A good read

The Reids wrote

Quoted message said:

"Mountains of the mind"

I tried and failed. I found it too flowery and wistful to hold my
attention.

Chris

In article <[email hidden]>, The Reids
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

Not that recent (2003), but I have only just come across it:

Life and Limb by Jamie Andrew

JA deals with the tragic and debilitating consequences of being caught
in a storm during a winter ascent of Les Droites in the French Alps.

Gripping and inspirational.
--

Russ Clare

I've not read this yet, it only arrived from Amazon on Saturday, but...

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: (from the Amazon synopsis) The
unforgettable survival story of the year -- the astonishing, day-by-day
account of Aron Ralston's terrible accident, self-amputation, rescue and
recovery. On Saturday, 26 April 2003, Aron Ralston, a 27-year-old
outdoorsman and adventurer, set off for a day's hike in the Utah canyons.
Eight miles from his truck, he found himself in the middle of a deep and
remote canyon. Then the unthinkable happened: a boulder shifted and snared
his right arm against the canyon wall. He was trapped, facing dehydration,
starvation, hallucinations and hypothermia as night-time temperatures
plummeted. Five and a half days later, Aron Ralston finally came to the
agonising conclusion that anyone who was looking for him was not going to
find him in time. He then made the most difficult decision of his life: his
only hope was to amputate his own arm and get himself to safety.
Miraculously, he survived. Between A Rock And A Hard Place is more than just
an adventure story. It is a brave, honest and above all inspiring account of
one man's valiant effort to survive, and is destined to take its place among
adventure classics such as Touching The Void.

Cheers,

Glenn

Web site: http://www.andromeda-park.demon.co.uk
Speleo Vercors: http://www.speleo-vercors.org

"The Reids" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Having found the copy I bought and forgot about a year ago
combined with lurgy in Wasdale I just read "Mountains of the
mind" cover to cover. Really liked it. A nice change from all
those predictable expedition accounts. Its about why people climb
mountains, although I thought it rather ignored simple sexually
driven competitiveness?

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

--
Mike Reid
Review "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk/page63.htm#phil"

Quoted message said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

While this is not the greatest read, in terms of his prose, the
subject is interesting and a little unusual for the mountaneering
genre.

"Spies in the Himalyas"
MS Kohli and Kenneth Conboy
University Press of Kansas 2002

The story of a CIA/India attempt to put a nuclear powered spying
device on top of Nanda Devi, and its loss
(ever wonder why the Sanctuary is a no go zone)
by the way, this is non fiction

"The Reids" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Having found the copy I bought and forgot about a year ago
combined with lurgy in Wasdale I just read "Mountains of the
mind" cover to cover.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

### Agree with you Mike, I enjoyed it too.
One of the best books I've
read this year is 'Wanderlust-A history of walking' by Rebecca Solnit,
in fact I'm waiting for my wife to finish it so I can read it again 🙂
Graham

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.779 / Virus Database: 526 - Release Date: 19/10/2004

* The air of uk.rec.walking was filled with the delicate perfume
* of violets, as The Reids <[email hidden]> descended on a shaft
* of golden sunlight, and announced:

Quoted message said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

'Mountain Days and Bothy Nights' by David Brown and Ian Mitchell, Luath
Press Ltd., http://www.luath.co.uk, ISBN 0-946487-15-4., is a must for those
that love the Scottish hills. To quote from the back cover:
'Acknowledged as a classic of mountain writing and still in demand ten years
after its first publication, this book takes you into the bothies, howffs
and dosses on the Scottish hills. Fishgut Mac, Desperate Dan, Stumpy and the
Big Yin stalk hill and public house, evading gamekeepers and Royalty wih a
cameraderie which was the trademark of Scots hillwalking in the early days'

Oh - and I almost forgot, it's 7.50!

Regards: Jim Ford

On 19/10/04 5:07 pm, in article [email hidden], "Russ

Clare said:

Life and Limb by Jamie Andrew

JA deals with the tragic and debilitating consequences of being caught
in a storm during a winter ascent of Les Droites in the French Alps.

Last Christmas my family conspired to all give me books on mountains. A
number of these were anthologies and, after a while, things became horribly
familiar.

.... Two young men go into the mountains, badly prepared, thinking they would
be down in a few hours. They get caught in a storm. Still storms only ever
last 12 hours in these mountains. 5 days later they're loosing toes, waving
to helicopters using the wrong distress signals - and the choppers simply
move on. And of course they don't have enough food or fuel. Sometimes there
is a bit of variation, like one of them dies ...

... And it's been like this for over a hundred years. Truly amazing.

Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

Following up to Glenn

Quoted message said:

He then made the most difficult decision of his life: his
only hope was to amputate his own arm

Jeez!!!! <faints>
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to graham blamey

Quoted message said:

in fact I'm waiting for my wife to finish it so I can read it again 🙂

that's a good recommendation!
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to Jim Ford

Quoted message said:

* The air of uk.rec.walking was filled with the delicate perfume
* of violets, as The Reids <[email hidden]> descended on a shaft
* of golden sunlight, and announced:

blimey!
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

The Reids <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Following up to Glenn

Quoted message said:

He then made the most difficult decision of his life: his
only hope was to amputate his own arm

Jeez!!!! <faints>

What about that Irishman who got his head trapped?
--
Gordon

"The Reids" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

### also read this year:
'Down the great unknown' by Edward Dolnick. The story of John Wesley
Powell's 1869 journey of discovery and tragedy through the Grand Canyon.

'Killing Dragons' by Fergus Fleming. The Conquest of the Alps.

(I'm assuming that, as a Hispanophile, you'll have read all Gerald
Brennan's and Jan Morris' books 🙂

Anything by Barry Lopez.
'The great Divide' by Stephen Pern if you can find a copy.

(oops, this is turning into a book list)
Graham

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.779 / Virus Database: 526 - Release Date: 19/10/2004

Following up to graham blamey

Quoted message said:

(I'm assuming that, as a Hispanophile, you'll have read all Gerald
Brennan's and Jan Morris' books 🙂

Jan Morris yes, i'll check the other name.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"The Reids" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Following up to graham blamey
Jan Morris yes, i'll check the other name.

### Gerald Brennan:
'South from Granada'
'The face of Spain'
both in Penguin but could be OOP
Graham

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.779 / Virus Database: 526 - Release Date: 19/10/2004

"The Reids" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Following up to Glenn

Quoted message said:

He then made the most difficult decision of his life: his
only hope was to amputate his own arm

Jeez!!!! <faints>

And then he takes a photo of the amputated arm, still wedged under the
boulder...

Glenn

Web site: http://www.andromeda-park.demon.co.uk
Speleo Vercors: http://www.speleo-vercors.org

Glenn said:

"The Reids" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Following up to Glenn

Quoted message said:

He then made the most difficult decision of his life: his
only hope was to amputate his own arm

Jeez!!!! <faints>

And then he takes a photo of the amputated arm, still wedged under the
boulder...

Hmm, I think some things are best left to the imagination. Extracts from
his book were in the sunday rag the other week - light finally dawned on the
question of how he dealt with the two lower arm bones.

Looking forward to seeing Touching the Void on C4 soon...

--
The scenery only changes for the lead dog.

Mail john rather than nospam...

The Reids

Quoted message said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

I bought 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' about 20 years ago and
have only started reading it this year. Mind you I probably couldn't have
grasped the philosophy earlier - tis a feel-good book imho and though old
and not about mountains - the feelin' is the same.

Kay

The Reids said:

Any other books come out (not expedition accounts unless of
Touching the Void quality) over the last year or so anyone can
recommend?

Going back a bit now, it's out of print but the library has it.

'The First Fifty', Muriel Gray.

Prepared to have the p*** ripped well and truly out of you as a
hillwalker, but a hilarious and actually informative read. One of the
most entertaining walking books I've read. It hit the spot with me.

Currently reading 'The Death Zone', Matt Dickinson, kindled by watching
a documentary on the 1996 Everest disaster. 'Into Thin Air' to follow.

Steve

Captain Scott by Ranulph Fiennes.

Cracking book. It gave me an insight to levels of pain and what someone can
achieve.

--
Dave (MIB)
from Co. Durham
________________________
http://www.daveritchie.com