author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
If you did a double take when you read this headline then that’s OK: so did I. I can’t quite believe it, but today I’ve reached an important milestone. When I first started this blog in August 2010, I had no idea where it would go.
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In 2019, the mountaineering film maker Renan Ozturk and climbing writer Mark Synnott led an expedition to the north side of Everest to look for the body of Sandy Irvine. They didn’t find him, but they brought back a sumptuous feast of photography.
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Inspired by a trip to the Atlas Mountains in 1962, Doug Scott obtained £400 of sponsorship from the Mount Everest Foundation for a trip to the Tibesti Mountains in 1964. He bought three army lorries and set off across the Sahara Desert to Chad.
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In today’s post I’m going to show you the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen (at least on this blog). If you’ve been following my series of posts about the Cuillin Ridge, you will know that it’s not a place to venture without a rope — or with a bike.
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In 1953, Jan Morris was the Times correspondent entrusted with sending the exclusive news that Everest had been climbed for the very first time. With rival journalists snooping around the Everest region, she decided to invent a secret code.
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We were facing a full day out in the Black Cuillin under sunny skies. Yes, that’s right. Beautiful sunshine in the Black Cuillin of Skye. I can’t believe I’m saying that. After two satisfying days on the ridge and another one to come, things were turning out well.
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If, like me, you’re trying to wean yourself off Amazon, then in this week’s post I’d like to tell you about a brand new website that many people (including me) are hoping will be a game-changer.
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I had injured my leg and didn’t know if I had time to recover for the next day of scrambling. What should I do: an easy walk to test it out, or a long day out I’d been looking forward to for a long time? Luckily, our guide Dave had a cunning plan.
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A case is currently passing through the US legal system that may have immediate implications for Everest expedition operators, and wider implications for guided mountaineering in general. Here’s my take on it.
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In last week’s post, I explained how we had hired a mountain guide to do Skye’s infamous Cuillin traverse, over 11 Munros with many technical sections. I had injured my knee backpacking the previous week, but I was determined to give it a try. Would I cope?
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