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My suggestion October - December 2019

Cosimah2o

Active Member
Before it's too late and our « old guard » ( myself included ) begins to blur in the time , I would like that some of you had the chance of getting into the Mountaineering Literature .

That is why, I'm going to chose one of the most entrancing mountaineering books I've read recently, The shining Mountain by Peter Boardman .
He said : I think any enthusiasm or interest is better than none at all. I find it so much easier to sympathise with people who are really interested and enthused about something – whatever it is – rather than without much interest in life, monotonously drifting
We have still plenty of enthusiasm for reading !!
When I discover an exciting and poignantly book, I have the pressing need to share it with others :)

What makes it outstanding is the brilliant writing of Peter Boardman : clear, emotional and meticously descriptive prose .

Don't worry about certain Technicalities of climbing or mountaineering, so to speak, is more an introspective journey towards the Changabang's summit . He talk us about challenges, suffering, fears or funny moments and also about interpersonal dynamics between he and Tasker throughout their project, that is, their own views on climbing and reasons behind what they do.

In any case, any doubt I will try to solve it .
Trust me, really you will be able feel yourself like the third partner on the rope !!
 
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Today, it's the international day of the mountains, so I'm going to remember this shining faraway mountain called Changabang and the achievement/challenge of the West Face in the words of Peter Boardman .
Tom Longstaff called Changabang « the most superbly beautiful mountain I have ever seen – a peak that falls from crest to glacier in a wall that might have been sliced in a single cut of a knife » The charisma given to it by its early sightings was fulfilled
We had come in hope of climbing the Western Face, a rock route which looked inviting on our faded photographs---We were now confronted with a precipice, the like of which I had not seen outside PATAGONIA : an enormous sweep of vertical and overhanging rock, plated here and there by steep ice (...) Two tiny figures in a vast amphitheatre of mindless snow and ice and granite. I was day-dreaming
Changabang’s Granite, not marked on Geology maps of the area, had an air of mystery. It was this intrusion of white, coarse-grained granite that gave Changabang its miraculous shape, unlike all the mountains around it. It was so white that when he first saw it, Longstaff had thought it was snow lying on cliffs at an impossible angle
Somehow, I don’t feel alone in the mountains. Sights such as these make me flow with strength. All the time dormant mountaineering memories re-emerge, memories of a hundred situations and problems carefully solved. Experience helps me deal with the pain of altitude, with uncertainty, incredulity almost. Before a big climb I can rise above these things because I know them. I have felt them before. I don’t feel at all confident that we’ll get up that wall, but I know we’re tackling this climb very thoughtfully and intelligently


 
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Today, it's the international day of the mountains, so I'm going to remember this shining faraway mountain called Changabang and the achievement/challenge of the West Face in the words of Peter Boardman .

I have added it to my kindle on your great recommendation. Pretty soon I'll start reading it, after I finish one or two others. :)
 
That's great !! I think, till February we will be able to discuss about this book :)
Peder, I didn't think that you would return :eek: I am really grateful, because you always get involved and you do utmost for the sake of this forum !!

Picking up the thread, « Someone » talked to me about this mountain and it was inevitable write a brief review, adding besides some quotes - as a kind of thank-you at distance- for suggesting me this so fascinating book !!


Since a picture is worth a thousand words...The Yellow line is the West face Route of the Changabang . Peter Boardman would tell us...

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At each step, I experience that subtle thrill which anyone of imagination must feel when treading hitherto unexplored country
Enjoy the book/ bonne lecture !!
 
In the FOURTH CHAPTER - The Barrier_ appear the first Technicalities...As I tend to visualize a few scenes of what I am reading....I've thought about adding a « visual pocket glossary » of some climbing/mountaineering terms quoted in this book...You will be able to visualize/understand better some passages:)
« We had decided never to JUMAR up on a rope attached from the same anchor point at the same time »
Jumaring > is a slang term for any type of ascender device
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It was a complicated manoeuvre, changing over the Belay with Joe, making sure, Checking and Counter-checking that each of us was still clipped on, and none of our equipment was in danger of falling off
Belaying > is the technique of holding/securing the climbing rope for a climber so that they are safe if they fall off the rock, as well as preventing them from hitting the ground --- Belay also means the place where the belayer is anchored

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It was a tangled procedure, interlocking me onto the hanging belay. I noticed he had only clipped into two of three angle pegs
Hanging belay > place where the belayer themself is suspended from a projection in the rock

^ And other Chapters
Joe was perched on one foothold and I hung off the slings of his spike belay whilst he sorted the equipment out for his descent
The rope was pulling me rightwards; I had to climb into the back of the gully but was pulled off balance each time by the rope. I shouted to Pete but he did not seem to hear and I could not pull any slack down. With a fervent prayer that he had a good belay, I swung on the rope across the gully and grabbed the rock on the other side
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Belay station > a place where the belayer conducts belaying, or operates a belay device, while anchored to the terrain at the given spot, where a protection device has been placed in the rock---The belayer is then connected to the anchor point of the belay station and handles the belay device connected to his harness
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^ The 2 videos show several technicalities - in motion- about what I've explained/summarized you
* If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me :D
 
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