Wednesday, 4 November 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.
52 articles · RSS
A '-5 °C' bag can leave you shivering at 2 °C if you misread the label. We explain the European temperature standard, down versus synthetic, and why your mat matters as much as your bag.
Summer storms in the mountains form quickly, but they give warning. We show you how to read the clouds, calculate the distance of lightning and get to the least exposed spot if it reaches you.
Polyester fibres above 8,000 metres, particles raining from the sky in remote Pyrenean valleys, plastic in Antarctic snow. The mountains are not safe from plastic, and part of the problem is what we wear.
Its velvety look is not decorative: it is armour against the radiation, cold and dryness of the high mountains. The natural and cultural history of the most famous flower in the Alps.
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