His cheeks are as tender as raw meat on a butcher’s block. And those are just the cheeks of his face. As he slumps in the saddle, watching the road disappear into the distance, he aches in parts of his body that he’s only just discovering he has… When Mark travels to Ecuador to go hiking and climbing, he discovers a land of dramatic volcanoes rising through the clouds and wide-open horizons rich in history. But when his partner Edita suggests a return visit, she has a very different adventure in mind: to cycle across the Andes and complete a unique sea-to-summit challenge by climbing the highest mountain starting from sea level. It will be an intrepid world first (or so they think). But there’s just one problem – Mark can barely cycle over a road bridge without getting off to push. With a month to train, they rent some bikes and head to Scotland to cycle the North Coast 500. Will this be enough to prepare them for an epic adventure to climb a mountain that in one respect is the highest in the world?

When Mark travels to Ecuador, he discovers a land of dramatic volcanoes rising through the clouds and wide-open horizons rich in history. But when his partner Edita suggests a return visit, she has a very different adventure in mind: to cycle across the Andes and complete a unique challenge by climbing the highest mountain starting from sea level.

Sherpa legend told of an enchanted valley with an invisible village, Shangri-La, that was said to be a place of great beauty. The valley became the nemesis of legendary mountaineer Edmund Hillary, who travelled there to climb 7,129m Baruntse, but succumbed to the irresistible draw of Makalu, the great black mountain which towered over the valley. Makalu vanquished him, and he was never the same climber again. Fifty years later, Mark Horrell embarked on a trek up the Barun Valley to follow in Hillary’s footsteps – at least some of the way. He hoped to climb Baruntse, but when he arrived, he learned of a terrible accident that had shaken the climbing community and would threaten his plans. Yet one of the virtues of climbing in the Himalayas is that just reaching a mountain can be a great adventure. Join Mark on an entertaining journey across jungle, moorland, hill and valley to the frozen heights of the Barun Plateau.

The heroic story of how Sherpas stood up and took control of their destiny Ever since Europeans started exploring the world’s highest mountains and trying to reach their summits in the early 20th century, Sherpas have been an integral part of mountaineering expeditions to the Himalayas. In this anthology curated from his popular Footsteps on the Mountain blog, Mark Horrell explores the evolution of Sherpa mountaineers, from the porters of early expeditions to the superstar climbers of the present day. Writing with trademark warmth and humour, he starts by bringing to life the Sherpa characters of the early days, describing their customs and superstitions, and putting their contributions and achievements into context. In the deeply personal second section of the book, he covers some of the conflicts of the 21st century, when a series of high-profile controversies highlighted the tensions between Sherpas and western climbers on Everest. He was a witness to a devastating avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall that killed 16 Nepali mountain workers and led to a labour dispute, and he describes the events that followed from a commercial client’s perspective. In the final section of the book, he brings the story up to date and looks to the future, as Sherpas have moved out of the limelight of westerners, running successful mountaineering expedition companies and becoming celebrated climbers in their own right. "It's uncommon to come across stories that look beneath the surface to investigate deeper issues while remaining accessible and humorous. Sherpa Hospitality achieves this." Alex Roddie

This is the tale of Mark Horrell’s not-so-nearly ascent of Gasherbrum in Pakistan, of how one man’s boredom and frustration was conquered by a gutsy combination of exhaustion, cowardice, and sheer mountaineering incompetence. He made not one, not two, but three intrepid assaults, some of which got quite a distance beyond Base Camp, and overcame many perilous circumstances along the way. The mountaineer Joe Simpson famously crawled for three days with a broken leg, but did he ever have to read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown while waiting for a weather window? But that’s enough about Mark’s attempt; there were some talented climbers on the mountain as well, and this story is also about them. How did they get on? Heroes, villains, oddballs and madmen – 8,000m peaks attract them all, and drama, intrigue and cock-ups aplenty were inevitable.

Two days east of Lukla was a pleasant yak pasture surrounded by high peaks. When Col. Jim Roberts set out to look for it in 1953, he ended up making the first ascent of Mera Peak and sowing the seeds of Himalayan tourism. Mera Peak has become a popular goal for trekkers and novice mountaineers, but few people climb to its true summit, and fewer still travel beyond it to find the secret yak pasture that sparked Roberts’ journey. The yak pasture was the Hongu Valley, a hidden sanctuary of grassland, lakes and glaciers linking Mera Peak with the Everest region and Island Peak to the north. Fifty years after Roberts, Mark Horrell embarked on a trek through Nepal’s Khumbu region to follow in his footsteps, climb the two trekking peaks at either end of the valley, and resolve a long-standing mystery about Mera Peak’s height. Join Mark on a captivating journey through this enchanting region of high mountains and remote valleys.

As he teetered on a narrow rock ledge a yak’s bellow short of the stratosphere, with a rubber mask strapped to his face, a pair of mittens the size of a sealion’s flippers, and a drop of two kilometres below him, it’s fair to say Mark Horrell wasn’t entirely happy with the situation he found himself in. He had been an ordinary hiker who had only read books about mountaineering. When he signed up for an organised trek in Nepal with a group of elderly ladies, little did he know that ten years later he would be attempting to climb the world’s highest mountain. But as he travelled across the Himalayas, Andes, Alps and East Africa, following in the footsteps of the pioneers, he dreamed up a seven-point plan to gain the skills and experience which could turn a wild idea into reality. Funny, incisive and heartfelt, his journey provides a refreshingly honest portrait of the joys and torments of a modern-day Everest climber.