author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
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.
Read more
Today I’m going to tell you a moving story that I stumbled across while researching the mountains of Los Nevados after my trip to Colombia over the new year. It concerns a 13-year old girl called Omayra Sanchez whose plight came to worldwide attention following the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in 1985.
Read more
Los Nevados National Park in Colombia’s Cordillera Central mountain range has some similarities with the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy. It rises to just over 5,000m and it surrounded by páramo. But in one key respect it’s very different – volcanoes.
Read more
The story I’m about to tell might be total bollocks, but it’s a funny story, so I’m going to tell it anyway. It was told to us by one of our guides as we trekked through the páramo landscape of Colombia last month.
Read more
We crossed the glacier at the head of the valley in no time, aiming for a gap in the rock where the ice spilled down from a higher plateau. As we passed through this gap to the upper reaches of
Read more
Eight years ago I hiked the Cocuy Circuit trek in Colombia. To whet your appetite for this beautiful country, here are five videos covering all five days of the trek I completed in 2011. The smiles in these videos tell it all.
Read more
Eight years ago I travelled to Colombia and completed the Cocuy Circuit, one of the most beautiful treks I’ve ever had the pleasure of walking. I will be returning to Colombia over Christmas, this time to trek and climb the volcanoes of Los Nevados.
Read more
It made me very sad to hear about the last fatality on Manaslu this year before the weather closed in and the Himalayan climbing season ended for the winter. Eleven people had already died in a huge avalanche on the
Read more
I’m no climate change sceptic, and I’ve seen its effect on shrinking glaciers many times. While scientific evidence for climate change is clear, not everyone is convinced it’s happening. One of the most powerful methods being used to convince sceptics is photographs showing how much glaciers have changed over time. But photos aren’t always what they seem.
Read more
The photograph on the wall in the farmhouse at La Esperanza where we stayed the night had been taken 15 years ago, but it looked very different from the place we had walked through earlier in the day. I use
Read more