The ultimate guide to Peak District gritstone sets out to embrace the best climbs across the whole of this, the most beloved of all the climbing areas in the UK. From Eastern royalty - Stanage, Froggatt, Curbar and Millstone - to the Western bastions - the Roaches, Ramshaw and Hen Cloud. From the cosy edges of the Burbage Valley to the wild heights of Kinder, Bleaklow and the Chew Valley. It's all here. Big crags, small outcrops, famous climbs and shy classics. If you need to know about it, chances are you'll find it in here. Published by the British Mountaineering Council in collaboration with the Wired Group, the book contains 2,500 routes from MOD to E10 from Eastern and Western Grit and is packed full of action shots, quality maps and topos, and contains comprehensive information.

"A dramatic story, ably and convincingly told . . . A chilling look at the precarious line between success and tragedy."--"Kirkus Reviews"

On May 15, 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall's death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter.

If David Sharp's death was shocking, it was hardly singular: ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus.

Written by an experienced climber, "Dark Summit" is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiraled out of control.

WINNER OF THE TIMES BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR PRIZE AT THE CROSS BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2017 In the spring of 1901 a teenager stood on top of a hill, gazed out in wonderment at the Australian landscape and decided he wanted to be a mountaineer. Two decades later, the same man stood in a blizzard beneath the summit of Mount Everest, within sight of his goal to be the first to stand on the roof of the world. George Finch was at the highest point ever reached by a human being and only his decision to save the life of his stricken companion stopped him from reaching the summit. George Finch was a rebel of the first order, a man who dared to challenge the British establishment who disliked his independence, background, long hair and lack of an Oxbridge education. Despite this, he not only became one of the world's greatest alpinists, earning the grudging respect of his rival George Mallory, but pioneered the use of the artificial oxygen that enabled Everest to finally be conquered thirty years after his own attempt. A renowned scientist, a World War I hero and a Fellow of the Royal Society, involved in the development of some of the twentieth century's most important inventions, his skills helped save London from burning to the ground during the Blitz. Finch's public accomplishments, however, were shadowed by his complicated private life and his fraught relationship with his son, the actor Peter Finch. Acclaimed biographer Robert Wainwright restores George Finch to his rightful place in history with this remarkable tribute to one of the twentieth century's most eccentric anti-heroes. 'One of the two best Alpinists of his time - Mallory was the other.' The Times

William Hutchison Murray (1913 - 1996) was one of Scotland's most distinguished climbers in the years before and after the Second World War. As a prisoner of war in Italy he wrote his first classic book, Mountaineering in Scotland, on rough toilet paper which was confiscated and destroyed by the Gestapo. The rewritten version was published in 1947 and followed by the, now, equally famous, Undiscovered Scotland. In 1951 he was depute leader to Eric Shipton on the Everest Reconnaissance Expedition. In later years he became a successful novelist and pioneer conservationist.

Conrad Kain is a titan amongst climbers in Canada and is well-known in mountaineering circles all over the world. His letters to Amelie Malek-a life-long friend-offer a candid view into the deepest thoughts of the Austrian mountain guide, and are a perfect complement to his autobiography, Where the Clouds Can Go. The 144 letters provide a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to Canada in the early part of the twentieth century. Kain's letters are ordered chronologically with annotations, keeping the sections in English untouched, while those in German have been carefully translated. Historians and mountain culture enthusiasts worldwide will appreciate Kain's genius for description, his passion for nature, his opinions, and his musings about his life.

"The authors bring extreme climbing to life. . . . Perhaps no author can rationalize why some choose to risk their lives . . . for the thrill of conquering a mountain. "The Ledge" comes perilously close and tells a ripping true story at the same time."--"The Denver Post"
In June 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood atop Washington's Mount Rainier, celebrating what they hoped would be the first of many milestones in their lives as passionate mountaineers. Then their triumph turned tragic when a cave-in plunged them deep inside a glacial crevasse--the pitch-black, ice-walled hell of every climber's nightmares.
An avid adventurer since youth, Davidson was a seasoned climber at the time of the Rainier ascent. But the harrowing free fall left him challenged by nature's grandeur at its most unforgiving. Trapped on a narrow frozen shelf, deep below daylight, he desperately battled crumbling ice, snow that threatened to bury him alive, and crippling fear of the inescapable chasm below--all the while struggling to save his fatally injured friend. Finally, alone, with little equipment and rapidly dwindling hope, he confronted a fateful choice: the certainty of a slow, lonely death or the near impossibility of an agonizing climb for life. A story of heart-stopping adventure, heartfelt friendship, fleeting mortality, and implacable nature, "The Ledge" chronicles the elation and grief, dizzying heights and punishing depths, of a journey to hard-won wisdom.
"Plunges readers into a dark, icy chasm from which escape seems impossible. Then it reveals the strength it takes to look up, and to start climbing."--Jim Sheeler, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the National Book Award finalist "Final Salute"
"How Davidson] rescued himself is the core of "The Ledge, "and its most gripping part. The physical effort and will involved are astonishing.""--The Plain Dealer"
" "
"A moving portrait of friendship and loss.""--The Wall Street Journal"

On the night of 10-11 May 1996, eight climbers perished in what remains the worst disaster in Everest's history. Following the tragedy, numerous accounts were published, with Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air becoming an international bestseller. But has the whole story been told? A Day to Die For reveals the full, startling facts that led to the tragedy. Graham Ratcliffe, the first British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest twice, was a first-hand witness, having spent the night on Everest's South Col at 26,000 ft, sheltering from the deadly storm. For years, he has shouldered a burden of guilt, feeling that he and his teammates could have saved lives that fateful night. His quest for answers has led to discoveries so important to an understanding of the disaster that he now questions why these facts were not made public sooner. History is dotted with high-profile disasters that both horrify and capture the attention of the public, but very rarely is our view of them revised to such devastating effect.

The compelling account of recklessness, tragedy, courage, and rescue, this book's sobering depiction of Nature's danger is tempered by unforgettable portraits of the triumphant human spirit.

Climbers who court danger in the world's highest places risk far more than just their own skins. When tragedy strikes, what happens to the people who love them? Why would anyone choose to invest in a future with a high-altitude climber? What is life like in the shadow of the mountain? Such questions have long been taboo within the international world of mountaineering. Now Maria Coffey breaks this silence. She recounts climbers' stories of near-death experiences, and gives a voice to the families and loved ones of Chris Bonington, Ed Viesturs, Anatoli Boukreev and Alex Lowe, amongst many other famous names. Her riveting narrative weaves tales of adventure with first-person accounts of the people left behind, highlighting the conflicting beauty, passion and devastation of this alluring obsession.

WINNER OF THE OUTSTANDING GENERAL SPORTS WRITING AWARD, BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS WINNER OF THE BOARDMAN TASKER PRIZE WINNER OF THE MOUNTAIN & WILDERNESS PRIZE, BANFF FESTIVAL WINNER OF THE TONY LOTHIAN AWARD, BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB For the first time, drawing upon previously unseen diaries and letters, rare archive material and interviews, Everest - The First Ascent tells the remarkable story of Griffith Pugh, the forgotten team member whose scientific breakthroughs ensured the world's highest mountain could be climbed. A doctor and physiologist, Griffith Pugh revolutionised almost every aspect of British high-altitude mountaineering, transforming the climbers' attitude to oxygen, the clothes they wore, their equipment, fluid intake and acclimatisation. Yet, far from receiving the acclaim he was due, he was met with suspicion and ridicule. His scientific contributions were, quite simply, at odds with old-fashioned notions of derring-do and the gentlemanly amateurism that dogged the sport. Later in his career, his impact in helping athletes enhance their performance lasts to this day in the fields of cycling, swimming and running. This insightful biography shows Pugh to be troubled, abrasive, yet brilliant. Eight years in the writing, closely researched, and told with unflinching honesty by Pugh's daughter, Harriet Tuckey, Everest - The First Ascent is the compelling portrait of an unlikely hero.

Climber Andy Kirkpatrick's book is, by turns, gut-wrenching, entertaining and challenging. It will appeal to the adventurer in all of us.
WINNER OF THE BOARDMAN TASKER PRIZE 2008
Metro magazine recently wrote that Andy Kirk-patrick makes Ray Mears look like Paris Hilton. Words like boldness, adventure and risk were surely coined especially for him. As one of the world's most accomplished mountaineers and big-wall climbers, he goes vertically where other climbers fear to tread.
For the first time, this cult hero of vertical rock has written a book, in which his thirteen-day ascent of Reticent Wall on El Capitan in California -- the hardest big-wall climb ever soloed by a Briton -- frames a challenging autobiography.
From childhood on a grim inner-city housing estate in Hull, the story moves through horrific encounters and unique athletic achievements at the extremes of the earth. As he writes, "Climbs like this make no sense . . . the chances of dying on the route are high." Yet Andy, in his thirties with young children, has everything to live for. This is the paradox at the heart of the story.

Simon Yates is 'the one who cut the rope' in Joe Simpson's award- winning account of their epic struggle for survival in TOUCHING THE VOID. Afterwards, Yates continued mountaineering on the hardest routes. Perhaps the most testing of all was one of the world's largest vertical rock-faces, the 4,000-foot Central Tower of Paine in Chile. Battered by fercious storms, Yates and his three companions should have turned back. Instead they struggle on, living in hammocks suspended over the yawning chasm below. Their greatest difficulties, however, come not from the elements but from within themselves. Almost crippled with fear just below the summit, the disillusioned team is forced into a nightmare retreat. After resting in a nearby town, they return to complete the climb, but Yates knows he still has to face one of life's greatest challenges.