Mark Horrell's Blog, page 18

10 great books about mountains that have nothing to do with climbing

The shortlist for this year’s Boardman Tasker Prize was announced this month, and once again five out of six books on the shortlist are about climbing. You can be certain that the winner will be one of the five.

This is not surprising for a prize in memory of two climbing greats, but it’s disappointing for an award whose aim is to ‘promote literature by providing an annual award to authors of literary works, the central theme of which is concerned with the mountain environment’ (a sentence th...

What the North Coast 500 has in common with Everest

While I was travelling in Scotland last May I was interested to read an article in the Guardian about the North Coast 500, a vehicle route that has become one of Scotland’s most popular tourist destinations.

The North Coast 500 is a 516-mile road trip that loosely follows the coastline around the far north-west of Scotland. It was invented by the North Highland Initiative (NHI), an organisation set up by Prince Charles as a way of boosting tourism in the Scottish Highlands. The North Coast 50...

An ascent of Aukštojas Hill, the highest mountain in Lithuania

Since 2015, Edita has been gradually ticking off the highest peaks in the UK. First it was Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales; then Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England; and then in May, Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland and the whole of the UK.

It was high time she introduced me to the highest mountain in her own country, Lithuania. It’s a peak that you may not have heard of. Given that Lithuania is a country of 2.8 million people living in an area four-fifths the size...

What was the highest mountain in the world before Everest was discovered?

Yes, I know that a number of pedants will read the title of this blog post and mutter under their breaths with a shrug of indignation:

‘What was the highest mountain in the world before Everest was discovered? Why, Everest of course. It was still the highest mountain in the world, even if nobody who knew of its existence knew how high it was.’

But for every 50 pedants who read this blog (yes, I’m afraid the ratio will be that high) there will be at least one metaphysician who will answer:

‘If...

The Ring of Steall: a Scottish hill walking classic

As Edita and I scrambled along the Carn Mor Dearg (CMD) Arête in May, on our way up Ben Nevis by its most interesting walking route, we looked south across Glen Nevis into a hidden sanctuary of verdant pasture. Nestling high above the valley was a not-so-secret corrie encircled by mountains. Although we couldn’t see it much of it from where we stood, this corrie had a single outlet which channelled its rainfall over a steep northern wall, where it formed a mighty waterfall.

The Ring of Steall...

The only video on YouTube of the whole Antisana climb

In September 2017, Edita and I were sitting in the dining room of Refugio Carrel, Ecuador, the evening before our second Chimborazo climb. Our guide Romel introduced us to another guide, a cheerful character with big glasses. As we shook hands it occurred to me that he looked familiar.

‘Haven’t we climbed together before?’ I said.

He didn’t hesitate.

‘Of course, Antisana 2009. I remember your video. It’s the only video on YouTube of the whole Antisana climb.’

His name was Ramiro, and he was o...

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

Please forgive the indulgence, but in this week’s post I would like to spend a few minutes remembering a mountaineering friend of mine who passed away last month. He is not someone you will have heard of, nor anyone especially accomplished in the mountains, but I believe that it’s important to remember such people just as much as those who are considered more exceptional – for these are the people most like ourselves.

In 2007 I quit my job and joined an expedition to Tibet that was to change...

My journey along the Great Glen Way on a mountain bike

I know that a few keen cyclists read this blog, so it’s time for another one of those posts that will have you all gently shaking your heads in disbelief.

A couple of months ago, I went mountain biking for the very first time. For those of you who prefer more mundane activities, mountain biking is to cycling what shopping in Aldi is to buying your groceries. In other words, depending on whether you enjoy the activity in question, it either makes it a more exciting experience, or more difficul...

Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo is OUT NOW, but why did it take so long?

Those of you who have been kind enough to pre-order Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo hopefully saw it appear on your devices sometime last week.

It was the first week of August 2017 that Edita and I set off from Inverness on pushbikes for our warm up lap around the North Coast 500. This means that the entire project, from push off to launch has taken less than two years. I still have a little more work to do to release the paperback edition, but that shouldn’t be too long now either.

Here it is,...

An interview with … Mark Horrell (and why not)

Last month I broke the habit of a lifetime and gave an interview to the mainstream media about Everest. Now I can’t claim to be fighting off interviews with a sawn-off oxygen cylinder, but I do get a handful every year. I always say no. It’s a habit that started after the 2014 season, when journalists were competing to write the most insulting pieces they could about Everest climbers. The nadir was this shocker by Tanya Gold, which was so radioactive that they will be rebuilding hospitals in...