by.

The Epic of Everest – Captain John Noel’s film of the 1924 expedition

October 30, 2013 Reviews and tributes edward norton, everest, george mallory, history of mountaineering, john noel, mountain films, mountain photography, sandy irvine, sherpas, tibet 2 Comments

If I had one word to describe The Epic of Everest, John Noel’s historic record of the 1924 expedition, which has recently been restored, then it would be atmospheric. If I had a second one then it would be weird, but then I’m not that familiar with 1920s silent movies and I expect they were all like this back then.

The first winter ascent of Broad Peak – a tribute

October 25, 2013 Reviews and tributes 8000m peaks, broad peak, climbing fatalities, first ascents, karakoram, krzysztof wielicki, mountain films, pakistan 5 Comments

Poland has produced some of the world’s toughest and bravest mountaineers, none more so than Krzysztof Wielicki, who earlier this year led a team of his fellow countrymen to attempt the first winter ascent of Broad Peak in Pakistan. A gripping film about the climb has recently been published on Vimeo.

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