Page 11 - 20145 AMA Spring

Beyond The Mountain by Steve House
I have slipped this in as it is undergoing a re-print. I’ll let Ed Douglas be brief ...
‘As a window on what’s required to break barriers in the world of modern alpinism, this book is as good as any I’ve read. It’s full of action, full of crisp, often harsh sentiments. The narrative is often as jagged as the peaks he climbs, a series of interlinked snapshots rather a predictable arc. People die, relationships fail, but the restless hunt goes on. It’s not comforting, and it’s not romantic, and the laughs are rare. This is a serious game played by a brotherhood that takes itself very seriously. Not since Joe Tasker’s Savage Arena have I read a book by someone so uncompromising in his commitment” - Ed Douglas
Mountaineering in the Mont Blanc Range by Laroche and Lelong and Mountaineering in the Ecrins Massif by Chevaillot, Grobel and Minelli
Just a bit bigger (but much much thinner) than standard alpine guide books these two publications are both great guides and really useful sources of information on the areas. They contain routes in the F to AD+ range. Easy to interpret topos, clear colour photos of the routes and a load of “off the beaten track” routes make these useful for all mountaineers visiting the Alps however seasoned they may be.
Peaks NE and Peaks SE (Pokketz Guides) by Chris Craggs and Alan James (Rockfax)
I have included these last 2 as they have proven their utility to me this last Summer and Autumn. The Pokketz guides are very small concise guides to routes in the Peaks in the grade range Moderate to HVS.
Now that all the members of the AMA that on-sight E8 have stopped reading ..... the guides cover almost every notable crag in the Peak District. If you climb in the “popular” grades you won’t have
to rummage through a house-brick sized guide looking for stuff to have a bash at. You still get typically good Rockfax topos and a little bit of beta on access and directions. Each guide has about 500 climbs in it for £9.95 each. In a climbing media industry obsessed with 8c+ and the next E11 it is refreshing to find books specifically written for the average human being.