Postcards From The Ledge
Collected Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
* Reflections and humorous pieces, plus insights into some of mountaineering's more controversial events
* Revealing portraits of other Himalayan climbers
Peeling back the layers to reveal the gritty truth about the elite climbing world is Greg Child's specialty. With clever wit, sharp observations, and insightful reflections, Child's writing covers the full spectrum of the mountaineering experience.
Entertaining even to those who have never been above sea level, Child's stories reveal climbing's other face. His description of the daily habits of mountaineers on expedition (who don't bathe for months) is both disgusting and horrifyingly funny. A post-climb fiasco in the offices of petty Pakistani bureaucrats proves that not all epics take place on high mountain faces. Falling of a rock climb in front of his mother is an exercise in humility.
Child takes up climbing controversy with the same keen insight. His investigation of Tomo Cesen's claimed first ascent of Lhotse's south wall is considered the definitive report on this controversial event. A hard look at the media frenzy around the death of Alison Hargreaves on K2 evolves into a brilliant, impassioned defense of a friend. He also speaks out on the money- and media-driven expeditions that now crowd Everest.
But Child never preaches. Whether contrasting his clumsy performance with Lynn Hill's elegant moves on a climb in the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan or reflecting upon artifacts (from crucifixes to pink flamingos) that decorate the world's highest peaks, he writes it as he sees it, with a dose of wit. A true insider, Greg Child draws us deep into the world of climbing but never denies its dark side.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers who can survive the funny but graphic first chapter on mountain climbers urinating, defecating, vomiting and coping with bugs, parasites and encrustations of frozen mucus will find the remainder of this book well worth pursuing. The 29 essays included are reworkings of pieces that Child (Thin Air) wrote for Climbing and Outside magazines. They range from accounts of the detritus left on the summits of the world's highest peaks to the furious controversies about two spectacular climbs that some skeptics doubt even took place, although, in one case, the skepticism about a woman's solo ascent of Mt. Everest seems to have resulted from blatant sexism. There are stories of heroism; a tale of tragedy on K2; a picture of the old Tibet, which is being rebuilt by its Chinese conquerors, who, Child reports, are replacing antique treasures with "tumble-down concrete schlock"; and, of course, the author's adventures as he climbed peaks from his native Australia to Europe, Asia and the Americas, the whole enlivened by his civilized wit. For those put off by the coarseness of some of the writing, Child warns us at the outset that language is the "first casualty in the slide toward savagery." 25 b&w photos not seen by PW.
