SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 'The best Everest book I've read since Into Thin Air. Synnott's climbing skills take you places few will ever dare to tread, but it's his writing that will keep you turning pages well past bedtime.' - Mark Adams Veteran climber Mark Synnott never planned on climbing Mount Everest. But a hundred-year mystery lured him into an expedition where a history of passionate adventure, chilling tragedy, and human aspiration unfolded. George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were last seen in 1924, eight hundred feet shy of Everest's summit. A century later, we still don't know whether they achieved their goal of being first to reach the top, decades before Hillary and Norgay in 1953. Irvine carried a camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit and take a photograph before they fell to their deaths? Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face to try and find Irvine's body and the camera. But during a season described as 'the one that broke Everest', an awful traffic jam of climbers at the summit resulted in tragic deaths. Synnott's quest became something bigger than the original mystery that drew him there - an attempt to understand the madness of the mountain and why it continues to have a magnetic draw on explorers. Exploring how science, business and politics have changed who climbs Everest, The Third Pole is a thrilling portrait of the mountain spanning a century.

In 2017 the English Lake District was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO as a "cultural landscape" of global significance; a landscape gifted by Nature and modified by the activities of humankind to create a very distinctive and special place.The famous English landscape painter John Constable once said "We see nothing truly until we understand it". This suggests that gaining some understanding of why Lake District landscapes look as beautiful as they do will enable us see them more clearly and have our enjoyment of them enriched. To provide a beginning to this understanding is what this book is all about. Readers are taken to 22 prominent viewpoints around the World Heritage Site, all with an historical, Norse-derived name of 'how' or 'knott'. Then, whether sitting on a rock at the viewpoint or sitting in an armchair at home (with an online panorama to assist), the guide relates the historical story of the view - how the key features came about and how they may change in the future in response to new environmental challenges. After reading this book, readers will have enjoyed the beauties and story of the Lake District's acclaimed landscapes, and quite probably will not look at them again in quite the same way.

On 25 January 2018, Elisabeth Revol and her climbing partner Tomasz Mackiewicz summited Nanga Parbat, the killer mountain. Situated in the Karakoram, the world's ninth-highest peak is an immense ice-armoured pyramid of rock rising to an altitude of 8,125 metres. Elisabeth and Tomek had completed only the second winter ascent of the mountain, and Elisabeth had become the first woman to summit Nanga Parbat in winter. But their euphoria was short-lived. As soon as they reached the top, their adventure turned into a nightmare as Tomek was struck by blindness. In her own words, Elisabeth tells the story of this tragedy and the extraordinary rescue operation that resounded across the globe as fellow climbers flew in from K2 to help the stricken pair. She confronts her memories, her terror, her immense pain and the heartbreak of having survived, alone. To Live is Elisabeth Revol's poignant tribute to her friend and climbing partner.

In the towering mountains of northern India, a chilling chapter was written in the history of international espionage.

After the Chinese detonated their first nuclear test in 1964, America and India, which had just fought a border war with its northern neighbor, were both justifiably concerned. The CIA knew it needed more information on China's growing nuclear capability but had few ways of peeking behind the Bamboo Curtain. Because of the extreme remoteness of Chinese testing grounds, conventional surveillance in this pre-satellite era was next to impossible.

The solution to this intelligence dilemma was a joint American-Indian effort to plant a nuclear-powered sensing device on a high Himalayan peak in order to listen into China and monitor its missile launches. It was not a job that could be carried out by career spies, requiring instead the special skills possessed only by accomplished
mountaineers. For this mission, cloaks and daggers were to be replaced by crampons and ice axes.

"Spies in the Himalayas" chronicles for the first time the details of these death-defying expeditions sanctioned by U.S. and Indian intelligence, telling the story of clandestine climbs and hair-raising exploits. Led by legendary Indian mountaineer Mohan S. Kohli, conqueror of Everest, the mission was beset by hazardous climbs, weather delays, aborted attempts, and even missing radioactive materials that may or may not still pose a contamination threat to Indian rivers.

Kept under wraps for over a decade, these operations came to light in 1978 and have been long rumored among mountaineers, but here are finally given book-length treatment. Spies in the Himalayas provides an inside look at a CIA mission from participants who weren't agency employees, drawing on diaries from several of the climbers to offer impressions not usually recorded in covert operations. A host of photos and maps puts readers on the slopes as the team attempts repeatedly to plant the sensor on a Himalayan summit.

An adventure story as well as a new chapter in the history of espionage, this book should appeal to readers who enjoyed Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and to anyone who enjoys a great spy story.

Rock Climbing Wyoming describes 11 major climbing areas in the state of Wyoming. It offers approximately 550 climbing routes for beginners and experts alike. Maps, color topos, and stunning action photos accompany clearly written descriptions of the routes to make this an indispensable resource for the best climbing in "Wonderful Wyoming".

If you had something really important to shout about, you could do worse than to climb to the point furthest from the centre of the Earth - some 2,150 metres higher than the summit of Everest - to do it. Their goal was to raise money and awareness to help fund new schools in Tibet. Their mission was to shout out peace messages they had collected from children around the world in the lead up to the Millennium. They wanted to promote Earth Peace by highlighting Tibet and the Dalai Lama's ideals. The team comprised Tess Burrows, a mother of three in her 50s; Migmar, a young Tibetan prepared to do anything for his country but who had never been on a mountain before; and two accomplished mountaineers in their 60s. For Tess, it became a struggle of body and mind, as she was symbolically compelled towards the highest point within herself.

A rediscovered mountaineering classic and the extraordinary true story of a daring escape up Mount Kenya by three prisoners of war. When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, prisoner of war Felice Benuzzi is transfixed. The tedium of camp life is broken by the beginnings of a sudden idea - an outrageous, dangerous, brilliant idea. There are not many people who would break out of a P.O.W. camp, trek for days across perilous terrain before climbing the north face of Mount Kenya with improvised equipment, meagre rations, and with a picture of the mountain on a tin of beef among their more accurate guides. There are probably fewer still who would break back in to the camp on their return. But this is the remarkable story of three such men. No Picnic on Mount Kenya is a powerful testament to the human spirit of revolt and adventure in even the darkest of places. "The history of mountaineering can hardly present a parallel to this mad but thrilling escapade" - Saturday Review "A most extraordinary prisoner-of-war and escape story" - New Yorker "A mad venture and a gallant tribute to man's deep yearning for freedom" - Kirkus Reviews "The book crackles with the same dry humour as its title. It contains the prison-yard bartering and candlelight stitching that mark a classic jailbreak yarn; the encounters with wild beasts in Mount Kenya's forest belt are as gripping, and the descriptions of sparkling glaciers as awe-inspiring, as any passage in the great exploration diaries of the early 20th century" - The Economist

A unique hill-walking guide with a culminative ascent of the height of Everest, written in Peter Owen Jones' unique descriptive style. Scaling the peaks of Everest, the world's highest mountain, is the ultimate physical and mental challenge that the human race can aspire to. But as it takes years of preparation and a minimum of GBP25,000 to achieve, it remains out of reach to most of us. This book allows ordinary people to embark on their own personal `Everest' without leaving England's green and pleasant land. Ascending hills of varying sizes whose ascents add up to the same height as Mount Everest, celebrity vicar and countryman Peter Owen Jones guides you on a road trip covering hand-picked hill-climbs in different parts of England. The climbs can be done mindfully over a limited period - 12 days is the suggested timescale - or as fast as possible, thus creating a physical challenge rather like the Three Peaks. The climbs could also be undertaken separately over longer periods of time and used as opportunities for mindfulness and quiet meditation under Peter's expert spiritual guidance. The journey takes in sacred places found on coastal cliff walks, ancient holy sites, tors, peaks, mountains and the highest church in England.

This handy, pocket-size manual provides easy-to-understand, step-by-step guidance to climbers transitioning to the advanced level of trad rock climbing.

K2 is almost 800ft shorter than Everest, yet it's a far harder climb. Many great mountaineers became obsessed with reaching its summit, not all of them lived to tell of their adventures. Capturing the depth of their obsession, the heart-stopping tension of the climb and delving into the controversy that still surrounds the first ascent, Mick Conefrey delivers the definitive account of the 'Savage Mountain'. From drug-addicted occultist Aleister Crowley to the brilliant but tortured expedition leader Charlie Houston and, later, the Italian duo who finally made it to the top, Conefrey resurrects the tragic heroes, eccentric dreamers and uncompromising rivalries forever instilled in K2's legacy. This is the riveting, groundbreaking story of the world's deadliest mountain.

Is it not better to take risks than die within from rot? Is it not better to change one's life completely than to wait for the brain to set firmly and irreversibly in a way of life and one environment? I think it is ... taking risks, not for the sake of danger alone, but for the sake of growth, is more important than any security one can buy or inherit. - Charles Houston It was the failed summit attempt and a failed rescue in the Himalaya that brought Charles Houston MD fame and adulation in the mountaineering world. His leadership of the American K2 expedition of 1953 is still celebrated as the embodiment of all that is right and good in the mountains. Houston, a doctor from New England, became a leading authority in high altitude ailments and artificial heart research, advising the US government, military and academia. He made an unparalleled contribution to mountain medicine, building some of the first artificial heart prototypes in his garage and playing a key part in Kennedy's 1960s Peace Corps initiatives in India. In Brotherhood of the Rope, Boardman Tasker Prize winning author Bernadette McDonald traces the development of an American hero. This is the biography of a well-heeled New England medical man who excelled at expedition leadership and whose experience in the mountains helped his research into high altitude medical matters during his long and varied career as a doctor. Houstons's mountain adventures, the ups and downs of his varied medical career and the associated challenges of family life are related in a candid biography that touches on many aspects of twentieth-century affairs.

At the age of twenty three, Bear Grylls became the youngest Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest. This is the story of how he overcame severe eather conditions, dehydration and a last minute illness to stand on top of the world's highest mountain only two years after breaking his back.

Few experiences rival a grand outdoor adventure. Hiking into the wilderness, camping under the stars, and exploring the backcountry offer new challenges that awaken a woman's spirit and test her soul. Woman in the Wild: The Every Woman's Guide to Hiking, Camping, and Backcountry Travel is the perfect companion for any woman looking to get into the backcountry lifestyle or level up her current active outdoor life. Adventurer and guidebook author Susan Joy Paul provides real instruction for women of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to intermediate hikers and experienced mountaineers. She shares details gleaned from two decades of training and real-world experience, bringing together everything a woman needs to know to be safe, independent, and self-reliant at camp and on the trail. Five sections and twenty-five chapters cover hiking, camping, and backcountry travel from the basics to advanced skills. Backcountry Essentials: Learn what to wear, how to pack, and where to find hiking partners for your outdoor adventures You in the Wilderness: What every woman needs to know about nutrition, first aid, and personal care to stay healthy on the trail Pushing Off: Backcountry knowledge and skills around land navigation, terrain, and weather take your travels to the next level Reaching New Heights: Beyond the basics, understand how training, setting goals, and engaging strategies for success add a new and exciting dimension to your outdoor life Next Steps: Leave the flatlanders and fair-weather hikers behind with an introduction to high altitude mountaineering, winter camping, glacier travel, and more The backcountry beckons, and women want to go. With Woman in the Wild, they can!

The definitive story of the British adventurers who survived the trenches of World War I and went on to risk their lives climbing Mount Everest.
On June 6, 1924, two men set out from a camp perched at 23,000 feet on an ice ledge just below the lip of Everest's North Col. George Mallory, thirty-seven, was Britain's finest climber. Sandy Irvine was a twenty-two-year-old Oxford scholar with little previous mountaineering experience. Neither of them returned.
Drawing on more than a decade of prodigious research, bestselling author and explorer Wade Davis vividly re-creates the heroic efforts of Mallory and his fellow climbers, setting their significant achievements in sweeping historical context: from Britain's nineteen-century imperial ambitions to the war that shaped Mallory's generation. Theirs was a country broken, and the Everest expeditions emerged as a powerful symbol of national redemption and hope. In Davis's rich exploration, he creates a timeless portrait of these remarkable men and their extraordinary times.

Mani is a wild and sparsely inhabited region. Past the fertile zones of Githio and Itilo, the map will guide you to the bleak and arid part of the peninsula known as "Deep Mani" and as far as Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of the Peloponnese and entrance to the underworld. Many chapels are to be found dating from the mid-Byzantine period and hundreds of towers isolated or grouped in villages. Additional sights include the Frankish castle of Passavas and Diros caves

- hundreds of favorite routes, many of moderate difficulty, at Tahquitz and Suide Rocks- Trivia and route history sidebars- Stunning action photos- color topo maps with detailed directions to parking areas (GPS coordinates included)Best Climbs Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks is part of FalconGuides' Best Climbs series, appealing specifically to nonlocal climbers and locals with minimal time on their hands, all of whom seek visually appealing, to-the-point guides that filter out the very best climbs in some of America's most popular climbing destinations, with an emphasis on moderate routes ranging from 5.6 to 5.10.

* Allen Steck is a living legend, one of the best climbers with dozens of dramatic first ascents * Climbed with legend John Salathe * Long-time editor of Ascent Magazine * His nickname is The Silver Fox * Worked at The Ski Hut, specialized in sleeping bag design * In 1969, founded Mountain travel, one of the first adventure guiding outfits