On International Mountain Day last month, I watched the documentary film Mountain – an hour and a half of sheer, unadulterated mountain porn. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves mountains.
Read moreMountain, The Movie: pornography for outdoor folk
Reviews and tributes
An evening with Mick and Vic, British climbing’s answer to Vic and Bob
Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders are two legends of the Himalayan mountaineering scene who climbed together in the 80s and completed several first ascents. They went their separate ways for 29 years, but reunited for a climb last year. I attended their very first lecture together.
Read moreThe best guidebook to Nepal is now available as a paperback
Back in May I reviewed a new guidebook to Nepal, written by the man behind The Longest Way Home website. Then it was only available as a PDF, but it’s now been published as a paperback by Nepali publisher, Himalayan Travel Guides.
Read moreAn evening with Kenton Cool … Aha!
Kenton Cool is one of Britain’s best-known high-altitude mountaineers. He has a record number of British ascents of Everest, and has made a number of notable first ascents in the Himalayas and Alaska. But for some reason, he reminds me of Alan Partridge
Read moreMove over Lonely Planet — here are the best travel guidebooks to Nepal
I’ve mentioned a couple of times how I’m a keen follower of The Longest Way Home blog, written by UK-born travel writer David Ways. He’s also been writing a series of guidebooks to Nepal, and while I was there in March I took the opportunity to try one of them out.
Read moreWhat Ueli Steck meant to ordinary people like me
The word inspirational has been used a lot in tributes to Ueli Steck, who died last weekend. Ueli did things which no ordinary person could do, but there was something about him that appealed to people both inside and outside the climbing community. Here’s what he meant to me.
Read moreIntroducing Grant Axe Rawlinson, the human-powered adventurer
My old Everest tent mate Grant Axe Rawlinson specialises in a form of travel he calls human-powered adventure – carrying out long personal challenges without resorting to motorised transport. I’ve been reading his book and following his latest challenge.
Read moreBook review: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
One of the best books about mountaineering ever written, and certainly one of the funniest, was written by a complete novice, who had never climbed in his life when he decided to tackle a remote peak in Afghanistan that had never been climbed before.
Read moreNawang Gombu: Heart of a Tiger
When I watched the documentary Nawang Gombu: The Heart of a Tiger last weekend, it had only been watched 151 times before me. This is ridiculous. It has some flaws, but it deserves to be watched more widely because of its subject matter.
Read moreThe Ascent of Rum Doodle vs. The Ascent of Nanda Devi — how similar are they?
Two of the best mountaineering books ever written were designed to be read side by side, but I wonder if anyone has. I set myself the challenge of reading alternate chapters of The Ascent of Nanda Devi by H.W. Tilman and The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman.
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