The 8 best books about Everest written in the English language

February 21, 2024 Reviews and tributes everest, james ramsey ullman, jan morris, mick conefrey, mountain literature, peter gillman, tenzing norgay, tom hornbein, wade davis, walt unsworth 19 Comments

You may be wondering why I’ve never written this blog post before. Now is as good a time as any. The universe of Everest literature is forever expanding and it’s not possible to reach its end. However, I’ve now travelled far enough to be confident of these eight books’ place in the celestial Everest pantheon.

My latest audiobook: The Everest Politics Show — an eyewitness account of the 2014 Everest tragedy

February 7, 2024 My books and writing 8000m peaks, audiobooks, everest, lhotse, mountain literature, nepal, sherpas, the everest politics show, travel diaries, travel writing 2 Comments

I’m happy to say that the next instalment of my diaries, The Everest Politics Show, is now available on Audible, Amazon and Apple Books, and will be available on other outlets such as Spotify very soon.

7 mountain weather phenomena: a quick intro, courtesy of Tristan Gooley

January 17, 2024 Opinion and advice mountain literature, nature writing, tristan gooley, weather forecasts 3 Comments

While wandering around the nature section of the Highland Bookshop in Fort William last month, my eyes chanced upon the title The Secret World of Weather by Tristan Gooley. It seemed an apt choice for reading by the fireside in a cosy cottage as the driving rain hammered on the windows.

Christmas in Glen Coe II: The Revenge of the Rainstorms

January 3, 2024 Trip reports britain, buachaille etive beag, corbetts, glen coe, hill walking, munros, scotland 0 Comment

Another Christmas, and another cottage in Scotland for a week. What would the weather hold in store for us this year, and would we get up any mountains? The forecast wasn’t promising, but one good day in the hills could make it all worthwhile.

I asked Microsoft Copilot to give me a route description for Corsica’s GR20…

December 20, 2023 Humour chatgpt, corsica, france, gr20, guidebooks, long-distance trails 2 Comments

You wouldn’t believe what happened next! It’s that time of year again, when I delve into the wonders of modern technology and ask AI (that’s artificial intelligence, not insemination) to help make sense of the world’s great mountain questions.

The Spasimata Slabs: the day I nearly died on Corsica’s GR20

December 6, 2023 Trip reports cicerone guides, corsica, corsica aventure, france, gr20, long-distance trails, self-guided walking, via ferrata 2 Comments

The weather had been good for the best part of two weeks, but the rain gods were preparing for the last dance. We were about to cross the Spasimata Slabs, the most dangerously exposed section of the trek, and we were going to cross them at the worst possible time.

A surfeit of scrambling: walking Corsica’s GR20 North

November 22, 2023 Trip reports corsica, corsica aventure, france, gr20, long-distance trails, self-guided walking 1 Comment

When I signed off the last post, I was enjoying a delicious pork rosti and a pichet of vin rosé at a palatial hotel tucked away in the forests of Corsica. How on earth did I prise myself away from that luxurious setting and get on with the hardest section of the GR20?

The most shocking first page in mountaineering literature

November 8, 2023 Opinion and advice 8000m peaks, annapurna, arlene blum, first ascents, history of mountaineering, mountain literature, nepal, sherpas, vanessa o'brien 9 Comments

I’ve lost count of the expedition accounts where the hardest route to the top is the only one worth considering, or where stronger climbers are cast as heroes and weaker ones clowns. All of these accounts were written by men, so it’s always refreshing to read a woman’s perspective.

Rosé, ridges and laricio pines: walking Corsica’s GR20 South

October 25, 2023 Trip reports cicerone guides, corsica, corsica aventure, france, gr20, long-distance trails, self-guided walking, the natural adventure 2 Comments

I’ve known about the GR20 for over 20 years, but it slipped to the back of my mind as I focused on peak bagging in the greater ranges. I sensed that long-distance hiking in Europe was something I would enjoy later in life. I guessed I must have reached that stage now.

Bookman Plaster Award announces new rules for mountaineering books following recent controversies

September 27, 2023 Humour book awards, climbing records, conrad bartelski, false summit claims, first ascents, mountain literature 14 Comments

The trustees of the world’s most prestigious mountain book award have announced updated rules for entries following new research alleging that hundreds of historical mountaineering books have been published without reaching the true end of the story.