grant rawlinson

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.

Today is the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. I expect there will be quite a few editorial pieces published today reflecting on how the mountain has changed in the intervening years. I expect most of them will lament the changes as a bad thing, but I’m going to adopt a slightly different stance in this post.

Perhaps I’ve only just noticed, but all of a sudden people have started using the term microadventure for things that used to be called walks. I used to laugh, but after my trip to the Mynydd Du hills last weekend, I’m going to stick my neck out and say that I have now become a microadventurer.

This time last year I was lying in a tent on the north side of Everest, listening to a deafening wind pound against the nylon beside my head. Every spring a few hundred people seek to share my experience by trying to climb Everest, and thanks to the miracle of modern communications, it’s possible to watch from the sidelines.

It would normally be considered the height of impertinence to photograph your tent mate when they’re sleeping, but I couldn’t resist posting this one of me flat out in my sleeping bag at Camp 3 taken by Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson

The story of the 2012 Altitude Junkies expedition to climb Everest by the North Ridge Sometimes you get lucky in life, and everything just seems to fall into place like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. These times are rare and

There’s nothing some journalists like more than a bit a death. It generates controversy, helps sell copy, and gives them an opportunity to drum up hatred against people who live more interesting lives than they do. And this year on

The waiting, the resting and the acclimatisation is over. Tomorrow we move up to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) to get ourselves in position for our summit push. Our exact schedule is not yet confirmed as there still remain a few

Yesterday afternoon Everest wore the biggest plume of cloud I’ve ever seen, extending the entire length of the Northeast Ridge and beyond. I don’t know what the mountain gods were doing up there, but it was obvious they didn’t want

After a week of rest and acclimatisation at Base Camp (5160m) tomorrow we leave for our first foray higher up the mountain, and will be gone for nearly two weeks. The plan is spend two days trekking up to Advanced

Introducing Grant Axe Rawlinson, the human-powered adventurer

Is it a bad thing the world is becoming more accessible?

The Mynydd Du microadventure

Following the Everesters

Sleeping like a masked baby

Everest 2012: Climbing and alcohol

5 media myths about Everest busted

The Everest weather window

The mountain gods are mellowing

First Everest rotation; puja to end all pujas