Climber's Choice (Best Climbing Writers Present Their Work) - Softcover

Ament, Pat

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071419497 ISBN 13: 9780071419499

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2003

Synopsis

Climbing and mountaineering have produced wonderful writing over the years. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is nothing like facing death to prepare one to write about life. The adrenaline-infused struggle of climbing the "big walls" or the world's greatest peaks does much to energize this great volume of literature, of course. But there are other reasons for its front-to-back interest. Climbing, like writing, is an individual pursuit demanding eloquence, discipline, strength, perseverance, a taste for irony perhaps, and an often poetic introspection. Sometimes even a sense of humor. Climber's Choice takes the time-honored tradition of collected writings to a new and inviting level: Select more than 20 of the world's best climbing writers, many of whom are among the world's best climbers and mountaineers, and ask them to submit their best short writing. No other anthology will have as many authors who have accomplished as much on the world's most forbidding mountains and rock faces or in the literature of the sport. Equally divided between rock climbing and mountaineering, they include: Greg Child, Steven Venables, Kirk Diemberger, Joe Simpson, Paul Pritchard, Royal Roberts, Chuck Pratt, John Long, Walter Bonatti, Chris Bonington, Alison Osius, Amy Irvine, Susan Fox Rogers, and others. They include four Boardman Tasker mountain literature award winners, two Banff Mountain Literature award winners, one Wallace Stegner award winner, and one American Alpine Club winner. Climber's Choice, by prefacing each piece with the author's own reasons for choosing it, will give readers a rare glimpse inside the writers' minds. Why is this piece precious? At what cost was it written? What's the history behind it? Each piece will also be introduced by Ament and accompanied by a black-and-white photograph of the writer, many of them from Ament's acclaimed collection.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Climber's Choice brings together writings by twenty-three of the world's best climbing authors, offering a tantalizing glimpse inside the allure and exhilaration of this fascinating sport. As individual in outlook and style as the authors themselves, the pieces in "Climber's Choice range from tales of high adventure--like Stephen Venables' haunting chronicle (published here for the first time) of his ascent of Monte Sarmiento, in Tierra del Fuego--to reflections on the human condition--as described in Chris Bonington's gripping account of his summiting, at age sixty, the 6,801-meter Himalayan peak, Drangnag Ri--to portraits of climbers and the climbing life--notably John Long's ribald account of the ragtag group of hippie rock climbers who flocked around climbing guru Jim Bridwell at Yosemite in the 1970s.

"This book is a lineup of star writers as well as star climbers, as powerful as ever assembled before. And they have selected their own favorite pieces! Definitely a novel approach, as one might expect from the fertile and inventive mind of that incorrigible original, Pat Ament. Dip into this volume and meet the brain children of an outstanding group of individuals who know how to climb and how to write about it."--Royal Robbins

Contributors: Pat Ament - Walter Bonatti - Chris Bonington - Greg Child - Kurt Diemberger - John Gill - Tom Higgins - Amy Irvine - John Long - Ian McNaught-Davis - Alison Osius - Jim Perrin - Chuck Pratt - Paul Pritchard - Royal Robbins - Doug Robinson - Susan Fox Rogers - Reg Saner - John Sherman - Joe Simpson - Mark Synnott - Stephen Venables - Ed Webster

About the Author:

Pat Ament is a well-known and internationally respected rock climber and boulderer. In 1965 and 1966, he pioneered the first climbs of a 5.11 grade, and did Yosemite's first 5.11 route in 1967. For over 30 years he has been a creative, eloquent, and prolific writer in the climbing world, publishing some 30 books and many articles and essays. A graduate of the University of Colorado Creative Writing Program, Ament has had eight of his essays included in international anthologies of the best climbing writing.

About this edition

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0071419497
• ISBN 13: 9780071419499
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 308