Category: Mountaineering

“We’re going to have to get some helmets if we keep doing things like this,” Christine quipped as we regrouped on an alpine ridgeline at well over 13,000 feet. The climb to the saddle had been loose, scrambly, and exposed, and we’d had to put a substantial safety gap between ourselves due to the loose… Continue reading An Epic In a single day inside the Ice Lake Basin

Not many people are lucky enough to find something that excites them to the point of obsession. It’s a unique feeling to be so consumed by something (mountaineering, in my case) that nothing else – relationships, money, or career – is significant. Now that I’m a “normal” person, no longer quite as obsessed with climbing… Continue reading Journey Tales: The End of Obsession

With the days getting colder, the weather deteriorating, and 2024 looming, it’s hard not to ponder what adventures the next year will hold. Still, with 52 weeks available and few of them – at this stage – booked up, it can be easy to be complacent and assume that you’ll get a chance to climb… Continue reading The fitting solution to Maximize Your Climbing & Mountaineering Subsequent 12 months

Mountains have been climbed for so long now that it’s almost taken for granted that we humans have an intrinsic desire to climb them, but the history of Mont Blanc tells us otherwise. Until the mountain’s first ascent in 1786, nobody had ever really considered wasting their precious energy on climbing a mountain just for… Continue reading The Tallest Peak in Western Europe

More often than not, “fast and light” is the best way to climb a mountain: pack a bag with the minimum amount of gear you think you’ll need and then go as fast as you can until the job is done. Generally, the light bit is pretty straightforward once you’ve done enough mountaineering to accurately… Continue reading When Mountaineering Goes Mistaken: Unplanned Bivouacs

The Scottish mountains are genuinely unique. Barren, tree-less mountains descend into deep valleys (“Glens” in local parlance), giving it an ambiance and atmosphere all of its own. To say there is nowhere quite like Scotland is not just hyperbole – it’s entirely accurate. Most mountain ranges on Earth are higher than the Scottish Highlands, and… Continue reading Strategies to Climb Ben Nevis

In 1985, American businessman Dick Bass became the first person to climb the “Seven Summits” – the highest peak on every continent. Everest is obviously the highest mountain that Bass climbed in the process, and arguably the hardest, but even amateur hikers can tick off one of the Seven Summits by climbing Kilimanjaro – a… Continue reading The Most Accessible of the ‘Seven Summits’

As professional skier Nadine Wallner lay in the Alaskan wilderness with an open tibia and fibula fracture, she could have been forgiven for feeling pain beyond the agony of the injury itself. Just a year before, in 2013, she’d reached the pinnacle of her sport by being crowned Freeride World Tour Champion and had backed… Continue reading Nadine Wallner: Scaling the Heights

By summiting 82 of Europe’s highest mountains over 16 stages, Kilian Jornet pushed himself to the mental and physical limits for his Alpine Connections project. The numbers speak for themselves: 82 mountains summited in just 19 days. Over 1,207km (749 miles) covered, with 72,233 meters (236,984 ft) of elevation gain. Few athletes in the world… Continue reading Kilian Jornet’s Alpine Connections: An Epic Journey

Getting up in the middle of the frigid night, pulling on your gear, and heading out into the darkness never gets any easier. Still, as soon as the first rays of light appear in the sky and you glimpse your surroundings, it feels like an effort worth making – especially if your surroundings include five… Continue reading Peak of the Week: Mera Peak, Nepal