In reply to Gone for good: Suppose I asked for it! A few examples:
p5 - title of Young's book wrong.
p177 - "cornice" can surely only be applied to a snow feature.
p178 - Blodig was of course famous for ascents of the 4000 metre peaks of the Alps. One understands that Canadians don't think in metres, but he might have realised that 4000 of them account for more than 13000 feet, not 12000.
p262 - to call Mallory a "ridge-walker" is just misleading or at least the wrong expression. Also, deeming the West Ridge "impossible" is less than accurate.
p263 - saying that the North Col would turn out to be "the key to the mountain" is also misleading - it is one of the keys to the mountain from that side, but the South Col "would turn out to be the key...."
p290 - suggesting that the Lhotse Face is 70-80 degrees really exposes his lack of mountaineering understanding. The average angle is only just over 30.
p475 - states that Odell was "already a member of the Alpine Club" by the time he was 16. All he had to do was ask, as Odell's application form is in the AC Archives - he was 26 (and if you look at p475, it isn't just a typo).
p567 - I doubt Conrad Anker himself would lay claim to being "arguably the finest climber of his generation".
p594 - Mummery's first name wrong.
Don't want to descend into pedantry, but it just gave me the impression of a man who doesn't really understand climbing, which in turn led me to wonder about the FWW section, about which I know very little.
Having said all of that, I totally agree that it is largely a well written book and "a good read". I just finished up not really knowing what I could trust.