WINNER: Boardman Tasker Prize
WINNER: Mountain Literature Award, Banff Mountain Book Festival
‘An exceptional book.’
Reinhold Messner calls Steve House the best high-altitude climber in the world today, an honour he declines. ‘Being called the ‘best,’ says Steve, ‘makes me very uncomfortable. My intention is to be as good as I can be. Mountaineering is too complex to be squeezed into a competition. It is simply not something that lends itself to comparison. Climbing is about process, not achievement. The moment your mind wanders away from the task of the climbing at hand will be the moment you fail.’
Beyond the Mountain is the multi-award-winning title from Steve House – arguably the world’s leading high-altitude climber, and author of Training for the Uphill Athlete and Training for the New Alpinism. Steve built his reputation on ascents throughout the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram and the Himalaya that have expanded the possibilities of style, speed and difficulty. In 2005, Steve and fellow alpinist Vince Anderson pioneered a direct new route on the Rupal Face of 26,660-foot Nanga Parbat, which had never before been climbed in alpine style. It was the third ascent of the face and the achievement earned Steve and Vince the first Piolet d’Or (Golden Ice Axe) awarded to North Americans.
Steve is an accomplished and spellbinding storyteller in the tradition of Maurice Herzog and Lionel Terray. Beyond the Mountain is a gripping read – already a mountain classic. It addresses many issues common to non-climbing life – mentorship, trust, failure, success, goal setting, heroes, partnership – as well as the mountaineer’s heightened experience of risk and the deaths of friends. Beyond the Mountain is a window into the process of a man working to be the best he can be through an endeavour very few can begin to imagine.
Table of Contents:
ForewordPrologue One At Any Price Two The School of Slovenian Alpinism Three Nanga Parbat 1990 Four No Place to Hide Five A Punk in Crampons Six Alex Lowe Seven The Crypt Eight Acceptance Nine Empty Chairs Ten Farmboy Eleven Death on Easy Ground Twelve Partnership Thirteen Evolution: Beyond the Americas Fourteen Filling the Void Fifteen Trust Sixteen K7 is My Universe Seventeen Return to Nanga Parbat Eighteen Success on Nanga Parbat Nineteen Coming Home Epilogue Selected Glossary Acknowledgements Maps
About the Author :
Steve House is a world-renowned climber and mountain guide, widely regarded for his clean, light-and-fast style of mountaineering. He has published articles in a number of magazines and journals, including: Climb (UK), Alpinist (US), Rock and Ice (US), Climbing (US), The American Alpine Journal, Gripped (Canada), Canadian Alpine Journal, Vertical (Europe), Montagnes (France) and Desnivel (Spain). His essays have been published in several books including: Contact: Mountain Climbing and Environmental Thinking (ISBN: 9780874177466); and a book about Nanga Parbat edited by Reinhold Messner. He is the co-author of Training for the New Alpinism, with Scott Johnston, and Training for the Uphill Athlete, with Scott Johnston and Kilian Jornet.
Review :
'An exceptional book.' – Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature.
'House takes the same approach he advocates for in alpinism — that of innovation, boldness, honesty and simplicity and uses it to produce a story of lasting depth.'
Award Jury, Banff Mountain Book Festival
'One of the best works in mountain literature to come along for a while ... a thoughtful book of remarkable insight.'
Jon Popowich, The Alpine Journal
'Beyond the Mountain is a significant book. Its frequently gripping eloquence elevates it above mere journal of record territory. It is likely to become an automatic classic of alpine literature worthy of rubbing shoulders with Rebuffat, Desmaison, Buhl, Tasker and Boardman.'
Colin Wells, Climb Magazine
'Beyond the Mountain as a summary confirms Steve House as an extraordinary visionary.'
Rock & Ice Magazine
'This is not only a brilliant book, it is an important one, and deserves to be widely read.'
Adam Long, UKclimbing.com
'The rare climbing book that I felt compelled to read cover to cover in just a few sittings.'
Dougald MacDonald, UKclimbing.com
'Steve House writes a gripping tale in the great alpine tradition. The only limits he honors – they’re all the right ones – he places on himself. And what he’s learned in the high mountains, and coming home from them, is hard won and worth our while. A new alpine classic.'
Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia
'As a window on what's required to break barriers in the world of modern alpinism, this book is as good as any I've read. It's full of action, full of crisp, often harsh sentiments. The narrative is often as jagged as the peaks he climbs, a series of interlinked snapshots rather a predictable arc. People die, relationships fail, but the restless hunt goes on. It's not comforting, and it's not romantic, and the laughs are rare. This is a serious game played by a brotherhood that takes itself very seriously. Not since Joe Tasker's Savage Arena have I read a book by someone so uncompromising in his commitment.'
Ed Douglas, Calmandfearless.com
