The Sad Peak of Human Thoughtlessness

Why oh why, of all the possible activities you could (legally) choose in 2021, would you opt to climb Mount Everest during a global pandemic of a respiratory disease? You wouldn’t. Because if you did, you’d enter the realm of self-loving egocentric individuals living atop the sad peak of human thoughtlessness. The funny thing though

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Controversial Big Mountain Acclimatisation Method

As a trained physiologist specialising in the effects of low oxygen and cold environments, a very recent article published by Bloomberg focusing on a relatively modern technique to dramatically cut down time spent on big mountains piqued my interest: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-01/alpenglow-expeditions-controversial-mountain-climbing-method The hypothesis is simple; pre-acclimatise in an altitude tent/chamber at home, allowing you to partake

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Partnerships

The original article features on the Bank of Ireland UK Inspiring Blog series: MDT Bank of Ireland UK Partnerships Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a project for the Bank of Ireland UK with the overriding theme being partnership. The concept of partnership is most commonly attributed with marriage, more recently

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Everest 2015 For Pasang & Kumar

After quietly reading through endless news articles on the Nepalese earthquake and subsequent avalanches which have occurred throughout the Himalayas, I have tried to take in the level of devastation which is widespread throughout the country. I am not in Nepal and so I have had to rely on news articles, climber reports and friends

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Everest 1953

As many will know, today (29th May 2013) is the 60th anniversary of the very first ascent of Everest by John Hunt’s expedition in 1953. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people in history to summit the world’s highest mountain and in doing so, they rightly became famous around the globe. And

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How To Climb Mount Everest

So, you want to climb Mount Everest. Chomolungma or Sagarmatha as they say in Tibet and Nepal. Standing at 8,848m above sea level, Mount Everest is the highest mountain on earth and hence it is on the to-do list of many high altitude climbers including those aiming for the seven summits or even the 14

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Mount Everest 2012 Success

After a rather long gap between the last blog post, and an extended rest following the completion of the Yell Diamond Jubilee Everest 2012 Expedition, I thought it the right time to write a quick blog on the expedition, and what is to follow on from here. I’m not actually going to write a lengthy

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Summit Success Dispatch

Wishing all these brave climbers a safe journey

As climbers reach Camp 3 located at 7,470m there is a further 500m to Camp 4 at 7,920m this taking approx 9 hours to reach. Additional challenges on this route include Geneva Spur and Yellow Band. Camp 4 is at nearly 8000m on the Lhotse face typically known as the Death Zone. The body slowly

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Tough Days and Nights Ahead!

I am updating my blog prior to the intended final push to the summit. The past few days have encompassed rest, food and sleep with the last village being Gorak Shep prior climbing back up to Base Camp. Hopefully you will have heard my latest phonecast where I explained we had spent the last few

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