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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Active outdoor pursuits > Climbing & mountaineering
In April 2012 Mark Horrell travelled to Tibet hoping to become, if
not the first person to climb Mount Everest, at least the first
Karl Pilkington lookalike to do so. He joined a mountaineering
expedition which included an Australian sexagenarian, two Brits
whose idea of hydration meant a box of red wine, and a New
Zealander who enjoyed reminding his teammates of the perils of
altitude sickness and the number of ways they might die on summit
day. The media often write about Mount Everest deaths and how easy
the world's highest mountain has become to climb, but how
accurately does this reflect reality? The Chomolungma Diaries is a
true story of ordinary people climbing Mount Everest with a
commercial expedition, and preparing for the biggest day of their
lives. Imagine your life clipped into a narrow line of cord five
miles above the earth, on the world's most terrifying ridge walk.
This book will bring you just a little bit closer to that
experience.
'A book of heart-stopping bravery and endurance' -- Helen Macdonald
'A great read - incredible adventures and a dramatic new
perspective' -- Chris Packham '[A] delightful, endlessly
fascinating book' -- Daily Mail BOOK OF THE WEEK This is the story
of a professional British tree climber, cameraman and adventurer,
who has made a career out of travelling the world, filming wildlife
for the BBC and climbing trees with people like David Attenborough,
Chris Packham and Helen Macdonald. James's climbs take him to
breathtaking locations as he scales the most incredible and
majestic trees on the planet. On the way he meets native tribes,
gets attacked by African bees, climbs alongside gorillas, chased by
elephants, and spends his nights in a hammock pitched high in the
branches with only the stars above him. This book blends incredible
stories of scrapes and bruises in the branches with a new way of
looking at life high above the daily grind, up into the canopy of
the forest.
In Continental Divide, Maurice Isserman tells the history of
American mountaineering through four centuries of landmark climbs
and first ascents. Mountains were originally seen as obstacles to
civilization; over time they came to be viewed as places of
redemption and renewal. The White Mountains stirred the
transcendentalists; the Rockies and Sierras pulled explorers
westward toward Manifest Destiny; Yosemite inspired the early
environmental conservationists. Climbing began in North America as
a pursuit for lone eccentrics but grew to become a
mass-participation sport. Beginning with Darby Field in 1642, the
first person to climb a mountain in North America, Isserman
describes the exploration and first ascents of the major American
mountain ranges, from the Appalachians to Alaska. He also profiles
the most important American mountaineers, including such figures as
John C. Fremont, John Muir, Annie Peck, Bradford Washburn, Charlie
Houston, and Bob Bates, relating their exploits both at home and
abroad. Isserman traces the evolving social, cultural, and
political roles mountains played in shaping the country. He
describes how American mountaineers forged a "brotherhood of the
rope," modeled on America's unique democratic self-image that
characterized climbing in the years leading up to and immediately
following World War II. And he underscores the impact of the
postwar "rucksack revolution," including the advances in technique
and style made by pioneering "dirtbag" rock climbers. A
magnificent, deeply researched history, Continental Divide tells a
story of adventure and aspiration in the high peaks that makes a
vivid case for the importance of mountains to American national
identity.
When the Wells sisters from the tiny English hamlet of Denton, near
Ilkley, Yorkshire, took up mountaineering at the start of the
twentieth century, little did they know that they were to become
pioneers in women's climbing in the UK. At the time of the growing
strength of the Women's Suffragette movement, women-only
mountaineering began to increase in popularity. This story
describes the adventures of Paddy, Trilby and Biddy Wells, through
Wharfedale, the Lake District, North Wales, Scotland and the Alps,
including the first all-female traverse of the Skye ridge, the
first female descent of Gaping Ghyll pothole, and the first female
to successfully climb all the Scottish Munros. There were links in
the lives of the three sisters to the Church of St. John in Ben
Rhydding; to the local ladies Hockey Club; to the founding of
England's first women only climbing club; to Bradford Diocesan
Council meetings; to innovative ideas in Special Needs education in
Bradford; to local amateur operatic and Gilbert and Sullivan
Societies; and to many leading and famous British mountaineers of
the period. This story will be of interest to the local people in
Ilkley and Wharfedale, to mountaineer's around the world and to all
those interested in discovering more about some remarkable,
independently minded women to whom we should all be in awe.
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.
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