News — Matt Dickinson

Matt Dickinson, author of Popcorn-Eating Squirrels and The Everest Files, has recently been in China and spent a whole week at Wellington College in Shanghai leading discussions, presentations and workshops on the theme of Mount Everest to the children studying there.

Here at Shrine Bell, we are really excited about the benefits of audiobooks for young readers, and are thrilled to announce that our bestselling YA series, The Everest Files trilogy, is now available in audiobook format! Perfect for ages eleven plus, the trilogy follows eighteen-year-old Ryan Hart on a gap year working for a medical charity in Nepal. From the get-go Ryan becomes entangled in a series of thrilling and shocking adventures set amid the world’s highest peak. In book one, The Everest Files, Ryan becomes embroiled in a lethal mission to investigate the disappearance of a stricken climber lost on Everest. In the heart-stopping sequel, North Face, Ryan...

The human body has incredible capabilities. It can adapt to deep sea pressure, it can survive extremes of heat and cold. It can rebuild after disease and famine. It also has systems to cope with extreme altitude, but, as climbers know, you have to approach things in the right way or things can quickly go wrong.  Everest is the ultimate test. To take the body to 8,848 metres pushes the human body to the absolute limit. On the summit there is just 30% of the oxygen we normally breathe. This puts the whole body under pressure: - Cells cannot rebuild and repair themselves. -...

Travelling to Everest is giving me the perfect opportunity to observe climate change in action. The region is filled with many glaciers and climbers frequently have to travel across them to gain access to the high peaks. Climate scientists have published many papers recording the rapid pace at which these high-altitude glaciers are melting. Controversy has flared up about the likely date at which Himalayan glaciers may disappear but it seems one thing is sure: the majority of Himalayan glaciers are shrinking fast. Earth Observatory provides graphic proof. The organisation takes historic photographs of glaciers from early expeditions and compares them to...