Good mountaineering reads

[Bigtree]

With all the lousy coastal weather this spring/summer I've been getting lots of reading in. Am just about through Lionel Terray's "Conquistadors of the Useless". Pretty good so far in terms of european climbing history/scene during the 40's - 60's. These guys were tough!

 

Next on the list is Walter Bonatti's "The Mountains of my Life" followed by Gaston Rebuffat's "Starlight and Storm".

 

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

[cj001f]

"Nanga Parbat Pilgrimmage" - H. Buhl - for another hardman

[bstach]

"The Ascent of Rum Doodle" ...its a classic and apparently reprinted in 2001

[Dan_Miller]

Most anything by David Roberts, particularily "Mountain of My Fear' and 'Deborah, A Wilderness Narrative.,

[i_like_sun]

Nanda Devi by John Roskelley is pretty rediculous. Also, The Boardman Tasker Omnibus, by Joe Tasker and Peter Boardman is a great book.

 

A more recent one I read that I thought was super good is Ed Viestur's new book, No Shortcuts to the Top. For how boring he is to listen to in speach, he does a great job of making up for it in his writing.

[Bigtree]

Interesting. I found used copies of Nanda Devi and Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage online for $4.25 and $11.88 respectively. The following description of the one by Buhl appears particularly good:

 

"To this day, Hermann Buhl's successful 1953 solo ascent of 26,620-foot Nanga Parbat remains one of the single greatest achievements in mountaineering history. On this peak, which over the years had claimed 31 lives, Buhl achieved something far beyond the accepted limits of human possibility and reached the zenith of his career. Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage chronicles Buhl's life, from the physical frailty of his childhood through the many years he spent building his J almost superhuman endurance to his great triumph in the Himalayas."

 

 

[TREETOAD]

Mountains of My Life by Bonnatti is a great read I think I have run through it three times. Also, The Price of Conquest, by Lino Lacedelli is another viewpoint of the K2 scandal.

 

Not mountaineering but really superb reading are the Aubrey/Maturin series written by Patrick O'Brian. If you enjoy British Royal Navy historical war. There are twenty in all and well worth reading.

[Jens]

I would have to second the Bonatti book.

 

I really like "Eiger Dreams" by John Krakauer

[TREETOAD]

That was a good one as well. I just looked at my book shelf and picked out a few, Minus 148 by Art Davidson will make you feel like a nancy boy. The Shining Mountain by Peter Boardman, Annapurna by Herzog is pretty good. I enjoyed Above the Clouds by Anatoli Boukreev.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Many books to recommend, but here's a good one that, surprisingly, many have not heard of. I found The Climb up to Hell to be a great read. Its written by a journalist (who was not a climber himself), and is about a rescue on the Eiger N Face.

[TREETOAD]

yup, good one.

[olyclimber]

Previous climbing book thread

 

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/624274/page/0/fpart/1

 

 

[Chad_A]

Has anyone mentioned "Breaking Point" by Glenn Randall, yet? If not, it really is a great read about the first free ascent of the SE Spur of Mt. Hunter. It also has some great insight on John Waterman.

[tvashtarkatena]

"Men Against Everest".

 

Accept no substitute.

[i_like_sun]

I've enjoyed all of Jon Krakauer's stuff. The guy is nuts.

[bstach]

Everything I have read of Greg Child's is of excellent quality and very entertaining. I have "Postcards from the Ledge" on my shelf, a collection of his short stories.

[sprocket]

Everything I have read of Greg Child's is of excellent quality and very entertaining. I have "Postcards from the Ledge" on my shelf, a collection of his short stories.

 

Agreed, Child's books are all good. Really enjoyed Thin Air and Mixed Emotions.

 

The Bonatti book is good too, serious hardman.

[moira armen]

I liked Mark Twight's book "Kiss or Kill"

[To_The_Top]

Childs book (already mentioned many times) Thin Air.

They made a movie that's coming out soon for "Into the Wild", was a good book.