London, 2003, 1st UK edition. 306 pp, 20 color photos. Hardcover with dust jacket. Fine.
In an extraordinary story of endurance, courage and suffering, Jamie Andrews tells the story of his efforts to climb the North Face of Les Droites. As well as an enthralling epic of survival, this is a modestly told tale of rehabilitation where the pain often shows through despite the author's laid back style.
'The weather looked perfect when Jamie Andrew and his close friend Jamie Fisher set off to climb the formidable North face of Les Droits in the French Alps in Jan 1999. But a sudden ferocious storm hit them 10,000 feet up the mountain. They were trapped on a narrow ridge in temps of -30 C, battered by winds so strong the rescue helicopters could not reach them. After 5 nights doggedly clinging to life, Jamie Andrew was finally rescued, but his friend Jamie Fisher had died beside him on the last night.
His recovery to physical activity, aided by amazing careers after losing both hands and feet, makes a deeply moving book. Jamie Andrew's rescue after five nights trapped by a ferocious storm on Mont Blanc has passed into Alpine legend; his survival was miraculous - but his close friend died in his arms and Jamie himself lost both his hands and legs to frostbite. His description of that episode is both enthralling and harrowing.
The book also describes Jamie's life since he learnt to walk again on prosthetic legs - and since then he has married his long-term girlfriend, Anna, and, astonishingly, both climbed Mont Blanc again and ran in the London Marathon.
