The plan was straightforward: Pack bags, travel to remote valley, hike to virgin peak. Climb! So was the plan for my recent expedition into the remote Naar-Phu valley in Nepal, which came together on short notice. But just when you think its simple, it always turns...
Wadi Rum, a mythical area of sandstone mountain in midst the Arabian desert have fascinated me for years. I ended up there on a trip through Jordan and Syria back in 2005 with my good friend Armin. Sadly we had no time to climb any of the impressive rock towers This...
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: The mountain ranges of East Tibet, part of Sichuan province, China, were described by the legendary Japanese explorer Tomatsu Nakamura as the “Alps of Tibet” and are considered as one the last frontiers of mountaineering. Inspired by his work...
Last September I ventured with friends into a remote corner of Tibet (https://dev.neilmatthews.com/paulniel/exploring-eastern-tibet/) - it was an expedition into the unknown - we had no maps, no guides, no porters and literally no idea! It was an amazing trip, but in...
Last week I talked in front of a group of finance professionals about achieving big dreams – I illustrated the story and my concept through my journey to climb Mt Everest - the highest mountain in the world and how it developed from the dreams of a...
In the early morning of 8 August 1786 two tired Frenchmen ventured onto the summit of Mont Blanc – with 4810m the highest Mountain in Western Europe right on the border of Italy and France. Its white top, endless glaciers and rocky spires dominate the western end of...
As a lot of us are settling into the quiet time over the christmas holidays - I thought i share a bit of reading material. The last few weeks saw quite a few articles published - here the stories - have fun! In the meantime i hope you enjoy tons...
Walking through a valley nobody has ever been, attempting an unclimbed peak – First ascents, exploration in the spirit and style of Mallory & Buhl, to face the obstacles of the unknown has been a dream of mine....for a long, long time! Over the last few weeks that...
Final day in Garzi Town, last hotpot, shower and nice bed for at last two weeks. Tomorrow its time to climb a mountain!
Rain of all sorts has greeted us in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Having barely escaped the typhoon in Hong Kong I was hoping for some weather…a no go. It didn’t really matter, however as we spent the better part of the last two days sorting out gear and...
"Today the map has no more secrets.” Idle minds repeat that parrot phase. But who knows all Tibet, or its far-away frontier on western China? Even its own prayer-muttering tribes know only their own bleak, wind-swept valleys"-
Its been a while since i last posted a few words... You might have already started wondering whether i have given up adventuring- rest assured, the opposite is true! Indeed so much has been happening in the last six weeks, where shall i begin? - I have visited seven...
“Ah, Kosciusko its easy – you can drive to the top!" That should have sent my alarm bells ringing - no mountain, rock or hill is ever easy – its always a function of conditions. And well, the ones that look soo simple are the easiest to underestimate. The pile of...
Mud, mud, mud....and a bit of hail and a long, long way to trek...we are finally back in (sort of) civilization (=a place where they serve beer) after hiking eight days into the midst of the heart of Africa. It all started in Kilembe, a small Ugandan mining town,...
Mountains of the Moon In 150AD Ptolemy famously referred to the snows of the Mountains of the Moon, that fed the waters of the Nile It took more than 2000 years to find the real origin. When in the mid 1800s daring men started to explore the last white spots of the...
What an adventure! Its a week since we left Nanyuki to climb the highest mountain in Kenya and it has been a true experience. We had lots of sun, rain, hail, snow, fog.....and overall it was cold (well, definitely colder than expected!). Already the hike towards the...
Jambo! Its all an Italian's fault that i am in Nanyuki right now: During my Antarctic expedition a few years back i overheard a conversation about the best mountain books. The book mentioned was "No Picnic on Mount Kenya". Never having heard of it, I read it...
The final tour in the mountains before it is off to the ocean - Take a wonderful mountain range with epic views, add some challenging scrambles and throw in a sumner summer day - you get a great day out! So we did, when Dad and me headed out to...