People You Meet: My (much) younger self...

A picture which makes me smile... It was taken in April 1999, mid-way through my first adventures to Nepal. I was a bit younger, a bit more naieve, a bit braver, with a few less bruises - real & proverbial. I genuinely can't believe that this was 19 years ago. Would I change anything about the way life has unfolded? Hell no. Would I relive it? Hell yes.  But what advice would I give to my younger self? I sat down today to jot down...

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INTERVIEW with ILIVEXTREME.COM "Climbing Denali"

TAKING THE FIRST STEPS... A series of events that kicked-off a roller-coaster 10-years of adventure..! Just before I left for Denali last month, I shared a few candid insights into the literal (and proverbial) highs and lows of a life in the mountains, why I love my (desk) day-job, the "fun scale", my mountain-inspirations, failings in the kitchen and how I redeem myself through mean bloody-marys....  Thanks to ILIVEXTREME for the opportunity...

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The Denali Diaries: WEEK 3 & SUMMIT SUCCESS!

Day 15: 25 June 2018 A 'Rest Day' at 14,000ft in preparation for our anticipated move to 17,000ft tomorrow. The weather forecast is correct in its prediction of 80% chance of snow as we wake to snow but relatively mild temperatures hovering around -10 (ish). Whilst the forecast was 'sketchy' (at best) for tomorrow, there's a small, short high pressure system (aka better weather) rolling through in 2 days - so it's important that we get...

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The Denali Diaries: WEEK 2 - The 7 Day Cyclone Lockdown

Day 8: 18 June 2018 (Day 5 of shovelling/ riding out the storm at 11,000ft) Every now and then I need some “me time” - and I found that “me-time” today in a major 7-hour therapeutic shovelling session... clarity: hole / cave digging session. I felt I needed a new goal for the expedition (given our Denali summit was looking less and less promising) so I decided to dig to China. The wind gusts remain fierce. There are moments I turn to face...

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