Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
I want to read the book!
All characters reduced
The Shining Mountain - The first ascent of the West Wall of Changabang - cover

We are sorry! The publisher (or author) gave us the instruction to take down this book from our catalog. But please don't worry, you still have more than 500,000 other books you can enjoy!

The Shining Mountain - The first ascent of the West Wall of Changabang

Peter Boardman

Publisher: Vertebrate Publishing

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

'It's a preposterous plan. Still, if you do get up it, I think it'll be the hardest thing that's been done in the Himalayas.' So spoke Chris Bonington when Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker presented him with their plan to tackle the unclimbed West Wall of Changabang - the Shining Mountain - in 1976. Bonington's was one of the more positive responses; most felt the climb impossibly hard, especially for a two-man, lightweight expedition. This was, after all, perhaps the most fearsome and technically challenging granite wall in the Garhwal Himalaya and an ascent - particularly one in a lightweight style - would be more significant than anything done on Everest at the time. The idea had been Joe Tasker's. He had photographed the sheer, shining, white granite sweep of Changabang's West Wall on a previous expedition and asked Pete to return with him the following year. Tasker contributes a second voice throughout Boardman's story, which starts with acclimatisation, sleeping in a Salford frozen food store, and progresses through three nights of hell, marooned in hammocks during a storm, to moments of exultation at the variety and intricacy of the superb, if punishingly difficult, climbing. It is a story of how climbing a mountain can become an all-consuming goal, of the tensions inevitable in forty days of isolation on a two-man expedition; as well as a record of the moment of joy upon reaching the summit ridge against all odds. First published in 1978, The Shining Mountain is Peter Boardman's first book. It is a very personal and honest story that is also amusing, lucidly descriptive, very exciting, and never anything but immensely readable. It was awarded the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize for literature in 1979, winning wide acclaim. His second book, Sacred Summits, was published shortly after his death in 1982. Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker died on Everest in 1982, whilst attempting a new and unclimbed line. Both men were superb mountaineers and talented writers. Their literary legacy lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, established by family and friends in 1983 and presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature. For more information about the Boardman Tasker Prize, visit: www.boardmantasker.com
Available since: 10/01/2014.

Other books that might interest you

  • Ruthless - Scientology My Son David Miscavige and Me - cover

    Ruthless - Scientology My Son...

    Ron Miscavige, Dan Koon

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    The only book to examine the origins of Scientology's current leader, Ruthless tells the revealing story of David Miscavige's childhood and his path to the head seat of the Church of Scientology told through the eyes of his father.  Ron Miscavige's personal, heartfelt story is a riveting insider's look at life within the world of Scientology. 
The introduction of this audio-book is read by the author.A Macmillan Audio production.
    Show book
  • Principles of Economics Book 5: General Relations of Demand Supply and Value - cover

    Principles of Economics Book 5:...

    Alfred Marshall

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Principles of Economics was a leading economics textbook of Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), first published in 1890. Marshall began writing the book in 1881, and he spent much of the next decade at work on it.His plan for the work gradually extended to a two-volume compilation on the whole of economic thought; the first volume was published in 1890 to worldwide acclaim that established him as one of the leading economists of his time. It brought the ideas of supply and demand, of marginal utility and of the costs of production into a coherent whole, and became the dominant economic textbook in England for a long period. The second volume, which was to address foreign trade, money, trade fluctuations, taxation, and collectivism, was never published at all. (Summary from Wikipedia)This reading is based on the eighth edition, published in 1920.
    Show book
  • The Winchester - The Gun That Built an American Dynasty - cover

    The Winchester - The Gun That...

    Laura Trevelyan

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    “Details the extraordinary life of Oliver Winchester, the company, and its rapid rise and slow fall as told by a distant family descendant.”—American Gunsmith   Arguably the world’s most famous firearm, the Winchester Repeating Rifle was sought after by a cast of characters ranging from the settlers of the American West to the Ottoman Empire’s Army. Laura Trevelyan, a descendant of the Winchester family, offers an engrossing personal history of the colorful New England clan responsible for the creation and manufacture of the “Gun that Won the West.”   Trevelyan chronicles the rise and fortunes of a great American arms dynasty, from Oliver Winchester’s involvement with the Volcanic Arms Company in 1855 through the turbulent decades of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She explores the evolution of an iconic, paradigm-changing weapon that has become a part of American culture; a longtime favorite of collectors and gun enthusiasts that has been celebrated in fiction, glorified in Hollywood, and applauded in endorsements from the likes of Annie Oakley, Theodore Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, and Native American tribesmen who called it “the spirit gun.”    “[A] detailed but accessible look at the life, times and commerce of Oliver Winchester—Trevelyan’s great great great grandfather—and his many descendants of both the human and firearms varieties . . . Whether you’re a fan of firearms or simply of American history, there is much to enjoy and learn in this easy-to-read and well-footnoted volume.”—American Shooting Journal   “The book is beautifully illustrated, with fascinating photos of the Winchester family, and with well-known historical figures—including the Native American leader Geronimo and President Theodore Roosevelt—clutching their repeating rifles.”—Times Literary Supplement 
    Show book
  • An Eagle Named Freedom - My True Story of a Remarkable Friendship - cover

    An Eagle Named Freedom - My True...

    Jeff Guidry

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    “A hauntingly beautiful story of rescue and rehabilitation….[A] gorgeous tale of redemption.” 
—Susan Richards, New York Times bestselling author of Chosen by a Horse“I could not put this book down.” 
—Stacey O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author of Wesley the OwlFrom the moment Jeff Guidry saw the emaciated baby eagle with broken wings, his life was changed. For weeks he and the staff at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center tended to the grievously injured bird. Miraculously, she recovered, and Jeff, a center volunteer, became her devoted caretaker. 
Though Freedom would never fly, she had Jeff as her wings. And after Jeff was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000, Freedom returned his gift. Between sessions of debilitating chemotherapy, Jeff went back to Sarvey and began taking Freedom for walks that soothed his spirit and gave him the strength to fight. A tender tale of hope, love, trust, and life, this moving true story is an affirmation of the spiritual connection that humans and animals share.
    Show book
  • The Adventures of Sir Samuel White Baker - Victorian Hero - cover

    The Adventures of Sir Samuel...

    M.J. Trow

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    Sir Samuel White Baker is one of those larger-than-life heroes only the Victorians could invent. For too long, the British Empire has been denigrated and equated with arrogance at best and racial bigotry at worst. Samuel Baker transcends that. He was an explorer and naturalist, recording new species on his many travels; a big game hunter with huge expertise across continents; an engineer of skill and ingenuity; a general of ability; an administrator second to none; and an ardent opponent of African slavery. M. J. Trow, in this the first biography of Baker for twenty years, draws heavily on Bakers prolific writings to bring the extraordinary character of this Victorian adventurer and his achievements to life.
    Show book
  • Catastrophe - The Story of Bernard L Madoff the Man Who Swindled the World - cover

    Catastrophe - The Story of...

    Deborah Strober

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 
    In this comprehensive account of Bernie Madoff's epic Ponzi scheme, Catastrophe exposes the real story behind the financial mastermind's upstanding façade—his confession, his family's involvement, and his unlikely rise and incredible crash. The book defines and explains the whole diabolical debacle, including how Madoff evaded SEC watchdogs and how his far-reaching crime pervaded the world. With first-hand accounts from his victims, the book peels back Madoff's persona layer by layer, revealing how he developed his elaborate deceit and how and why he targeted and scammed the world of Jewish philanthropy. Complete with the famous whistle-blower letter to the SEC, the Madoff company mission statement, SEC filings, and a list of victims—from housewives to household names—Catastrophe offers a complete look at the white-collar crime of the century, one that will leave readers astounded in disbelief.
    Show book