🌟 New blog post ✍️ After 6 years of heavy breathing, hard swallowing and occasional salivation, I’ve finally done it 😛 No, not that. I've finished narrating all my audiobooks. The last one, The Baruntse Adventure, went live last month on all the main stores 🎤 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2026/th...

"I’ve been tracking these rule announcements for over ten years, and it’s fascinating to see repeats. The common theme is that virtually none are ever enforced." The Everest silly announcement season is upon us. Here's what to look out for this year 🤦 www.alanarnette.com/blog/2026/02...

"Garrett Madison was among the first... He offered clients a chance to climb a virgin 6000er in 2021." Not so fast, Garrett. I did a first ascent of Yangchan Kangri in Ladakh with Jagged Globe way back in 2007. explorersweb.com/not-all-firs...

"Thomas P left Kerstin G at about 2am in a state of exhaustion and unprotected when he descended the mountain to fetch help." What a strange case. Even the victim's mother is saying he can't be held responsible for her death. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

"Every year, new regulations are proposed [for Everest]... We then wait to see which ones are actually implemented." Yes, indeed. This time they are trying to turn it into a law, but even so, I will believe it when I see it 🤔 explorersweb.com/new-everest-...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ We had spied Ben Cruachan’s airy summit and hair-raising descent from Ben O’Cockle two days earlier 🗻 I could see from the map that the walk across its top featured an enormous ridge. It promised to be a great walk 👣 My trip report 📣 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2026/cr...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ Ben Lui is considered to be the finest peak in the Southern Highlands 🗻 I once took a photo of it rising majestically like a marble throne above arctic tundra 📸 From that moment I wanted climb it. But would it live up to the promise? 🙏 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2026/be...

Barking mad: a list of dogs to have climbed all 282 Munros, including the Inaccessible Pinnacle 🐶 ✅ www.themunrosociety.com/canine-compl...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ It was our 5th New Year in a row in the Scottish Highlands and our first with three good hill bagging days in row 🎉 Here's my trip report for the first one, up Ben O'Cockle and Ben Eunuch 👣🗻 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2026/be...

Back in Scotland at last 🤍 After a tough year working in Haiti, it feels so good to be here. Two Munros today — Beinn a’ Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich — with perfect winter conditions and a gorgeous forecast ahead. Very happy to be back in the hills 🏔️✨

"The climbers’ sunglasses reflect a snowy slope in front of them and the person taking the picture." 😮 Professional adventurer's 101: if you're going to fake a summit photo, remember to take off your mirrored sunglasses 🤦 explorersweb.com/doubts-surfa...

"On Dec 10, Moro and Nima Rinji set off from Mera’s high camp and reached the top in 2 hrs 20 mins... Moro felt sick once back in Khare, and they called for an emergency evacuation." Startling news. One of the strongest Himalayan climbers ever. Get well soon 🤞 explorersweb.com/simone-moro-...

"Let’s get real people, and call adventure tourism what it is. Nothing shameful about that. And let’s get back to the old-school definition of what having the right stuff means." A bit of a rant, but it's a fair point 🎯 www.forbes.com/sites/jimcla...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ There was a time when Everest had not been climbed. What was the highest mountain ever climbed back in those days? And what was the one before that? 📏 Let me take you back in time as I follow a sequence of mountains back to the 19th century ⏳ www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/a-...

In 1956, Mt Rainier was 4,392m at its highest point, Columbia Crest. Now the summit is a 4,389m rocky outcrop a football field away. Columbia Crest is only 4,386m 🗻 A nightmare scenario for peak baggers, who now have to go back and climb it again 😱 explorersweb.com/mount-rainie...

French donors have funded a new $400K via ferrata route with a 100m abseil that bypasses the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1 on Everest 🗻 But why? It's hard to believe that commercial teams will use it? 😕 www.alanarnette.com/blog/2025/11...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ A short distance south of Pen y Fan, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, is a range of peaks less well known to the outside world 🍟 The Rhigos Hills are home to the highest point in the county of Glamorgan 🗻 My latest County Top ✅ www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/cr...

"The bivouac can be read simultaneously as an act of love and an act of hubris: a structure that wants to merge with the mountain while also marking it." ⛺ A sentence that wants to merge with my head while going straight over it. 🤯 Looks a good museum though 🏛️ www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

"Climbers wanted her approval more than a certificate. Messner called her 'the only authority' on Himalayan records." ✅ Nice tribute to the founder of the Himalayan Database, Elizabeth Hawley 🏔️ explorersweb.com/remembering-...

Today's Hellofresh delivery arrived with a complimentary roll of festive toilet paper 🎄🚽 I knew I shouldn't have ordered the curry this week 😦

"Amazon claims its AI translations are 'automatically evaluated for accuracy' before publication, but it doesn’t detail what steps are involved." A job best done by an editor in their native language. Still, it could provide a good first draft 🤔 techcrunch.com/2025/11/06/a...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ Ever since a hike in the Apennines, the promise of ladders on a route has made me nervous 🪜 As we approached the Grand Balcon Sud, I wondered if they would be like the ones on Corno Piccolo? 😨 You can see for yourself in my latest videos 🎥 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/to...

One of the strangest figures in Everest history, Henry Todd, has passed away in a Kathmandu hospital. The article doesn't mention his earlier career as a manufacturer of LSD (google Operation Julie for more). He later became an Everest expedition pioneer. RIP ➕ thetourismtimes.com/news/t3-spec...

"The fact that Jim Morrison skied down this combination of two couloirs [Everest’s Supercouloir] yesterday and survived unscathed borders on a minor miracle in my opinion." 😮🪄 It certainly does. Next week Elvis Presley will be free climbing the Second Step 🕺 abenteuer-berg.de/en/jim-morri...

Really useful stuff from @ashrouten.com. Saved me from another disappointing night out 🍺 TL;DR if you're thinking of drinking your own Fosters, do it before you get thirsty. explorersweb.com/drinking-pee...

"I am always astonished at how quickly and comprehensively the media avalanche rolls in as soon as Mount Everest comes into play." 🗻 📰 Well said @springinsfeld.bsky.social, but less drama on Everest? There will be pigs flying to the summit before then 🐖✈️ abenteuer-berg.de/en/mount-eve...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ It was going to be a heck of a day. We had over 2,000m to ascend in tropical heat 🌞 Edita and I couldn’t think of another occasion when we'd ascended so many metres in a single day 👣 My trip report from Pico Duarte, summit of the Caribbean 🌴🇩🇴 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/an...

This 👉 www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ The Dominican Republic has 5 mountain ranges, inc. the highest peak in the Caribbean 🇩🇴 I would never have travelled there had Edita not been working in Haiti, but I found a great destination for short multi-day treks 👣 But boy is it humid 😓 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/a-...

[Excessively priced outdoor clothing brand] Arc-teryx issued apologies for the event, with the company saying the display “was out of line with Arc’teryx’s values”. 🔥🛢️ Or as Groucho Marx said, if you don't like our values, we have others 🙈 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

"Competitors approached the adjudicator, sharing their concerns over suspiciously circular skipping stones." Good grief, they didn't did they? All I can say is, what a bunch of tossers! 😳 explorersweb.com/world-stone-...

Thanks for the advice, @markhorrell.bsky.social. www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/wh...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ The handful of people who enjoy my audiobooks will be happy to learn that I’ve just released another one 📚 Islands in the Snow, about a trek through the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal, is now available on all the main audiobook channels 🎵 🎧 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/on...

"For reference, the fastest ever mile time is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999. El Guerrouj did not drink four beers during his run." 4 laps of the track with a beer to start each lap. If only I'd known earlier in life this was a thing 🍺🍺🍺🍺 www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/a...

"Selfie parks provide self-contained spaces that give visitors a curated environment in which to create content (often of themselves)." 🤔 An interesting concept. Will shepherding the selfie hunters into a warehouse help to reduce overtourism? 📷 theconversation.com/how-selfie-p...

What will drone transport on Everest mean for Sherpa mountaineers? Xenon-assisted climbing may be an unnecessary innovation but this isn’t: it means less gear-hauling and more safety, says @markhorrell.bsky.social www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/wh...

“Today is day 11 of free soloing a harder route every day until I fall,” the tousle-haired young rock climber says to the camera. Interesting form of entertainment. Presumably it all ends quite suddenly... explorersweb.com/this-free-so...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ Kongur sits between three huge mountain ranges in Central Asia. It was unexplored in 1980 when a British team set off to climb it 🗻 🇨🇳 After 18 years sitting on my bookshelf, I finally got round to reading Chris Bonington's book about it 📚 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/ch...

"The controversy shifted dramatically when Hojac and Brugger discovered that Siegrist had retroactively changed details about his 2004 climb on his website." 😮 Handbags on the Eiger. Two competing claims to a speed record as accuser becomes the accused 👜 explorersweb.com/controversy-...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ The whole of Europe is in the middle of a scorching heatwave. The thermometer has been touching 30°C 🌞 It seemed like a good time to go hill walking in the Lake District, where good weather seemed guaranteed for a change 👣 Or was it? 😮 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/we...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ Media coverage of Everest this year has focused on unusual speed ascents that have been framed as a game changer for aspiring climbers 🏃 But another technological advance will change the job description for Sherpas more significantly 🚛 🎥 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/wh...

Almost all ladders & ropes used to prepare Everest’s route [on Nepal side] were flown by drones up to Camp I. Each drone carried 30kg as high as 6,130m. 678 successful summits: 38% client, 62% staff. => Sherpas are doing less load carrying, more support climbing www.alanarnette.com/blog/2025/06...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ Standing just 1.65m and weighing 82kg, nobody would have suspected Babu Chiri of being an athlete 🏃 In the 1990s, he was one of the world's best at climbing Everest, and one night in 1999 he did something that nobody had ever done 🏅 ⛺ www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/a-...

"If you make it too hard for AI companies to access it in the UK they'll simply do it elsewhere instead." Which is like saying if I install a burglar alarm, they'll just go and burgle somebody else. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"The SW Coast Path has over 115,000 feet of ascent and descent – the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest four times." Yes, and driving to John O'Groats and back is equivalent to walking the SW Coast Path three times 🙄 theconversation.com/the-salt-pat...

"Glaciers are good indicators of climate change because their retreat allows us to see with our own eyes how climate is changing." 👀 Indeed. I've seen glaciers shrink in my lifetime. ⌛ (By visiting them years apart, not by standing to watch, obviously.) 🙄 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

🌟 New blog post ✍️ There have been many books about Sherpa mountaineers over the years, but few have been written from the perspective of Sherpas themselves ⛏️🗻 One that comes close is Sherpa by Pradeep Bashyal and Ankit Babu Adhikari, which I read recently 📚 www.markhorrell.com/blog/2025/12...

"Huge Congratulations to Andrew Ushakov who has just become the fastest person to go from sea-level to the summit of Everest in just 3 days, 23 hours and 7 minutes." Until further proof emerges to back it up, it's reasonable to assume this claim isn't true 🐂💩 www.alanarnette.com/blog/2025/05...

"In a bizarre turn of events, lawyers for Darwall told the supreme court that picnicking did not count as open-air recreation and was therefore trespass." 🙄 Common sense prevails in the fight between good and evil. Really great news and a big relief 😇 😈 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...