topic:"Himalaya Mountains" found 3 records - Research Collections

Abstract: Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders' follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Following climbs on K2 and Nanga Parbat, he leaves his career as an architect and moves to Chamonix to become a mountain guide. He later makes the first ascent of Chamshen in the Saser Kangri massif, and reunites with old friend Mick Fowler to climb the north face of Sersank. This is not just a tale of mountaineering triumphs, but also an account of rescues, tragedies and failures. Telling his story with humour and warmth, Saunders spans the decades from youthful awkwardness to concerns about age-related forgetfulness, ranging from 'Where did I put my keys?' to 'Is this the right mountain?' Structured Chaos is a testament to the value of friendship and the things that really matter in life: being in the right place at the right time with the right people, and making the most of the view. -- Provided by Publisher

Contents: Pekan (1954-1961) -- Schooldays (1961-1969) -- Sex and drugs and rock climbing (1970-1972) -- Ship Ahoy! (1973) -- London calling (1973-1979) -- Reasons to be fearful (1979) -- Seconds out (1986) -- K2 (1993) -- The dark couloir (1996) -- Guiding lights (1996-2012) -- Hanging on a telephone (2013) -- Treppenwitz -- The Sersank Redemption (2016) -- Epilogue.

Notes: Winner of the Banff Mountain Book Festival, Mountain Literature (Non-Fiction), The Jon Whyte Award 2021.

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Publisher: Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press

Publisher: Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press

Subjects: Mountaineering; Mountaineers Women; Gender; Expeditions; Himalaya Mountains; Sexism; Feminism

Abstract: Exploring the role of gender politics in narratives about high-altitude mountaineering in the Himalayas and the Karakoram. The race to climb Everest catapulted mountain climbing, with its accompanying images of conquest and sport, into the public sphere on a global scale. But as a metaphor for the pinnacle of human achievement, mountaineering remains the preserve of traditional white male heroism. False Summit unpacks gender politics in the expedition narratives and memoirs of mountaineers in the Himalayas and the Karakoram. Why are women still a minority in the world's highest places? Julie Rak proposes that the genre has itself reached a "false summit"--a peak that proves not to be the pinnacle--and that mountaineering is not ready to welcome other ways of climbing or other kinds of climbers. For more than two centuries mountaineering, as an activity and as an ideal, has helped shape how the self is understood within the context of conquest, adventure, and proximity to risk. As climbing shows signs of becoming more diverse, Rak asks why change is so hard to achieve and why gender bias and other inequities exist in climbing at all. Exploring classic and lesser-known expedition accounts from Everest, K2, and Annapurna, False Summit helps us understand why mountaineering remains one of the most important ways to articulate gender identities and politics. -- Provided by publisher.

Contents: Leadership and Gender on Annapurna -- K2: The Gendered Rope -- Everest and Authenticity -- Everest: Gender Politics and the 1996 Disaster.

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Subjects: Mountaineering; Mountaineers; Mountains; Climbing; Himalaya Mountains; Sherpa; Sherpa-history; Nepal

Abstract: The story of the often unheralded and unrecognized stars of climbing in the Himalaya and the Karakoram: the local inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Pakistan, Tibet, India, and Nepal who have been support staff--porters, cooks, sirdars, and unacknowledged guides--for Western climbers for generations. ALPINE RISING focuses on the experiences and accomplishments of these Sherpas, Baltis, Ladakhis, Hunzas, Astoris, Magars, Bhotias, Rais, and Gurangs. Highlighted climbers range from Raghubir Thapa and Goman Singh who climbed with Albert Mummery in 1895, Ang Tharkay who climbed with Eric Shipton and Maurice Herzog, and Tenzing Norgay who, along with Edmund Hillary, was the first to summit Everest, to today's superstars, Ali Sadpara, Mingma G, Kama Rita, and others -- Provided by publisher.

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