A mountain of deceit: introducing Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism

May 28, 2014 Opinion and advice climbing fatalities, climbing permits, commercial mountaineering, everest, everest base camp, media sensationalism, mountain environment, mountain flights, nepal, sherpas, waste management 6 Comments

The government of Nepal made a number of announcements about mountaineering on Everest before and during the Spring 2014 season, which received widespread media attention. Here I examine some of the announcements and assess how successfully the government met their intentions.

Lhotse 2014: The world’s most expensive Everest Base Camp trek

May 22, 2014 Trip reports 8000m peaks, altitude junkies, climbing fatalities, commercial mountaineering, dorje sherpa, edita, everest, everest base camp, ian cartwright, lhotse, margaret watroba, media sensationalism, mountain flights, nepal, phil crampton, puja, russell brice, sherpas

The story of the Altitude Junkies 2014 Everest and Lhotse expedition. I was excited to be attempting 8516m Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world which stands across the South Col from Everest. Even if I didn’t reach the summit I would surely reach Camp 2 at least, as I had on every previous occasion.

The Everest avalanche: how did it happen?

May 17, 2014 Opinion and advice climbing fatalities, everest, mountain photography, nepal 0 Comment

After publishing yesterday’s eyewitness account of the 18 April avalanche on Everest I was contacted by one of my team mates, Mel Huang from China. Mel has been studying before and after photographs of the West Shoulder and Khumbu Icefall in order to analyse precisely what happened.

The mother of all avalanches: an eyewitness account

May 16, 2014 Reviews and tributes climbing fatalities, everest, everest base camp, george mallory, history of mountaineering, howard somervell, nepal, sherpas 8 Comments

At approximately 6.45am on Friday 18 April, 2014 I was walking with team mates through Everest Base Camp on the way to my first foray into the Khumbu Icefall. It was a climb I wasn’t to start, for at that moment a huge chunk of ice fell off Everest’s West Shoulder, triggering an avalanche which swept across the entire width of the Icefall.

A last desperate bid for Everest glory … by helicopter

May 14, 2014 Humour altitude junkies, edita, everest, kathmandu, lhotse, margaret watroba, mountain flights, nepal, phil crampton, russell brice, sherpas

It’s been a terribly unhappy 2014 Everest season for many reasons, so here’s something to cheer us all up. We all thought the season on the south side of the mountain finished two weeks ago, but reports in the Himalayan Times have fuelled speculation that the Southeast Ridge may yet be climbed this year.

Salvaging good from a disastrous season

May 9, 2014 Good causes climbing fatalities, everest, kathmandu, lhotse, mountain flights, nepal, sherpas, volunteering 1 Comment

One consequence of the Everest season ending early is that I’ve spent an unusually long time in Kathmandu catching up with things and contemplating a surreal season. I’ve even managed to salvage some good from three weeks of tragedy and conflict which have dashed hopes and dreams and trashed reputations.

The double Everest tragedy

April 27, 2014 Expedition dispatches altitude junkies, climbing fatalities, commercial mountaineering, dorje sherpa, everest, everest base camp, lhotse, nepal, phil crampton, sherpas 15 Comments

I’m back in Kathmandu again at the end of what has effectively been a very expensive Everest Base Camp trek. All expeditions have been cancelled, and there will not be a single summit from Everest’s south side this season. This

The Sherpa sacrifice

April 20, 2014 Expedition dispatches altitude junkies, climbing fatalities, dorje sherpa, everest, everest base camp, howard somervell, lhotse, media sensationalism, nanga parbat, nepal, phil crampton, sherpas 15 Comments

I don’t know whether this is going to post successfully, as we have been without meaningful internet communications since we arrived at Everest Base Camp over a week ago. I have wandered down to Gorak Shep in search of 3G

Namche Bazaar and the start of the Everest trail

April 5, 2014 Expedition dispatches dehydration, digi comms, edita, ian cartwright, lhotse, margaret watroba, mountain flights, namche bazaar, phil crampton, teahouse trekking 8 Comments

We’ve had a lazy rest day today in the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar. On a good day this is one of the most spectacularly situated villages anywhere in the world. It lies in a natural bowl on the hillside

A briefing at the Ministry

April 2, 2014 Expedition dispatches lhotse, media sensationalism, mountain environment, nepal, phil crampton 2 Comments

A new joke is doing the rounds in Kathmandu. How many Nepalese Ministry of Tourism officials does it take to change a light bulb? Two. One to change the bulb and the other to issue a press release to the