Mark Horrell's Blog, page 3

Trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc, part 1: France to Italy

A few years ago I wrote a blog post called ‘What’s next’ in the hope that it would stop people asking the mountaineer’s most frequently asked question (spoiler: it’s all about the journey, not the destination).

It may have worked, because I don’t get asked that question so much any more (or perhaps they just think – with some justification – that I’m clearly past my peak). However, there’s another question I’m sometimes asked by people I haven’t seen for a while that’s equally difficult to answe...

Crazy cows on public footpaths: is it time to change the law?

One of the most dangerous things I have ever done as a trekker was cross a field of bullocks above the Atlantic coast near the village of Boscastle in Cornwall.

As the grandson of a farmer, I was brought up to think of cows as benevolent, peaceful animals who are always more scared of you than you are of them.

On that cold January afternoon, as the salt-sea air caressed my cheeks, I didn’t have time to reflect on whether this was true, but it probably wasn’t. As I walked briskly towards the stil...

A long-awaited history of Everest in the commercial era

Sherpa guides, porters, and high-altitude workers deserve a book in which they are heroes and not victims. Western Everest guides, meanwhile, deserve a book in which they are shown as well-intentioned but human, and not as villains.
Will Cockrell, acknowledgements for Everest, Inc.

A review of Everest, Inc. by Will Cockrell

In 1989 Walt Unsworth wrote what I have previously described as the Everest history to end all Everest histories. Starting with the British invasion of Tibet in 1904 led by...

Murder on Aconcagua? The mystery of John Cooper and Janet Johnson

Last week, a request from a researcher to use some of my photography from Aconcagua sent me on a treasure hunt into the bowels of the internet, where I uncovered a long-forgotten murder mystery set high on the slopes of South America’s highest mountain.

The researcher was trying to get footage of Aconcagua’s east side for a documentary about an expedition that took place in 1973. It didn’t take me long to work out that they must be referring to an American expedition to climb the mountain by the...

Why The Salt Path is one of the great books about long-distance hiking

I don’t often read Sunday Times bestsellers, but this year I read three in quick succession, all by the same author. There aren’t that many Sunday Times bestsellers about long-distance hiking, a relatively niche genre, but there is one that has struck a chord with so many people over the last five years that it has transcended its niche and broken into the mainstream. Friends and neighbours who I wouldn’t have suspected to be fans of travel writing have been recommending it. Edita liked it so mu...

Is this the world’s most expensive boat trip? Climbing the Mullardoch Munros

This is the second of two posts describing our visit to Glen Affric in north-west Scotland a couple of months ago, for a spot of Munro bagging. After climbing the eight Munros surrounding Glen Affric itself, described in my previous post, we turned our attention to a northern side valley, Glen Cannich, where we faced a truly epic hike.

We left the longest walk of the trip until the second week, when we hoped to be more mountain fit. Even so, when we stood on the summit of Toll Creagach and looke...

The world’s best introduction to the George Mallory Everest mystery

A review of Fallen by Mick Conefrey

If you’re wondering why the legendary mountaineer George Mallory seems to be getting a lot of media attention lately, it’s because it’s exactly 100 years since he went missing on Everest, thereby creating one of the most enduring mysteries in the history of exploration.

George Mallory was on his third expedition to Everest when, on 8 June 1924, he set off from Camp 6 on the North-East Ridge with fellow climber Sandy Irvine. Later that day Noel Odell, who was c...

Peaks and pine forests: exploring the Glen Affric Munros

There are quite a few Scottish glens (or valleys) that get described as the most beautiful in Scotland. Obviously, they can’t all be, but Glen Affric, which is one of the ones that sometimes has the superlative attached to it, is certainly up there among the best.

To be honest, I didn’t know that much about it before I started planning our May holiday earlier this year, apart from the fact that it has a clutch of Munros that – as a part-time Munro bagger – I knew that I had to climb some day.

Si...

Win a pair of exciting books that could change your life

Yes, indeed. I’m not joking, these books could change your life. They could be the little ripple that becomes a tidal wave that you ride across the bay to meet your date with destiny. Or, less dramatically but rather more likely, they could just end up being an enjoyable read. But that’s no bad thing either, especially for a freebie.

Earlier this year I reviewed Cicerone’s outstanding new cycling guide to the North Coast 500 (NC500), called – you guessed it – Cycling the North Coast 500. Well, C...

Trekking Ladakh’s Langtang and Chang valleys: the videos

It’s time for the third and final instalment of my critically acclaimed… I mean chronically derided Ladakh video diaries. As you prepare to have your ribs tickled, here’s a quick reminder of the story so far.

Back in August and September 2022, Edita and I embarked on our first (and still our only) Himalayan trek since the COVID pandemic, to Ladakh in northern India. Also known as Little Tibet, Ladakh is a desert region north of the Himalayan divide, comprising red granite peaks rising above 6,00...