UKC

hello all

the Guardian runs a 'top 10' books column, and the most recent columnist is Andy Cave, with his top ten books on alpinism.

as this is a topic regularly debated on here, I thought i'd link to the list so you can all argue about his choices

http://books.guardian.co.uk/top10s/top10/0,,2276931,00.html

In reply to CJD:
Wot, no 'The White Spider'? I would probably have added 'Scrambles Amongst the Alps' too. They're all good books on the list, though.

In reply to CJD: haven't read No Picnic On Mt Kenya - sounds worth a read

wouldn't argue much with the others but I preferred Elusive Summits to A Slender Thread and whilst Thin Air is a good read it's also a bit suspect

it doesn't surprise me that Cave chooses to eschew Harrer

In reply to Paul Atkinson: ps whilst modesty prevents Cave from doing so, I would certainly include Learning To Breathe in my top 10

In reply to CJD:

Some good stuff, but I've not read them all. I can't imagine a 10 best alpinism books list without Desmaison's Total Alpinism.

Stuart

In reply to CJD:
The Guardians intellectual limits only allow raving lefties so maybe its a tad biased to some sort of Thatcherhatefest

In reply to CJD: Nanda Devi by Shipton and Tilman!!!

Clare -

One of my top 5 will usually be Desmaisons Total Alpinism

In reply to CJD:
I just have to go off on a slight tangent here to say what a wonderful book Savage Arena is. The people in it are so human, the suffering so real and the achievements truly inspirational. Even now, having not read it for approx 5 years I feel slightly breathless with excitement thinking about it!
Tasker was a sad loss to the mountaineering world.

In reply to Alex Roddie: The white spider is historic but i found it a clunky read, the germanic style did my head in!

In reply to CJD:

Great post! Lots of things here to stir the memories. But I wonder whether we need to differentiate between 'Alpine' and 'High-altitud' categorisations?

But thanks anyway.

In reply to Paul Atkinson:

Quite agree on this. "Slender Thread" is a very good book, but Victor Saunders' books are among my favourites ever. By the way, the Panch Chuli V story is in "No Place To Fall", not in "Elusive Summits"



"Suspect" is a bit of an understatement (read "The Climb" to see why)


Nor it does surprise me!

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

have you read "In Monte Viso's Horizon"?

In reply to CJD: Gpod list!

Not alpinism, but I saw this list in the Telegraph this weekend and it looks like it contains some real gems, dangerously.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1921797/Books-that-touched-our-souls...

In reply to Anonymous:

One of my favourite climbing book EVER. The final chapters (particularly the one the Aiguille Blanche) never fails to move me, as I thinks it captures the spirit of the Italian side of the MB better than almost any other book I've read.

In reply to Paul Atkinson:

I thought Learning to Breath was an immense book. Having said that, I preferred to read about his life outside climbing - he seems like a natural raconteur.

As for Into Thin Air, I preferred Matt Dickinson's tale, The Death Zone. Krakauer's account was bursting with facts, Dickinson's read better.

In reply to Luca Signorelli:

I was given Thin Air and The Climb and told to read them in that order to avoid my blood pressure going up too much with all the nastiness about Boukeerev.

No Picnic was like reading an adventure story, escaping from POW camp with home made gear then returning to the camp after success.

Not read Shining Mountain, must rectify that and re read Savage Arena. Must also read Caves book, got very good reports on it.

Buhl and Terrays books were good, as was Rebuffatt. Would buy them all again.

A good selection from Mr Cave.

In reply to CJD: What about Bonatti's two classics 'On The Height's' and 'The Great Days'. Surely amongst the best books on climbing ever written IMHO. Then there is Charlie Houstons 'K2 The Savage Mountain' and 'Five Miles High'. Agree with his list save for Into Thin Air and No Picnic on Mount Kenya.

In reply to Allan McDonald:

I think "The Mountains of my Life" is an amalgam of "On the Heights" and "The Great Days", with a revised section on the K2 controversy. The new book is a much better translation, and much better edited by Robert Marshall.

In reply to CJD:

o go off at a tangent - 'The Lonely Sea and the Sky' Francis Chichesters autobiography is just awesome. What a life of adventure he led, just brilliant.

For an old school Alpinism tip Mummery's "My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus" is great.

Must re-read Savage Arena and Julie Tullis's autobiog.

Caves's new book is excellent, I read it at the weekend.

In reply to CJD: Greg Child 'Into Thin Air' is one of the finest Himalayan climbing books - I don't tire of ever reading it. Equally, Anderl Heckmair is the equal of Bonatti et al....

In reply to CJD:

If you want to actually get an insight into how to do alpinism, rather than just read high tales of other people's derring-do, then Twight's Extreme Alpinism is mandatory.

In reply to MattG:

I know what you mean and i suspect that a different translator would have done a better job there, 7 years in tibet was a much better read...

In reply to John Wood:

in terms of prose style i hasten to add, - I think the white spider is quite an omission.

In reply to MalcC:

You might want to get your carer to explain the thread to you.

In reply to CJD:

I have read the first eight on the list. I am not a fan of In to thin air, but the others are IMHO excellent reads. Not read the Mount Kenya book, but have seen a film version of it, with Ben Cross.

In reply to The New NickB:


>You might want to get your carer to explain the thread to you.


Aye, his original post didn't even make any real sense. "Intellectual limits"- WTF. Proved his own.