Freedom Climbers - Hardcover

McDonald, Bernadette

4.3

853 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1926855604 ISBN 13: 9781926855608

Publisher: Rocky Mountain Books,Canada, 2012

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Winner! 2012 American Alpine Club Literary Prize (USA)

Winner! 2011 Munday Award, Banff Mountain Festival (CANADA)

Winner! 2011 Boardman Tasker Prize, Kendal Mountain Festival (UNITED KINGDOM)

Freedom Climbers--the most honoured book of mountaineering literature published in Canada--tells the story of a group of extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression following the Second World War to become the world's leading Himalayan climbers. Although they lived in a dreary, war-ravaged landscape, with seemingly no hope of creating a meaningful life, these curious, motivated and skilled mountaineers created their own free-market economy under the very noses of their Communist bosses and climbed their way to liberation. At a time when Polish citizens were locked behind the Iron Curtain, these intrepid explorers found a way to travel the world in search of extreme adventure--to Alaska, South America and Europe, but mostly to the highest and most inspiring mountains of the world. To this end, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nepal became their second homes as they evolved into the toughest group of Himalayan climbers the world has ever known.

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Product Description:

Between 1980 and 1989, Polish climbers were giant, world-wide leaders as high-altitude climbers, especially in the Himalayas. This volume documents those charismatic leaders and their iconic climbs in a defining chapter of Himalayan climbing history. The book tells the story of a group of extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression following the Second World War to become the world's leading Himalayan climbers. Although they lived in a dreary, war-ravaged landscape, with seemingly no hope of creating a meaningful life, these curious, motivated and skilled mountaineers created their own free-market economy under the very noses of their Communist bosses and climbed their way to liberation. At a time when Polish citizens were locked behind the Iron Curtain, these intrepid explorers found a way to travel the world in search of extreme adventure to Alaska, South America and Europe, but mostly to the highest and most inspiring mountains of the world. To this end, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nepal became their second homes as they evolved into the toughest group of Himalayan climbers the world has ever known.

Review:

A brilliantly crafted tale of mountain and political adventure that reveals a golden era in Himalayan climbing that was as glorious as it was tragic.--Sir Chris Bonington, author of Chris Bonington's Everest

-- (10/01/2012)

A gripping read, bound to become a classic of mountain literature.--Maria Coffey, author of Explorers of the Infinite

-- (10/01/2012)

...an incredible book that celebrates climbing's highest ideals.--Gripped

-- (10/15/2011)

Freedom Climbers gives some much-needed attention to several of the under-recognized superstars of high-altitude climbing.... I highly recommend this book.--Everest Book Report

-- (12/27/2011)

For many years, we in the climbing community have stood in awe of the accomplishments of Polish climbers. Relatively late into the Himalyan game due to political and monetary restrictions enforced onto them within their own country, the Poles sought the mountains as their escape. It was in fact the hardships they endured within Poland that hardened them physically and emotionally to seek out and endure the toughest climbs in the world. Freedom Climbers is a very enlightening and captivating look at the Polish climbing superstars, what drives them, their amazing accomplishments and their continuing role in pushing the limits in the mountain arena.--Ed Viesturs, author of No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks and K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain

-- (10/15/2011)

Hard to put down, Freedom Climbers is expertly and engagingly penned by Bernadette McDonald, the author of a number of prize-winning books on mountaineering. This time she has painstakingly pieced together a story of the over two decades of Himalayan exploits of Polish climbers, women as well as men, many of whom she knew personally. The figures and events of the glory days of Polish mountaineering are brought vividly to life. Both story and book are fully deserving of the years of attention lavished on them.--Patrice M. Dabrowski, The Cosmopolitan Review

-- (05/12/2012)

It was felt, according to this year's judging panel, to be one of the most important mountaineering books published in the English language for many years.--Lindsay Griffin, thebmc.co.uk

-- (11/19/2011)

McDonald deserves special praise for bringing to light the stories of these remarkable men and women, and doing so in a manner that does honour to their memory.--Wade Davis, author of Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest

-- (10/01/2012)

McDonald succeeds in bringing together all the elements of what is an epic tale.--John Appleby, Footless Crow Blog

-- (05/07/2012)

McDonald's greatest gift remains her ability to tap into the complexities of her characters. Freedom Climbers is a versatile text, but it is at its strongest when it plays up the human drama at hand: nothing rings truer or hits harder than the euphoric triumphs or the crushing defeats these characters face along their respective arcs, from their first moments at the peak of Mount Everest to the very edge of doom.--Craig Manning, Independent Publisher

-- (07/01/2012)

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