Great Climbs

by Chris Bonington

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Summary

This book encompasses the rich, broad spectrum of adventure that is mountain climbing, in a remarkable selection of first-hand accounts - most never before published - by 40 of the foremost mountaineers of modern times. Heroic Climbs looks at the development of climbing in the great mountainous areas of the world, from the Alps and remote ranges of Europe to the big walls and super ice of North America, from South America and the last great wilderness of Antarctica to the highest challenges in the Himalaya. Each section introduces the history of the region, to put into context the articles that cover many different eras. Here are the pioneering exploits - Charles Houston's vivid memories of Nanda Devi and K2 in the '30s; Bradford Washburn's recollections of meeting the challenge of Alaska's Mt. Lucania in 1937, and Sir Edmund Hillary's memories of "the last lap" for himself and Tenzing on Everest in 1953. Here also are today's climbers' stories - Catherine Destivelle's eleven days and nights spent clinging to a 3,000-ft. granite wall on the west face of the Dru; Paul Piana's and Todd Skinner's near disaster at the top of El Capitan's Salathe Wall; Barry Blanchard's cold fear on the ice of Mt. Temple's north face; Ed Webster's discovery of the dramatic beauty in the sandstone cracks of Utah's Canyonlands; Marc Twight's and Andy Parkin's body-bruising journey into "The House of Pain" on the Aiguille des Pelerins. Rutkiewicz, Venables, Fowler, Burgess, Calhoun Grissom, Habeler, Messner, Scott, Diemberger, Mear and a dozen more, men and women from many different countries, tell of their exhilaration, success, failure and redemption in the mountains in stories representing vastly differentstyles in both climbing and writing. While it may never be possible for climbers to express completely why it is they pit themselves against the heights, this collection of absorbing writing makes a valuable contribution to the reader's understanding and appreciation of the lure o

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