London or Seattle, 1995, 1st USA or UK edition. 224 pp, color photos, index. Original red cloth hardcover, dust jacket, some pages age yellowed, else Very Fine, like New really. This is Fowler's first book and first editions have become scarce.
One copy is SIGNED on the title page by Mick Fowler ''Best Wishes, Mick Fowler.''
One copy is SIGNED on the title page by Mick Fowler, ''Alan, With kind regards and best wishes for the future. Mick Fowler October 2007.'' Loosely inserted in the book is a 2 page handwritten letter from Mick Fowler describing how he makes his climbing plans and juggles climbing, work and family. Its a very nice letter actually.
Fowler has climbed in the Himalaya, Karakoram, Andes as well as the Alps. This is his first book, the first set of mountaineering memoirs of one of Britain's leading mountaineers that was shortlisted for the Boardman/Tasker Award and published in Britain and the United States.
Fowler describes his full development as a climber initially under the tutelage of his widowed father, then with school friends in London, then to Britain's more esoteric haunts, (sea stacks and far flung ice climbs) and finally in the Alps, the Andes and the Himalaya.
Fowler, who works for the Inland Revenue, is now recognized throughout the world as one of the most innovative and widely travelled mountaineers of his era. With job and family life making all the normal demands, his big climbing ventures have to be squeezed into tight holidays. Despite this he has pulled off some of the finest climbs and first ascents of recent years that are envied by his fellow mountaineers for their shrewd esoteric selection, grandeur and bold challenge.
An author's first book eventually becomes the hardest to find, and if he is successful as an author, and climber in this case, it is usually the most expensive as a used book.
As of 2024 Fowler has written three books on his climbs and life as a climber, Vertical Pleasure: The Secret Life of a Taxman (1995), On Thin Ice (2005), and No Easy Way (2018); all three were shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, and so far never winning outright. All have been well received by readers and book collectors.
Fowler and his partners were awarded the Piolet d'Or three times, with Paul Ramsden, in 2003, 2013, and 2016.
If you want to know more about the 69 year old phenom named Mick Fowler, he has been profiled in the climbing magazines. However, the only place that has the room to list all his important climbs is Wikipedia. They have the space and the talent to create detailed profiles. Check him out:
Check out Wikipedia for most climbers today and in the past who interest you. Most successful and professional level climbers who are and were worth writing about have their page on Wiki. Just like Movie, TV and Internet stars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Fowler
