His father, Frank Smythe — biography of a Himalayan legend

August 12, 2020 Reviews and tributes bill tilman, eric shipton, everest, frank smythe, george mallory, harriet tuckey, himalayas, history of mountaineering, howard somervell, kamet, kangchenjunga, mont blanc, mountain literature, tenzing norgay, thomas graham brown, tony smythe 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I wrote at length about Frank Smythe, the legendary British mountain explorer who was something of a celebrity in the 1930s when he became one of the first people to make a career of climbing,

The volcanoes of Colombia’s Los Nevados: the videos

August 5, 2020 Trip reports andes, colombia, jagged globe, los nevados, mountain films, nevado del ruiz, nevado del tolima, nevado santa isabel, trekking, volcanoes 2 Comments

It’s time for my very last set of videos, and those of you who like listening to the wind drowning out the sound of my voice are in for one final treat. Last Christmas and New Year, I journeyed to Colombia for a short trek in Los Nevados National Park.

What mountain summit has the world’s longest view?

July 29, 2020 Opinion and advice kilimanjaro, kunlun mountains, kyrgyzstan, mount kenya, pik dankova, tien shan mountains, tristan gooley 10 Comments

I’ve recently been reading The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs by the unusually named Tristan Gooley. It’s an excellent book that will cause you to look at nature in a different light (to paraphrase climbing writer Jim Perrin

My second audiobook — Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo, narrated by Philip Battley

July 22, 2020 My books and writing andes, audiobooks, chimborazo, cycling, ecuador, feet and wheels to chimborazo, mountain literature, north coast 500, philip battley, scotland, travel writing 0 Comment

More excitement ! I’m delighted to say that my book Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo is now available as an audiobook. Once again, I’ve been enormously privileged to work with highly experienced, professional stage and screen actor Philip Battley as my narrator.

What does Mount Everest look like from space?

July 15, 2020 Opinion and advice everest, george mallory, international space station, island peak, lhotse, mountain photography, mountains from space, nepal, nuptse, tibet 2 Comments

If you follow the Everest Today (@EverestToday) account on Twitter, you may be used to seeing the occasional photo of mountains taken from the International Space Station. Mountains look very different from above, and views from the International Space Station are not always recognisable. But this one of Everest is so distinctive that I had to annotate it and share it with you.

Is Kate Harris the new Dervla Murphy?

July 8, 2020 Reviews and tributes boardman tasker prize, central asia, cycling, dervla murphy, kate harris, mountain literature, tibet, travel writing 5 Comments

I can confidently say that Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris is my favourite of all the Boardman Tasker Prize winners that I’ve read. It reminded me of Dervla Murphy, but how similar is it? I read Dervla Murphy’s book Full Tilt to find out.

The sorrowful tale of Little Mo the moorhen chick

July 1, 2020 Good causes animal rescue, britain, edita, wildlife, wildlife photography

This post doesn’t have anything to do with mountains, so please forgive the indulgence, but it’s a salutary tale about interaction with nature that may interest you. It contains some useful lessons (for me, at least) and a few schoolboy errors that I expect will have some of you shaking your heads in despair.

Win a signed copy of The Baruntse Adventure

June 24, 2020 My books and writing baruntse, competitions, edmund hillary, mountain literature, old post, the baruntse adventure, travel diaries, travel writing 0 Comment

I am giving away a signed copy of my book The Baruntse Adventure to three lucky people who are willing to help me out by posting a review.

Llanganates, Tungurahua and unexplored Ecuador — the videos

June 17, 2020 Trip reports andes, cotopaxi, ecuador, fuya fuya, imbabura, llanganates mountains, mountain films, tungurahua, volcanoes 0 Comment

It’s time for my latest set of videos: Unexplored Ecuador. Last autumn Edita and I made our fourth trip to Ecuador, and decided to get a little off the beaten track by visiting some of the country’s lesser known volcanoes and mountain areas.

My very first audiobook — Seven Steps from Snowdon to Everest, narrated by Philip Battley

June 10, 2020 My books and writing audiobooks, everest, john d burns, kangchenjunga, mountain literature, philip battley, seven steps from snowdon to everest, travel writing 2 Comments

Exciting news! I’m delighted to say that my book Seven Steps from Snowdon to Everest is now available as an audiobook. I’ve been enormously privileged to work with a highly experienced, professional stage and screen actor as my narrator, and I would like to introduce you to him in this post.