Friday, 23 October 2026
International edition · English
From the Himalayas to the Pyrenees: the history and geography of great peaks, the effects of altitude, safety and everything worth knowing before you climb.
38 articles · RSS
Curiosities Curiosity
When the cold arrives, the Alpine marmot shuts itself in a burrow with its family and spends almost half the year in deep torpor. Its heart almost stops and it lives off the fat it built up in summer.
Curiosities Curiosity
At sea level water boils at 100 °C, but not in the mountains. With less pressure, molecules escape sooner and water boils at a lower temperature. That is why pasta takes longer in a mountain hut.
Mountains seem eternal, but they move. India keeps pushing against Asia and the Himalaya gains a few millimetres every year, while ice, water and earthquakes shape it in the opposite direction.
A journey on foot following a wolf, the life of a black bear, Alaska offline and the most spectacular bivouac huts in the Alps. Banff's book competition, one of the most prestigious in mountain literature, has its category winners.
Hidesuke Taneishi and Tetsu Hashimoto were attempting the first ascent of Gangapurna West (7,140 m), next to the Annapurna massif. Their last contact was on 15 October. A helicopter and a drone made it possible to find them on the south face.
Three Russian climbers are attempting one of Everest's hardest and least repeated routes this autumn. After two days of struggle above the Lho La, coughing, fatigue and harder terrain than expected have forced them back down to Base Camp.
His best so far is 7,537 metres. This autumn he is acclimatising in the Annapurna region, wants to reach 8,000 m before winter and plans to start on Everest on 22 December. He puts his own chances at 20%.
A wall of water more than 100 metres high swept through 60 kilometres of valley in seconds. Two months on, the UN's project services agency calls it one of the most destructive and deadliest climate-related disasters and urges rich countries to keep their promises.
Dressing for the mountains is not about fashion, but you do not need to look like you are in costume either. Six practical combinations by type of route and time of year, item by item, with ideas on where to buy them.
Little winter snow, heatwaves from May to September and the 0 °C isotherm above 4,000 metres for 76 days: the result is the second-worst year for Swiss glaciers since measurements began.
Today is International Snow Leopard Day, created to protect the great cat of Asia's mountains. We look at how many are left, what threatens them and what works to protect them.
Measurement campaigns by the Swiss glacier monitoring network document the biggest losses since records began. We explain what the numbers mean and why they matter beyond Switzerland.
Also in Hiking, Routes, Guides.
Our store · NMshop
Hiking footwear, jackets, backpacks, camping and climbing gear chosen for the mountains. Shipping worldwide.
NMshop is the outdoor gear store run by the publisher of Altavia.
