THE FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS READING LIST
EVERY WONDER WHERE WE GET THE ATTITUDE FROM?
WE WOULDN’T DARE TO CLAIM THAT WE ORIGINATED THE PERSPECTIVE AND CHARACTER WE ADVOCATE, TOTALLY PLEDGING ALLEGIENCE TO AN ESTABLISHED SET OF ETHICS THAT GO WAY BACK TO THE START OF MOUNTAINEERING. WHAT WE THINK AND ACT UPON COMES FROM DECADES OF READING AND SYNCRETIZING STUFF FROM THE GREATS THAT CAME BEFORE, AND WE ENDEAVOR TO BOTH KEEP THESE HERETICAL IDEAS ALIVE AND CONTRIBUTE WHERE WE CAN.
WE KNOW THERE ARE A ZILLION CLIMBING BOOKS OUT THERE, BUT THESE ARE THE ONES THAT APPLY TO WHAT WE DO IN CHARACTER AND LOCATION IN BOTH TIME AND GEOGRAPHY. YOU WON’T FIND TOUCHING THE VOID, THE SAVAGE MOUNTAIN OR ANYTHING BY JON KRAKAUER, ANDY KIRKPATRICK OR HERZOG BECAUSE THEY LACK HALF OF WHAT OUR TRIPS ARE CONCERNED WITH, BUT YOU WILL FIND BOOKS THAT LINK THE HISTORY OF CLIMBING WRITING THROUGH MANY CULTURAL EPOCHS, AND BOOKS THAT INFORM ABOUT AN AREA OFTEN LEFT OUT OF POPULAR THINKING.
WE THINK THAT FRAN LEBOVITZ’S QUOTE “THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK, AND READ BEFORE YOU THINK” IS AS MUCH A PILLAR OF EXPEDITION CLIMBING AS ANYTHING SAID BY MALLORY. THE GREAT CLIMBERS OF OUR PEDIGREE WERE ALL VORACIOUS READERS, ALWAYS MENTIONING THE BOOKS THEY WERE INGESTING DURING LONG HOURS IN TENTS, AND MOST WERE ALSO DEDICATED WRITERS TOO EITHER BY TALENT OR CONTRACT.
READING GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE CONVERSATION, AS A KNOWLEDGE OF IDEAS BEYOND ANYTHING YOU WILL EVER COME UP WITH. WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF IMMORTALS AS WE CLIMB BIG MOUNTAINS IN DISTANT LANDS, AND READING AND REREADING THIS STUFF PEELS BACK THE LAYERS ON WHAT IS A CONFRONTING AND MULTI-FACETED PURSUIT.
WE RECOMMEND GETTING A KINDLE (THE ONLY DEVICE WE KNOW THAT HAS NO ISSUES WITH ALTITUDE) AND DOWNLOADING A STACK OF STUFF TO BRING ON TRIPS.
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FEEDING THE RAT. AL ALVAREZ
THIS IS A STORY OF MATES, WRITTEN BY ONE OF THEM AS A HOMAGE TO MO ANTHIONE, WHO EMBODIED THE GREATEST ERA OF BIG ALPINISM. NO BOOK DISTILLS AND SHOWS THE CHARACTER OF WHAT A CLIMBING TEAM CAN BE LIKE THIS, WE THINK SHOWING THE FUNDAMENTAL THING MISSING FROM WHAT INDUSTRIAL CLIMBING HAS BECOME.
‘THE RAT’ IS THIS SPIRIT, OR DEPTH OF CHARACTER, AND THIS BOOK EXPLAINS THE PREMISE BY SHOWING THE EXAMPLE. CLIMBERS MAY PROGRESS TECHNICALLY, AND EVOLVE OBJECTIVES, AND DEVELOP PUSH THE NUMBERS, BUT WITHOUT THIS ELEMENT ALPINISM REMAINS HOLLOW AND NO MORE THAN A SPORT.
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AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. WILFRED THESIGER
THERE’S HARDCORE, THEN THERE’S THESIGER HARDCORE, AND THESIGER IS A CONTENDER FOR THE FINAL WORD WHEN IT COMES BEING IN THE MOUNTAINS. NOT THE CLIMBER THAT SHIPTON AND TILMAN WERE (SEE BELOW), BUT WHEN IT CAME TO GOING INTO PLACES THAT NO ONE ELSE WOULD, THESIGER DID SO WITHOUT COMPROMISE. WE GREW UP ON THIS STUFF, ACCOUNTS FROM KURDISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, ARABIA, HORN OF AFRICA AND SOUTHERN IRAQ, TEMPERED WITH HELPING FOUND THE SPECIAL AIR SERVICE BETWEEN TRIPS TO PLACES THAT MADE THE NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN SEEM PRETTY TAME.
THESIGER DID THINGS AT A LEVEL OF GRASS ROOTS EXPLORATION THAT ONLY EXISTED FOR A BRIEF TIME, BETWEEN THE EXCESS OF EMPIRE AND THE COMMERCIALISM OF THE POST WAR YEARS. THIS GUY WAS USUALLY ALONE, HAVING LEARNT THE LANGUAGE, ALWAYS ARMED, NEVER AFRAID, AND NEVER IMPOSING HIS PRIVILEGED BACKGROUND FOR PERHAPS THE CLEAREST VIEW OF A WORLD THAT PROBABLY NO LONGER EXISTS.
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THE OGRE. DOUG SCOTT
YOU MAY THINK YOU’VE HEARD THE STORY, BUT UNTIL YOU READ DOUG SCOTTS 200 PAGE ACCOUNT YOU HAVEN’T. ASIDE FROM BEING THE MODERN STANDARD FOR ‘EPIC’, WHAT THIS BOOK SHOWS IS HOW MUCH POPULAR RETELLING EVICERATES THE ACTUAL EVENTS, AND HOW MYTHS ARE MADE.
EVEN WITHOUT THE THE PART WE ALL CAME FOR, THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLE CLIMB, WITH INCREDIBLE CLIMBERS ON A FUTURISTIC ASCENT. SCOTTS TELLING IS A LITTLE DRY, OR UNDERSTATED, OR MATTER OF FACTUAL, BUT NOTHING IN ALL THIS NEEDS EMBELLISHMENT.
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ASIA OVERLAND. MARK ELLIOT & WIL KLASS
TRAVEL NOW IS SO SAFE IT’S SHOCKING. IT’S NOT LONG AGO, PRE 9/11, THAT THERE WAS A SUDDEN EXPLOSION IN TRAVEL DUE TO THE COLLAPSE OF SOVIETISM. SUDDENLY LOTS OF PLACES WERE POSSIBLE, THOUGH MANY WERE A FAR CRY FROM A TRIP TO IBIZA, AND THE SURGE OF PEOPLE WHO LEAD THE WAY BECAME ICONS OF THE TIME. THIS BOOK WAS NOT AMONG THEM.
ASIA OVERLAND WAS OUT OF PRINT WITHIN ONLY ONE OR TWO SHORT EDITIONS, SMOTHERED BY STUFF LIKE LONELY PLANET THAT TURNED TRAVEL INTO TOURISM. THIS WAS DANGEROUS TRAVEL, FOR PEOPLE WHO HAD THEIR WITS ABOUT THEM, SOON BECOMING LEGEND DUE TO THE MENTAL STUFF IT DESCRIBES. THIS WAS OUR TRIBE, BACK WHEN WE STARTED CLIMBING IN CENTRAL ASIA, AND IS THE BEST NUTS AND BOLTS DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARLIE FOWLER-STYLE OF TRAVEL.
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WHITE LIMBO. LINCOLN HALL
NO OTHER BOOK OF THIS QUALITY OF DOCUMENTATION OF 8000m ALPINISM IN THE POST PUNK ERA. HELL, IT’S EVEN NAMED AFTER A POST PUNK SONG. WRITTEN BY A JOURNALIST WITH IMAGES BY A MIX OF PROFESSIONALS AND CLIMBERS, WHITE LIMBO PROVIDES MORE INSIGHT INTO WHAT THESE SORT OF THINGS LOOKED LIKE THAN ALMOST EVERY OTHER CLIMBING BOOK COMBINED.
REFRESHINGLY NO BULLSHIT, IN THAT OLD SCHOOL AUSTRALIAN WAY, AS THE CLICHE GOES THIS BOOKS DETAILS WHAT A BUNCH OF GUYS COULD DO WHEN NO ONE TOLD THEM THEY COULDN’T.
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MURDER OF THE IMPOSSIBLE. REINHOLD MESSNER
THIS IS IT, THE ALPINIST MANIFESTO, WRITTEN NO LESS BY THE GUY THAT CAME TO PERSONIFY THE SPORT. DRENCHED IN MESSNERS ACERBIC AND ALLUDING PROSE, THIS IS CLASSICAL RHETORIC, UNCOMPROMISING AND MONOLITHIC, AND THE ARBITRATING REFERENCE FOR ANYONE NOT SURE WHAT ALPINISM IS. NOTE THIS IS YEARS BEFORE MALCOLM McLAREN MADE TELLING THE ESTABLISHMENT TO F&%K OFF PROFITABLE, MESSNER PROVING THAT ANTIESTABLISHMENTISM IS A BASIC CHROMOSOME OF CLIMBING.
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THE CONFESSIONS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY
SUSPEND WHAT YOU THINK, THIS BOOK – ESPECIALLY THE ORIGINAL TWO VOLUMES THAT WERE UNABRIDGED – IS THE ONLY FIRST HAND DETAILS OF EXPEDITIONS TO K2 BEFORE WORLD WAR 1. AS EXPLAINED, WE DO NOT DABBLE IN OCCULTISM OR THE DARK ARTS (OTHER THAN AID CLIMBING), BUT WE CERTAINLY DABBLE IN UPSETTING CONVENTION WITH CLIMBING AND EXPLORATION AS A MECHANISM.
SKIP THE PARTS ABOUT LIBERTINISM IF YOU LIKE, BUT CROWLEYS ACCOUNTS OF HIGH ALTITUDE EXPEDITION CLIMBING BEFORE IT WAS A THING ARE MARVELOUS, AND A VITAL PIECE OF THE HISTORY OF THE GAME. THIS IS THE SEMINAL PERIOD, OF WHICH LATER STUFF SUCH AS THE MALLORY TRIPS WERE IN DIRECT RESPONSE, AND FILLS THE GAPS BETWEEN THE MYSTIC YOUNGHUSBAND STUFF AND THE GALLANT GENTLEMEN THAT CAME AFTER.
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UYGHER NATION. DAVID BROPHY
IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS AND HAVEN’T BEEN TO XINJIANG THEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION IN CHINESE TURKESTAN. THE DAVID BROPHY IS THE AUTHORITY ON MODERN UYGHER HISTORY, PUBLISHED AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS AFTER DECADES OF FIRST HAND RESEARCH IN THE REGION. UNLIKE THE SHALLOW SOURCES SQUEEZED THROUGH MEDIA OUTLETS THAT MAKE THE MOST NOISE ABOUT THE SUBJECT, BROPHY SHOWS HOW COMPLEX AND DIVERSE IT ALL IS, WITH NO OVERT POLITICAL AGENDA.
IF YOU READ ONE POLITICAL BOOK CONCERNING CHINA, MAKE IT THIS.
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WILD THINGS 1984 CATALOG
NOT AS OUT OF PLACE AS IT SOUNDS. ONCE, GEAR CATALOGS WERE THE DISPOSABLE INTERFACE FOR VANGAURD IDEAS, AND THIS CATALOG WAS A TREATISE ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE DAY. A SEAMLESS BLEND OF GEAR SELLING FOR THE JOB, AND TRIP REPORTS, TABLE, GRAPHS AND RECOMMENDATIONS AS HARD DATA FOR THE CONTEXT. ALL IN GLORIOUS, BLED INK, FAT FONT BLACK & WHITE.
NOT EVERYTHING WAS BETTER ‘BACK IN THE DAY’, BUT A SURPRISING AMOUNT HOLDS UP. TEH SELF-SCRUTINY AND ACCOUNTABILITY THIS AND OTHER CATALOGS OF THE ILK DISPLAY WAS BASICALLY THE PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH BACK WHEN PEER CIRCLES WERE SMALL.
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EAST OF THE HIMALAYA. TOMATSU NAKAMURA
THIS BOOK GIVES A HINT AT THE SCOPE OF WHAT’S OUT THERE, AND THOUGH NOT A CLIMBER NAKAMURA HAS CONTRIBUTED A HUGE AMOUNT TO THE LAST 30 YEARS OF ASCENTS IN CHINA. ANY SERIOUS ASCENT IN THE CHINESE HIMALAYA WILL HAVE REFERENCED NAKAMURA AT SOME POINT, AND THIS BOOK REFERENCES DECADES OF EXPLORATION AND THE SCHOLARLY MAPPING OF WHAT’S OUT THERE.
THOUGH MUCH OF WHAT THIS BOOK CONTAINS CAN THESE DAYS BE ACHEIVED WITH SATELLITE IMAGES, NAKAMURA COLLATED MUCH OF WHAT IS ACCESSIBLE. IF HE CAN GET WE CAN GET THERE AND THOUGH HIS PHOTOS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT A CLIMBER WILL NEED TO SEE, BEING MOSTLY FROM A ‘MOUNTAIN COLLECTORS’ PERSPECTIVE, THIS BOOK FILLS MANY OF THE LOGISTICAL GAPS THAT DEFINE HOW AND WHEN A PEAK CAN BE CLIMBED.
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CATALOG OF HIGH ALTITUDE PEAKS IN GANZI. WEN JUNHAO
IF NAKAMURAS BOOK IMPRESSES YOU THEN WENS BOOK WILL SET YOU ON FIRE. COVERING ONLY THE TIBETAN AREA OF CENTRAL WEST SICHUAN IT SHOWS A VAST ARRAY OF PEAKS, USUALLY DOCUMENTED FROM A CLIMBERS PERSPECTIVE, INCLUDING THAT OF FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS ALEX TANG.
WENS KNOWLEDGE OF THESE PEAKS IS ENCYCLOPEDIC, SEVERAL TIMES IDENTIFYING OBSCURE PEAKS FROM OLD PHOTOS FOR US, WITHIN MINUTES. UNLIKE NAKAMURA WHO IS JAPANESE, WEN IS FROM SICHUAN, AND HAS A MUCH GREATER EFFICACY OF WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY HIS OWN BACKYARD.
THIS BOOK IS HUNDREDS OF PAGES, FULL COLOR, AND A WORK STILL IN PROGRESS, AS WEN CONTINUES TO TRAVEL AND COLLATE.
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K2 NORTH RIDGE 1990. LYLE CLOSS
THE BEST DESCRIPTION OF BEING ON EXPEDITION WE’VE EVER READ, THAT IT’S K2-SPECIFIC IS JUST HAPPENSTANCE, BUT THEN MAYBE NOT.
CLOSS’ RECREATIONS OF DIALOGUE IS GREAT STUFF, BLURRING THE INWARD AND OUTWARD PROCESSES OF MONTHS OF EXPEDITION. THIS TALE TELLS IT FROM PLAYING SECOND FIDDLE, AMONG COMPETING ELITES, IN A PLACE AND A TIME WHEN THIS LEVEL OF EXPEDITION WAS GENUINELY EXTREME. THIS IS GONZO STUFF, FILTERED UNAPOLOGETICALLY THROUGH CLOSS’ PERSPECTIVE, AND AN EXCELLENT REMINDER THAT NOT EVERYONE ON A TRIP IS FEELING THE SAME WAY.
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ANNAPURNA SOUTH FACE. CHRIS BONINGTON
OF COURSE IS THIS IS A GREAT TALE, WELL TOLD BY BONINGTON WHO IS A GENUINELY GOOD WRITER. TO US WHAT WE LIKE IS THE TIME GIVEN TO THE MATTER OF PROTO GEAR, BASICALLY SEEING THIS AS AN R&D PROJECT FOR DON WHILLANS DESIGNS. THE CLIMBING IS MENTAL – BUT YOU CAN TELL THAT FROM THE COVER – WHAT EXCITES US IS THE GROUND-UP CONCEPT OF HAVING TO REINVENT THE GEAR FOR THE JOB
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FREEDOM CLIMBERS. BERNADETTE McDONALD
THIS BOOK EPITOMIZES OUR POLITICAL STANCE; THAT CLIMBERS CAN BRIDGE IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDES WHERE WORLD LEADERS CANNOT. McDONALD DID A FANTASTIC JOB PORTRAYING THE CLIMATE OF THE SOVIET ERA, AND THE WAY POLISH MAVERICK CLIMBERS LEVERAGED IT TO BE THE GREATEST CLIMBING NATION IN HISTORY.
EXPERTLY RESEARCHED – THERE’S A LOT OF DEAD PEOPLE MENTIONED – THIS BOOK GUTS ANY IDEA THAT CLIMBING MUST COME FROM A PRIVILEGED OR SPONSORED BACKGROUND.
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THE ART OF FREEDOM. BERNADETTE McDONALD
AFTER FREEDOM CLIMBERS, THAT KURTYKA REQUIRES HIS OWN ENTIRE BOOK SAYS IT ALL, NO LESS THAT HE IS STILL ALIVE AND LUCID TO TELL HIS OWN TALE. IT MAY JUST BE THAT ALPINISM FOUND ITS FULL EXPRESSION IN THIS GUY, THAT THESE EVENTS LEAD TO THIS SORT OF THINKING, WHERE ALPINISM IS NOT THE GOAL BUT A TOOL TO SOMETHING ELSE. JUST AS THE SEX PISTOLS SAID THEY WEREN’T “INTO MUSIC, WE ARE INTO CHAOS”, KURTYKAS STORY FRAMES CLIMBING IN WAYS THAT KEEP IT FROM THE MUNDANE.
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CHINA TO CHITRAL. H.W (BILL) TILMAN
NO ONE TELLS IT LIKE TILMAN. NO ONE. WHERE SHIPTON WAS THE SPIRIT OF ALPINISM, TILMAN WAS THE GUTS, WHO SET FORTH ON TRIPS THAT WERE THE OUTWARD EXPRESSION OF HIS GRIZZLED CHARACTER. ABSOLUTELY FEARLESS, OPEN MINDED, CURIOUS AND BIG HEARTED, TILMAN LACKS ANY OF THE WEAKNESSES THAT KEPT SO MANY CLIMBERS FROM THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. THIS WAS A GUY WHO FELT PRISON TIME IN AFGHANISTAN WAS ALL PART OF THE LAUGH OF CLIMBING AND A NECESSARY ELEMENT.
FOR THE PURE WORDPLAY ALONE, TILMAN IS WORTH READING. TURNING A REMARKABLE WAY OF SEEING THE WORLD INTO EVEN MORE REMARKABLE WAY OF CONVEYING IT. A PHILOSOPHER WITHOUT ANY WISH TO ONE, HE PORTRAYS A WAY TO BE IN THE WORLD.
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BLANK ON THE MAP & MOUNTAINS OF TARTARY. ERIC SHIPTON
SHIPTON IS EXPLORATORY CLIMBING. WHERE TILMAN WAS ADVENTURE, SHIPTON WAS ALL ABOUT THE CLIMBING, TO THE DEGREE THAT TILMAN DEFERRED TO ALMOST NO ONE, EXCEPT HIS EQUAL AND PARTNER SHIPTON. THESE TWO BOOKS SIT OUTSIDE THE COMMON NARRATIVE, NOT THE PRODUCT OF A COLONIAL ATTITUDE NOR AN ANTITHESIS EITHER. SHIPTON HAS NEAR-SAGE LIKE QUALITIES, UNCONCERNED WITH THE MOTIVATIONS OF EMPIRE. THAT HE WAS HAPPILY BOOTED FROM THE (SUCCESSFUL) EVEREST TRIP BECAUSE HE KNEW IT COULD BE DONE IN BETTER FORM, PIERCES RIGHT TO THE HEART OF MODERN MOUNTAINEERING IN A WAY THE MYTH MAKERS WOULD LIKE TO FORGET.
SHIPTONS TELLING OF THE MASSIVE TRIP TO THE KARAKORAM PROVIDES LUCID IMAGERY OF WHAT IT’S LIKE, AND HIS AMBIVALENCE TO LIVING AUSTERLY WITH HIS SHERPA AND BALTI EQUALS SETS A STANDARD. HIS INTEGRITY AS AN EXPLORER, CLIMBER AND HUMAN, SETS A BAR THAT WE TAKE VERY SERIOUSLY.
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NO EASY WAY. MICK FOWLER
FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS WOULD NOT EXIST IF NOT FOR MICK FOWLER, AS HE WAS THE GUY BACK IN THE EARLY 2000s WHO REALLY PUT THE CHINESE HIMALAYAS INTO WESTER CONSCIOUSNESS. WHERE THE OTHER FOWLER, CHARLIE, WAS CLIMBING UNDER THE RADAR, THIS FOWLER WAS (MOSTLY) OPERATING ABOVE BOARD SO WE COULD ALL TALK ABOUT THIS STUFF OPENLY.
FOWLERS WRITING IS BOYISH, A BIT FORMATTED, AND KIND OF PREDICTABLE, BUT IN A RIPPING YARNS SORT OF WAY THAT IS VERY READABLE. WHAT WOULD BE HARROWING DRAMA IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE FISHING FOR A FILM DEAL, IN MICKS HANDS BECOMES LIGHT READING THAT UNDERSTATES HOW MENTAL THE EVENTS ARE.
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EXTREME ALPINISM. MARK TWIGHT
THIS IS THE MANUAL. WHATEVER YOU THINK OF MARK TWIGHT, HIS ESCAPADES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, AND WE CONSIDER HIM THE LAST BASTION OF MISFIT, DIY CLIMBING BEFORE IT WENT MAINSTREAM. THIS BOOK NAMES NAMES, POINTS FINGERS, GIVES FINGERS, EXPOSES TRUTHS AND BACKS IT ALL UP WITH PHOTOS NOT STERILE DIAGRAMS. ITS DATEDNESS IS HALF ITS CHARM, ITS MESSAGE BEING ONE OF SELF REFLECTION; IF YOU ARE NOT DATED ARE YOU SIMPLY STAGNANT?
OUT OF PRINT NOW. A PDF IS FLOATING AROUND. DO THE RIGHT THING AND BUY ONE OF HIS TRAINING PROGRAMS AS RECOMPENSE.
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THE DHARMA BUMS. JACK KEROUAC
BEFORE THERE WERE HIPPIES THERE WERE BEATNIKS, AND BEFORE THERE WERE BEATNIKS THERE WERE SIMPLY PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T FIT IN. SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE CLIMBED MOUNTAINS, IN THIS CASE UNCONCERNED WITH THE STUFF OF HERZOG AND HILLARY OF THE DAY, BEING MORE INTO THE ZEN AND DAOIST SAGES LIKE HAN SHAN AND LI PO.
THIS WAS A TIME WHEN YOU COULDN’T VOTE IF YOU HAD SIDEBURNS, AND YET THESE GUYS WERE SMOKING JAZZ CIGARETTES AND HOWLING AT THE MOON ON MOUNTAINS, NOT GREAT MOUNTAINS AS WE KNOW THEM, BUT MOUNTAINS AS PLACES THAT WERE OUTSIDE THE NORMAL WORLD.
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FOOTPRINT TIBET HANDBOOK: THE TRAVEL GUIDE. GYURME DORJE
WE HATE TRAVEL GUIDES. EXCEPT THIS ONE (AND ASIA OVERLAND WHICH DOESN’T REALLY COUNT). THIS BOOK IS THE ONLY ONE WE KNOW THAT TRULY COVERS THE TIBETAN HOMELAND, AND IS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE ON BEING THERE, FAR MORE THAN A GUIDE BOOK. UNLIKE LONELY PLANET etc THAT TURN PLACES INTO DISNEYLAND, THIS BOOK DISMISSES POINTLESS DETAILS LIKE WHERE TO GET WESTERN BEER, AND DEVOTES ITSELF TO INTEGRAL DETAILS LIKE HOW TIBET WORKS.
UNFETTERED BY FOREIGN ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE GEOPOLITICAL DIVISIONS IN TIBET, THIS BOOK COVERS ALL OF THE TIBETAN LANDS INCLUDING PARTS MANY DON’T KNOW. WE HAVE USED THIS AS OUR DEFINITION OF ‘TIBET’ FOR TWO DECADES AND IT WORKS.
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A SHORT WALK IN THE HINDU KUSH. ERIC NEWBY
FASHION DESIGNER AND NAVAL COMMANDO, ERIC NEWBY WAS OUR KIND OF GUY, THE SORT WHO LOOKED AT THE MOST DIFFICULT PARTS OF THE WORLD AND JAUNTED OFF TO GO THERE WITH A MIX OF STYLE AND GRIT. THERE’S NEVER BEEN A TIME WITH THE HINDU KUSH HAS BEEN EASY, AND TAKING A TAXI THERE FROM LONDON DURING ONE OF IRANS MANY CRISES, TO CLIMB A 7000m PEAK, IS EITHER THE WORK OF A FOOL OR OF A GENIUS, NEWBY OF COURSE BEING THE LATTER.
ED THINKS THE FINAL PAGES ARE THE BEST ENDING IN ANY CLIMBING BOOK WRITTEN.
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THE ASCENT OF RUM DOODLE. W.E BOWMAN
AS CLIMBERS WE TAKE OURSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY, FORGETTING THAT CLIMBING ITSELF CAN BE SATIRE ON LIFE IN GENERAL. THE BEST CLIMBING GOES HAND IN HAND WITH THE ABSURD, THE HILARIOUS, THE IRONIC AND THE WHIMSICAL, AND THE ASCENT OF RUM DOODLE IS BEST KEPT ON HAND AS THE ANTIDOTE TO SERIOUSNESS.
WE CONSIDERED RUM DOODLE EXPEDITIONS AS THE NAME OF THIS COMPANY, ONLY A COIN FLIP DECIDED.
