Stories & Reads
Member stories, expedition reports and curated mountain reading.
With an ice-axe or what connects Ilioupolis Alpine Club, an ice-axe, Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky
What connects a winter climb on Giona, an ice axe, a great painter, and one of the most dramatic political assassinations of the 20th century? In this small "break" from classic mountain stories, we intertwine mountaineering, history, and a bit of... intrigue telling "fun facts"... or not so fun since we'll be referring to a murder.
The epic at Baintha Brakk or Ogre (7,285m)
In July 1977, a small group of British climbers decided to climb in the Himalayas in the broader region of Kashmir, to the summit of the mountain Baintha Brakk or otherwise Ogre at 7,285m. The very name "Ogre" (a word of French origin referring to man-eating monsters) captured with frozen clarity the difficulty of the undertaking. There had already been two failed attempts preceding it, in 1971 and 1976.
Tupendeo- an incredible survival story
Everest, Mont Blanc, Aconcagua, El Brus, El Capitan, Matterhorn, Eiger… Famous, well-trodden and much-talked-about. But how many more mountains are hiding out there? How many peaks have enjoyed the boots of only a few brave climbers? How many more crevasses await discovery by strong mountaineers? Let's start with distant Tupendeo in the Himalayas and a story that reminds us of one of the greatest gifts the mountain can offer us: perseverance… or as they say quite aptly in our village: perseverance…