Mark Horrell's Blog, page 5

A surfeit of scrambling: walking Corsica’s GR20 North

This is the second in a series of posts about our recent trek along the legendary GR20 long-distance trail on the island of Corsica. The story began in my first post, Rosé, ridges and laricio pines.

When I signed off the last post, I was enjoying a delicious pork rosti and a pichet of vin rosé at a palatial hotel tucked away in the forests of Corsica. You’ll doubtless be on tenterhooks to find out what happened next. How on earth did I get out of that one? Just how did I prise myself away from t...

The most shocking first page in mountaineering literature

One of the things that sometimes annoys me about quite a lot of mountaineering writing is machismo: the equating of various attributes such as physical strength and endurance, single-mindedness and willingness to take risks, with virtue.

I’ve lost count of the number of expedition accounts I’ve read where the hardest route to the top is the only one worth considering, or those where a big argument happens between members of a team and the stronger members are invariably cast as heroes while the ...

Rosé, ridges and laricio pines: walking Corsica’s GR20 South

I’ve known about the GR20 for over 20 years. On my first visit to Nepal, I returned with an unwieldy hardback in the shape of a chopping-board called Top Treks of the World, that I’d picked up in the Pilgrim’s Book House, Kathmandu. A slim volume of few words but many evocative photographs, it featured 29 classic treks on six continents and tickled the imagination of a would-be traveller returning home from his first Himalayan trek.

The four European treks in the book included the GR20 on the Me...

Bookman Plaster Award announces new rules for mountaineering books following recent controversies

The trustees of the world’s most prestigious mountain book award have announced updated rules for entries following new research alleging that hundreds of historical mountaineering books have been published without reaching the true end of the story.

In 2021, an article in the New York Chronicle asked the question What is a mountaineering book? The piece was one of the first in the mainstream media to discuss concerns raised by mountaineering book critic Conrad Bartelski, custodian of the websit...

My 2007 Knoydart diary: a winter backpacking trip that didn’t quite go to plan

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a 2-day backpacking trip in Knoydart that was about as good as it gets: perfect weather, unobstructed views of Scotland’s intricate coastline, three contrasting summits, some exhilarating scrambling, celebratory drinks at the remotest pub in Britain – even a picturesque boat trip at either end.

The trip was all the more satisfying for me because it was my second visit to Knoydart and I had unfinished business there. My first visit in 2007 couldn’t have been mo...

The Knoydart Three: Ladhar Bheinn, Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe

In November 2007, I set out from Kinloch Hourn at the end of a 22-mile cul-de-sac in a remote part of Northwest Scotland, carrying a gigantic rucksack with 5 days worth of food, tent, sleeping bag, stove and all the camping essentials.

My aim was to walk to Inverie in Knoydart, a village at the end of a peninsula that is unconnected to the road network. Its isolated location means that it is more akin to an island than a place on mainland Scotland. Aside from the rough hiking trail that I would ...

In memoriam: Dave Fowler, West Coast mountain guide

I’m always slightly more affected by accidents that involve hillwalkers scrambling along a narrow ridge. I don’t take many risks in the mountains and these are the accidents that make me stop and think how it could have been me.

The widely reported triple fatality on Glen Coe’s Aonach Eagach ridge earlier this month had particular poignancy for me. The accident involved a guide and two clients roped together. The guide in question was Dave Fowler who had guided Edita and me up several peaks in t...

Why don’t we see yetis anymore? I may have found the answer

Throughout the 20th century, Himalayan travel writing has been peppered with stories of yeti sightings and yeti footprints.

In a previous post, published in my anthology Sherpa Hospitality as a Cure for Frostbite, I described how the great Reinhold Messner believed he’d seen a yeti in a clearing in Tibet in 1986, and how Eric Shipton photographed a yeti’s footprint in the 1950s. In another post, I described how Bruce Chatwin interviewed a lady who’d watched a yeti murder her yaks in the Gokyo Va...

The Dubh Slabs: the most iconic scramble in the British Isles

This is the second in a series of posts covering our recent visit to the Isle of Skye and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The story began in my first post, The four summits of Sgurr a Mhadaidh.

The weather was looking favourable, but after much deliberation we decided – mainly for logistical reasons – that it wasn’t the moment to attempt the full Cuillin traverse.

Instead, we would continue our Cuillin reconnaissance. But what to reconnoitre? After our traverse of Sgurr a Mhadaidh (see prev...

Essential Skye reading: The Black Ridge by Simon Ingram

‘I haven’t read it,’ said Karl. ‘But do you know what, I think I will, because you’re the fourth client who has told me that I have to read this book.’

We were sitting on the col between Sgurr a Mhadaidh and Bidean Druim nan Ramh, gazing out at Loch Coruisk as we ate our lunch (see my previous blog post). The book in question was The Black Ridge by Simon Ingram. I was in the middle of reading it (not up on the col, obviously, but back in a comfy chair between adventures) and have recently finish...