Although Nick Bullock discovered climbing relatively late in life, he has gone on to become one of the UK's leading climbers and mountaineers, making impressive ascents of bold and difficult routes in the UK and abroad. Nick previously worked for 15 years as a prison officer in high security jails, before deciding to take control of his life, to quit his job, and to devote his life to climbing and being frugal. He has climbed full time for nine years.

In September 2012 Vertebrate Publishing will publish Nick's first book 'Echoes'. The book covers Nick's childhood, his enrolment in the prison service, his discovery of climbing and the difficult and life changing decisions he subsequently made. Like the man, the book is direct. It is a powerful and compelling exploration of freedom – and what it means to live life on your own terms.

In this UKClimbing.com and UKHillwalking.com competition we have a great prize for you to win: an Amazon Kindle loaded with Vertebrate Publishing's award winning climbing biographies:

• Echoes, by Nick Bullock
• Freedom Climbers, by Bernadette McDonald
• The Wild Within, by Simon Yates
• Cold Wars, by Andy Kirkpatrick
• Troll Wall, by Tony Howard
• Adventures in the Northlands, by Tony Howard
• Rock Athlete, by Ron Fawcett and Ed Douglas
• Revelations, by Jerry Moffatt and Niall Grimes

All you have to do is answer the question below.

- This competition is only open to registered users at UKClimbing.com and UKHillwalking.com.
- Competition closes on 1st September at 09.00 GMT.
- The winners will be notified by email.
- Prizes will only be posted to a UK or Ireland address.
- The winners' names will be announced on UKC/UKH and facebook.com/UKClimbing.

To read more about Echoes, and to pre-order signed copies, visit our website: v-publishing.co.uk

To follow Nick, his adventures and his writing, visit his website: nickbullock-climber.co.uk

As we write this, Nick has just returned from Alaska where he and Andy Houseman have climbed the serious and difficult Slovak Direct route on Denali. Read an account from Nick here: nickbullock-climber.co.uk