author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
The shortlist for this year’s Boardman Tasker Prize was announced this month, and once again five out of six books on the shortlist are about climbing. You can be certain that the winner will be one of the five. [*]
Read more
I would like to pay tribute a mountaineering friend of mine who passed away last month. He is not someone you will have heard of, but I believe that it’s important to remember such people, for they are the ones most like ourselves.
Read more
Nepal has brought many wonderful memories, but it is also a place that reminds me of the fragile nature of life. This was brought home last month when I was saddened to learn of the early death of Michelle Pradhan of the Courtyard Hotel, Kathmandu.
Read more
Maiella is a high tableland on the eastern side of the Apennines in central Italy. Recently I read a book about it that brought back a few memories. I made three visits there with Edita to climb Monte Amaro and its surrounding peaks from various directions.
Read more
I don’t often go to the movies, and last time I did the film started with a crazy man standing alone on a wall up a sheer cliff face. There was a feeling of déjà vu when I went to a local cinema again a couple of weekends ago.
Read more
One of the things about writing an outdoor blog is that people sometimes ask to send me free stuff. I’m very bad at receiving presents and don’t want to encourage it, but today I’m going to make an exception.
Read more
The Korean Kim Chang-bo is one of only a handful of climbers to have climbed all of the world’s 8,000m peaks. His ascent of Everest is one of the more unusual ones. But his extraordinary life has been overshadowed by the mystery of his death earlier this month.
Read more
While I was in Kathmandu last month, I learned that Chongba Sherpa passed away last year after a short battle with cancer. He climbed with me on Manaslu in 2011 and Everest in 2012, and we stood on both summits together. He climbed Everest a remarkable 14 times.
Read more
It’s not often I’ve sat through a whole silent movie that doesn’t feature slapstick comedy and a honky-tonk piano playing in the background, but in this case I made an exception. It’s archive footage of the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition.
Read more
A couple of weekends ago, I did something I’ve been meaning to do for a while: install the Himalayan Database on my computer and play around with it. The Himalayan Database is a comprehensive record of expeditions to peaks in Nepal, based on the archives of Elizabeth Hawley.
Read more