Mark Horrell's Blog, page 16
March 24, 2020
Why the outdoor community should not ignore coronavirus restrictions
Im posting early this week, because this is an important message that can no longer be delayed. There are no jokes in this weeks blog post. Normal service will be resumed next week with more light-hearted banter to see us through difficult times, but please bear with me for now and take this message on board.
You may have seen a lot of posts like this over the last few days. Im not going to tell you anything that hasnt already been said; and Im not going to provide medical advice thats not...
March 18, 2020
Kangchenjunga Base Camps Trek: the videos
We live in strange and surreal times, with countries across Europe going into lockdown because of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. For most of us, travel plans are on hold for the foreseeable future. We have a duty to keep ourselves more isolated during the outbreak, to avoid spreading the virus to those more vulnerable than ourselves.
But we also have a duty to keep optimistic, cheerful and entertained, so that were still relatively sane when the hard times come to an end. We never stop...
March 11, 2020
Keep safe from coronavirus with namaste, the ‘Nepali handshake’
There is no shortage of advice at the moment from politicians and health officials about how to protect yourself from COVID-19, a.k.a. the coronavirus. Since many readers of this blog are regular travellers, Im going to chip in with some simple advice of my own that will be familiar to those of you who have trekked a lot in Nepal.
Easy things we can all do to help in this time of crisis include washing our hands regularly, not touching our eyes, nose or mouth if our hands are dirty,...
March 4, 2020
Introducing Wilderness Prime: a superb introduction to the Great Himalaya Trail
Edita was in Africa last week, so last weekend I had a day to myself. What better way to spend it than pulling up YouTube on the Smart TV and spending the evening watching porn… Mountain porn, that is – and I found an absolute gem.
There is a YouTube channel called Wilderness Prime, run by a British chap called Dave Brophy which at the time of writing has just 326 subscribers, but deserves to have far more.
Over the course of five months last year, Dave walked the entire length of the Great...
February 26, 2020
Much ado about yetis: Nepal’s latest tourism blunder
Visit Nepal 2020 got off to a flying start when 20 yeti statues that were commissioned for $4,500 a shot were removed by tourism officials because they didn’t look anything like yetis and were provoking too much controversy. But was this fair and does anyone know what a yeti looks like anyway?
In this week’s post, I investigate this important story that has rocked Nepal.
Yeti, meditating Buddha or sumo wrestler? No one’s really sure (Photo: Kamal Pariyar / BBC) Let’s start at the beginning –...
February 19, 2020
How the Duke of Cornwall stole a footpath and I rediscovered it
You may have heard recently that the Ramblers Association, the UK organisation for leisurely walking enthusiasts, has launched a campaign to reclaim some of Britain’s lost footpaths before legislation comes into effect that turns them permanently into private land. Citizens now have until 2026 to rediscover lost footpaths before they are gone for ever.
The campaign is accompanied by the launch of a clever app which I had some fun with last weekend. But before I come to that, some of you may...
February 12, 2020
BREAKING NEWS: False alarm as climber’s tracking device suggests he is trapped inside toilet tent
There were several hours of mayhem on Everest yesterday when the tracking device of German climber Jurgen Kobblers showed that he had strayed off route into dangerous territory. Rescue parties sprung into action and for a short period it looked like the climber might not survive, but in the end it turned out to be a false alarm.
Kobblers was attempting a new route solo on Everest’s East South Shoulder. He had reached a notorious section known as the Forward Quick Step when he got into a spot...
February 5, 2020
The true summit of Manaslu: a long-standing mystery solved
A few days ago, a reader sent me the following video of a man climbing up a steep bank of snow, reaching the top and seeing two summits beyond. The video was a bit of an eye-opener for me, and solved a mystery that has been bugging me for several years.
The video was of a Japanese climber reaching the summit of Manaslu in 2013, then crouching down on top while his teammate took his summit photo.
Except, he didn’t reach the actual summit. As you can clearly see in the video,...
January 29, 2020
The tragedy of Armero: the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz
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.
Nevado del Ruiz (5,325m) is an active volcano in Colombia’s Cordillera Central mountain range, and the highest mountain in Los Nevados National Park. At the time of my visit, it was sufficiently...
January 22, 2020
Los Nevados: exploring the volcanoes of Colombia’s Cordillera Central
Eight years ago I visited Colombia to trek the Cocuy Circuit in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy mountain range and climb its highest peak, 5,410m Ritacuba Blanco. It was one of the most beautiful, remote and unusual treks I have completed, but the climb was fairly ordinary. The Cocuy is a rock climber’s paradise, but as far as alpine climbing is concerned the glaciers are receding faster than my hairline, and the ascent was little more than a modest snow plod.
I hoped that one day I would return...
