Mark Horrell's Blog, page 46

Getting married is the peak of hubris

With vicars treated like lapdogs by cretinous narcissists, a crisis in church matrimony was inevitable. This week on the Footsteps of the Mountain blog we welcome Tony Gould as our special guest blogger, who will be talking knowledgeably about one of his favourite topics, marriage and road traffic accidents. Continue reading →

Leo Houlding does his bit for the Sherpas

Last week one of Britain's top rock climbers did a lecture at the RGS in London. Rock climbing isn't generally my thing, but this talk had an Everest theme, and one of its aims was to raise money for the families of the Sherpas who died in the 18 April avalanche. Continue reading →

A funny name for a mountain

There have been some strange names given to mountains over the years, often for very obscure reasons. Recently the Nepal Mountaineering Association has been applying more modern names, and has just given two peaks onomatopoeic titles that resemble the sound of somebody throwing up.

The Everest Base Camp summit meeting: an eyewitness account

In April government officials flew into Everest Base Camp to meet with Sherpas who had issued demands after a fatal avalanche. Afterwards they issued a press release about the meeting that was misleading in a number of ways. Here is my account of the events I witnessed that day. Continue reading →

A mountain of deceit: introducing Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism

The government of Nepal made a number of announcements about mountaineering on Everest before and during the Spring 2014 season, which received widespread media attention. Here I examine some of the announcements and assess how successfully the government met their intentions. Continue reading →

Lhotse 2014: The world’s most expensive Everest Base Camp trek

The story of the Altitude Junkies 2014 Everest and Lhotse expedition. I was excited to be attempting 8516m Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world which stands across the South Col from Everest. Even if I didn't reach the summit I would surely reach Camp 2 at least, as I had on every previous occasion. Continue reading →

The Everest avalanche: how did it happen?

After publishing yesterday's eyewitness account of the 18 April avalanche on Everest I was contacted by one of my team mates, Mel Huang from China. Mel has been studying before and after photographs of the West Shoulder and Khumbu Icefall in order to analyse precisely what happened. Continue reading →

The mother of all avalanches: an eyewitness account

At approximately 6.45am on Friday 18 April, 2014 I was walking with team mates through Everest Base Camp on the way to my first foray into the Khumbu Icefall. It was a climb I wasn't to start, for at that moment a huge chunk of ice fell off Everest's West Shoulder, triggering an avalanche which swept across the entire width of the Icefall. Continue reading →

A last desperate bid for Everest glory … by helicopter

It's been a terribly unhappy 2014 Everest season for many reasons, so here's something to cheer us all up. We all thought the season on the south side of the mountain finished two weeks ago, but reports in the Himalayan Times have fuelled speculation that the Southeast Ridge may yet be climbed this year. Continue reading →

Salvaging good from a disastrous season

One consequence of the Everest season ending early is that I've spent an unusually long time in Kathmandu catching up with things and contemplating a surreal season. I've even managed to salvage some good from three weeks of tragedy and conflict which have dashed hopes and dreams and trashed reputations. Continue reading →