In memoriam: Jeremy “Bunter” Anson, who put Twixes on the Himalayan map

July 31, 2019 Reviews and tributes bunter anson, everest, gasherbrum, ian cartwright, jagged globe, manaslu, mark dickson, obituaries 2 Comments

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.

An introduction to ExplorersWeb, the adventurers’ website on a new journey

October 17, 2018 Good causes exploration, explorersweb, gasherbrum, interviews, phil crampton, rowan white 1 Comment

ExplorersWeb has been one of the leading sources of news about adventurous expeditions for many years now. But as they say in the pub trade, it’s now under new management. This means that some important changes are taking place. There is a new team of editors and a new design, but this is just the start.

Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers is now available as a paperback

May 20, 2017 My books and writing 8000m peaks, amazon, gasherbrum, karakoram, mountain literature, pakistan, thieves liars and mountaineers, travel diaries, travel writing 0 Comment

A quick book update. I’m in the process of publishing revised editions of the Footsteps on the Mountain Travel Diaries, and making them available as paperbacks for the first time ever. Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers is now available in paperback form.

What Ueli Steck meant to ordinary people like me

May 3, 2017 Reviews and tributes 8000m peaks, alpinism, annapurna, chris bonington, eiger, everest, gasherbrum, obituaries, royal geographical society, ueli steck 9 Comments

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.

Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers has been fully revised in digital format

April 15, 2017 My books and writing 8000m peaks, amazon, gasherbrum, karakoram, mountain literature, pakistan, thieves liars and mountaineers, travel diaries, travel writing 0 Comment

A quick book update. I’m in the process of publishing revised editions of the Footsteps on the Mountain Travel Diaries. The revised digital version of Thieves, Liars and Mountaineers is available now at a bargain price from the main online bookstores.

My 5 most epic mountain days

January 13, 2016 Humour alaska, andes, chimborazo, denali, ecuador, everest, gasherbrum, himalayas, karakoram, manaslu, nepal, pakistan, tibet, united states 5 Comments

Have you ever been so exhausted on a mountain that you wish you could crawl back down? I’ve been there and written a book about it. But which mountains provided the hardest physical challenge? Here are my top five.

To climb or not to climb? Those last 50 metres

July 1, 2015 Opinion and advice aconcagua, andy henderson, augusto ortega, commercial mountaineering, edward fitzgerald, everest, gasherbrum, history of mountaineering, martin conway, mick burke, seven summits 1 Comment

When you’ve put so much time, money and physical commitment into a climb, it’s never easy to turn around just fifty metres from the top. Here are some stories from Aconcagua which help to shed light on when that decision should be made.

Everest 2014-15: A personal tale of two tragedies

June 3, 2015 Opinion and advice climbing fatalities, edita, everest, everest base camp, facebook, gasherbrum, history of mountaineering, media sensationalism, nepal, nepal earthquake, sherpas 2 Comments

Last year I was on my way into the Khumbu Icefall on Everest, and watched in horror as a huge avalanche took the lives of sixteen Sherpas. This year I watched from a distance as an earthquake put that event into perspective. Here is my personal account of witnessing both tragedies.

Creative peak bagging is the way forward

January 21, 2015 Opinion and advice 8000m peaks, africa, cholatse, edita, everest, gasherbrum, kilimanjaro, lhotse, mafinga hills, malawi, morocco, mulanje, nepal, ouanoukrim, peak bagging, peru, safari, seven summits, toubkal, trekking, zambia 5 Comments

Last year was an unusual one for me. There were few real plans, and my travels ended up evolving out of necessity and opportunity, but I kind of liked it that way and I believe a combination of loose planning and going with the flow is the way forward in travel.

Ueli Steck’s guide to the 8000m peaks

January 29, 2014 Reviews and tributes 8000m peaks, annapurna, climbing fatalities, eiger, erhard loretan, everest, first ascents, gasherbrum, makalu, mountain talks, royal geographical society, shishapangma, ueli steck 8 Comments

A short while ago I attended a lecture by the Swiss climber Ueli Steck, known affectionately as the Swiss Machine, and later wrote about how ridiculous his mountaineering career has been. Last week I went to see him again after he had done something even more ridiculous.

← Previous