Robert Mads Anderson's Blog

One of the first questions often asked about climbing Everest is, how fit do you really need to be? So you trek up to (or helicopter into) Base Camp, hopefully still filling relatively fit and strong, knowing the real challenge is just starting. You get a day or two of rest, then you walk across […]

At the heart of the recent Nepal regulations for Everest, was the a new rule that you first need to climb a 7,000 meter (22,965.88 feet) high peak. And it needs to be in Nepal. So Denali won’t qualify you for an Everest expedition obviously, or summiting Aconcagua, though it nearly touches 7,000 meters. Even […]

By mid-morning, ants and black beetles were already out, scuttling about in the heat, as we left the thin rocky trail and headed into the sands, moving from vehicle civilized life to camel wilderness life. In the Sahara, movement slowed to the speed of our 3 camels. We were to live at camel walking pace […]

For the Everest or mountain reader afficionado, what books are really essential? What is the book that is not only a very good read for the holidays, but also a gift that is long remembered and looks great in the library? Or at the very least, evokes good memories and is always available on the […]

A few days earlier I’d been standing on the summit of Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak, finishing another peak on my Seven Summits Solo project. The climb was behind me, and the long journey home had begun—Moscow to London, and hopefully on to New York. What follows is the original chapter from my book, written […]

Every so often, someone asks me, “Why Everest?” They ask with curiosity, often laced with a bit of skepticism, and often with the unspoken assumption that maybe—just maybe—it’s time to take on something less ambitious. Something safer. And in my case, also something more age-appropriate. After all, my daughter Phoebe has proclaimed me a Geezer. […]

Where exactly is this place? Awake—where? Oh yes, a grass hut deep in the jungle. Bird calls echo over the hillside — chirps, caws, bassonic hoots, and what can only be described as the trumpet of something unseen flapping its way through the canopy.  The jungle is alive with sound, near and far, layered and […]

Robert Mads Anderson is one of the most accomplished professional mountain climbers of his generation and has brilliantly balanced those pursuits with a multi-decade run in the Creative Departments of advertising agencies around the world. He joins the podcast to discuss the characteristics that climbers have in common, what he learned from experiencing tragedy early […]

As much as real paper, type on the page, and the feel of a good book will always be something special, sometimes that digital edition – the instant, in your hands readability of a tale from the heights is quicker and more accessible. And it does save on trees, printing, shipping and storing – all […]

If you have just stepped off Everest, and feeling well acclimitised, rested and inspired, decide to head straight off to climb Denali, there are a few things that are different – very different. Here’s what you might want to prepare for. 1. The Transition: The easy access to Denali, piling out of the pubs and […]