Mark Horrell's Blog, page 52

Everest comes to London: celebrating the 1953 Everest expedition

Although I've lived here for 17 years, I've never been a big one for taking advantage of London's art galleries and exhibitions. Last weekend was an exception because it had a mountaineering theme. I spent the afternoon at two exhibitions celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest. Continue reading →

Is it a bad thing the world is becoming more accessible?

Today is the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. I expect there will be quite a few editorial pieces published today reflecting on how the mountain has changed in the intervening years. I expect most of them will lament the changes as a bad thing, but I'm going to adopt a slightly different stance in this post. Continue reading →

Farewell to the Pilgrim’s Book House, Kathmandu

The phrase Aladdin's cave is often used to describe a place crammed full of interesting objects, and if ever there was a building worthy of the definition it was the Pilgrim's Book House, Kathmandu. Squeezed between souvenir shops and tourist guest houses was an inauspicious shop front which led into a maze of rooms filled from floor to ceiling with books. Sadly, last week it burned to the ground. Continue reading →

A tribute to Sherpas, the tigers of the snow

This is a post I have been meaning to write for a while. Much has been written by westerners about Sherpas over the last hundred years, but the voice of the Sherpas themselves is rare. I can't provide it, but I can provide my own perspective of a people who have given me many happy memories, taken me to places I could never have been without them, and put their lives at risk to help me. Continue reading →

The Mynydd Du microadventure

Perhaps I've only just noticed, but all of a sudden people have started using the term microadventure for things that used to be called walks. I used to laugh, but after my trip to the Mynydd Du hills last weekend, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I have now become a microadventurer. Continue reading →

Everest is not for climbers – you’re joking aren’t you!

There's nothing like a negative Everest story to trigger a flurry of publishing absurdity. For example, some people say Everest has now become so crowded with commercial expeditions there is no longer any room for real climbers, an argument that can be easily refuted with a single photograph. Continue reading →

How civilised does an expedition base camp have to be?

Photographs of members of the Russian 7 Summits Club playing pool at base camp on Everest's north side will have raised the blood pressure of a few purists who believe such luxuries have no place in mountaineering, but a bit of pampering at base camp has long been a part of expeditions to the 8000m peaks. Continue reading →

All you need to know about the Everest fist fight

Some of you have been asking for an insightful analysis of the punch up on the Lhotse Face over the weekend. As usual people have been falling over themselves to report the story without waiting for the facts to emerge, and in the Footsteps on the Mountain team we're not averse to joining the stampede. Continue reading →

Following the Everesters

This time last year I was lying in a tent on the north side of Everest, listening to a deafening wind pound against the nylon beside my head. Every spring a few hundred people seek to share my experience by trying to climb Everest, and thanks to the miracle of modern communications, it's possible to watch from the sidelines. Continue reading →

Top rock climber accuses sunbathers of cheating

This week the Footsteps on the Mountain team caught up with champion rock climber Bill Scheidt, who has completed many first ascents on bold new routes. Bill is known for a very pure style of climbing, and over the years has become an outspoken critic of climbers who employ artificial aids to enable them to complete an ascent. But it's not just use of pitons and supplementary oxygen that make his blood boil. Continue reading →