cho oyu

If at first you don’t succeed, go and lie on a beach next time and get yourself a nice sun tan … is not a phrase you hear many mountaineers saying. In fact, once bitten by the mountaineering bug your

It’s an old cliché that there’s nothing quite like reaching the summit of a mountain, but the feeling of elation when you return to base camp and the achievement begins to sink in can be just as satisfying in a

Well, I returned from my last trip to the Himalayas in November, and I’ve just got round to getting my travel diary from my expedition to Cho Oyu online, six months later. Does anyone care? Half the team who might

While every man and his dog were busy climbing Everest last year, including a 13 year old American boy, a few short miles away a handful of international teams were battling for their lives on Makalu, the world’s 5th highest

The story of Cho Oyu, autumn 2010 While we live in a society which offers us a huge amount of choice over what we do, for the bigger events the wheel of life more often than not turns in a

Mountaineering can be a frustrating business and exceptional weather conditions across the Karakoram and Himalayas has made this year one of the most frustrating in recent times for high altitude climbers, with a hugely reduced number of summits on all

There’s an old cliche in mountaineering, getting to the top is optional, but getting back down again is mandatory. There are climbers who ignore this simple axiom – and, indeed, there were some of them on Cho Oyu this year

It was all looking so good. We saw off half of our team after breakfast yesterday morning on their way up to Camp 1 on their summit push. The rest of us, who would be aiming for the summit from

We’re now enjoying our third day of rest at Base Camp. The good news is the heavy snow which has blighted pretty much every afternoon since we’ve been here has now cleared, and we’re looking at a long summit window.

Back at base camp again after three days on the mountain, including a night at Camp 2 (7100m), the highest I’ve ever slept. We started out for Camp 1 on Monday morning (20th). As usual the weather started clear, but

Spirit Mountain: my attempt on Manaslu

Would you sacrifice a digit for a summit?

The trials of keeping a travel diary

My friends on Makalu, Everest’s deadly neighbour

Cho Oyu 2010: Climbing high on steak and kidney pie

Baruntse post mortem: bad luck or bad decision-making?

Reflections on Cho Oyu

Hope fading on Cho Oyu

Rest and relaxation at Base Camp

Up to Camp 2 on Cho Oyu