You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God. Matthew 5, v.2 (The Message Version)
Three words that are the beating heart behind why many explorers or adventurers do what they do. ‘Because it’s there.
The other final memory, from growing up on the island, is of going on a monster run one day, and getting very bad groin rub on the last mile towards home. I had endured the rubbing for the previous ei...
Sometimes the journey ahead can feel so daunting and so implausible that we lack the courage to take the first step. And there is never a shortage of good excuses: it’s not the right time; the odds ar...
Seven P.M. Half an hour to go until we started the laborious task of getting kitted up again.It would take us at least an hour. By the end no part of our bodies or faces would be visible. We would be...
Many times I have been grateful for the simple, military skill of being able to live with people in confined spaces. It has helped me so much over the years on expeditions and beyond. And I was especi...
Mallory těšil postavení celebrity. Když se ho jeden reportér New York Times zeptal, proč chce zdolat Everest, George odpověděl třemi slavnými slovy, jež znají snad všichni horolezci. Tato slova jsou t...
Lying in my tent alone that night I wept quietly, as all the emotion seeped out of me. For the second time in recent years, I knew I should have died.I wrote:March 31, midnight.The emotions of today h...
It is always strange looking back at a time that has had such a profound impact on one’s life. And when it comes to Everest, I see two very clear things: friendships that were forged in a tough crucib...
I look back now and can see how much my father also found his own freedom in the adventures we did together, whether it was galloping along a beach in the Isle of Wight with me behind him, or climbing...
I learned two very strong lessons from them: the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere, and true love is worth fighting for.
By the way, it is also good to know that faith isn’t one-sided. As Christ said: ‘I have come to seek and save.’He is out looking for us, too.So be brave and let Him do his side of the bargain.
But, that guy who quit also missed the real point. Good things come through grit and hard work, and all things worthwhile have a cost. In the case of the SAS, the cost was somewhere around a thousand...
But what do I remember and value most?For me, it is the camaraderie, and the friendships--and of course Trucker, who is still one of my best friends on the planet.Some bonds are unbreakable.I will nev...
Before I climbed Everest, I saved up to make an attempt on a peak called Ama Dablam, one of the classic and more technically difficult climbs in the higher Himalayas. For many of the weeks I was there...
At this point, my greatest enemy was myself. Self-doubt can be crushing, and sometimes it is hard to see outside the black bubble.
At 10:50 A.M., the radio flared into life. It was Mick’s voice. He sounded weak and distant.Bear. This is Mick. Do you copy?The message then crackled with intermittent static. All I could make out was...
And finally, remember that light can only shine through broken vessels, and we are all a little broken.
Can you imagine how I felt after Chris had let me drink his last drops of water? Gratitude doesn’t come close.One of the regiment’s toughest, most hardened of soldiers was showing that he was looking...
You climb only because the mountain allows it. If it says wait, then you must wait, and when it allows you to go, then you must struggle and strain in the thin air with all your might. Listening to th...