Mark Horrell's Blog, page 45

Legends of Mulanje, Africa’s misty mountain

Mountains that are rich in history have a special attraction, but finding out about them isn't always easy. Many of the stories about Mulanje in Malawi are as hazy as the legendary mists that sweep across its upper reaches. Continue reading →

Climbing Sapitwa Peak, Mulanje, the highest peak in Malawi

Not only does the Mulanje Massif in southern Malawi contain some of the loveliest trekking you will find anywhere, but to climb its highest point, 3002m Sapitwa Peak, involves a very unusual scramble indeed. Here's my account of our ascent. Continue reading →

Mafinga South and Mafinga Central: the highest peaks in Zambia

A couple of weeks ago I reported from Africa on my mission to find, measure, ascend and name the highest point in Zambia, and how identifying which peak to climb wasn't as straightforward as you might think. This is the story of our quest. Continue reading →

Climbing Kilimanjaro: a taster from my forthcoming book

I promised to provide an update on where I'm at with the book I've been threatening to publish about my journey from lowly hill walker to Everest summiteer. Here it is, along with a short teaser from the book in the hope that you might be tempted to buy it when it comes out. Continue reading →

Finding the highest points in Zambia and Malawi

You would think in this age of satellite mapping and websites like Google Earth the highest point in every country has been calculated by a machine, and you can just look it up somewhere. This isn't the case, as I discovered when I tried to find the highest peak in Zambia. Continue reading →

5 of the silliest mountain firsts

With the news that a man climbed Snowdon pushing a brussels sprout with his nose, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at what other silly things have been done on mountains. So here are some of the world's more improbable first ascents. Continue reading →

How photographs revealed Frederick Cook’s Denali hoax

Frederick Cook was one of the most notorious con men in exploration history who tried to fake the first ascent of Denali. What makes his story so engaging is the way photographs have been used to shred his claim so convincingly Continue reading →

Why a highway to Everest is long overdue

If you're planning on visiting Everest's Khumbu region on a prearranged itinerary these days then there's a high probability of your plans going tits up. But things look about to change with plans to build a road all the way to Lukla, the Khumbu's gateway village. Continue reading →

My new e-book Denali Nights out now

I don't often plug my own stuff here on the blog, but I thought I would let you know that my latest travel diary Denali Nights was published as an e-book on Amazon and Smashwords last week, and will be available on other online retailers over the coming weeks. Continue reading →

Looking back on Everest as the dust settles

Now that we're beginning to understand what happened on Everest this year a little better, more recent articles on the subject seem to be more moderate in their approach. I thought it would be a good time to examine some of the things I've read more recently. Continue reading →