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
