Barry Blanchard

The Calling (eBook, ePUB)

A Life Rocked by Mountains

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

With heart-pounding descriptions of avalanches and treacherous ascents, Barry Blanchard chronicles his transformation from a poor Metis (half-breed) kid from the wrong side of the tracks to one of the most respected alpinists in the world. He describes early climbs attempted with nothing to guide him but written trail descriptions and the cajones of youth. He slowly acquires the skills, equipment and partners necessary to tackle more and more difficult climbs, farther and farther afield: throughout the Canadian Rockies, into Alaska and the French Alps and on to Everest, Peru, and the challenging mountains in Pakistan. From each he learns lessons that only nature and extreme endeavor can teach. This is the story of the culture of climbing in the days of punk rock and rock 'n' roll, accompanied by the rhythm of adrenaline and the arrogance of youth. It is a portrait of the power of the mountains to lift us - physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually - and the depths of relationships based on total trust in the person at the other end of a rope. Includes climbs with renowned alpinists such as Kevin Doyle, Mark Twight, David Cheesmond and Ward Robinson. 432 pages with photos and a playlist.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Patagonia
• Seitenzahl: 440
• Erscheinungstermin: 18. August 2014
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781938340321
• Artikelnr.: 42151710

Autorenporträt

Barry Blanchard is one of North America's top alpinists, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalayas. Blanchard is a Patagonia Ambassador. He lives in Calgary, Canada.

Inhaltsangabe

1 The Rupal.
Kevin Doyle, Ward Robinson, Marc Twight, and Barry Blanchard try to climb
the biggest mountain wall in the world the Rupal- in pure alpine style.
Their attempt is stuffed by avalanche and storm 14, 000 feet up, 1500 feet
below the summit. Two climbing ropes are swept into the night, the team’s
only ropes, their descent is miraculous.
2 Barry.
How the mountains called to a wild young half-breed boy, and how he had the
nascent good sense to listen.
3 Kevin.
Kevin Doyle, the most naturally gifted and driven climber that I have ever
climbed with. It was like God touched him at birth granting him a sense of
balance that would take my 300 days of imitation to learn. At 21 we quit
our jobs and took off to Chamonix in 1980 to climb until our money ran out.
The next year was Yosemite, then the Cassin Ridge on Mt McKinley in 1982,
and then the Karakorum in 1984.
4 David.
I was a capable alpinist when I met David Cheesmond, but he was older and
better. David mentored me: the first ascent of the Andromeda Strain in
1983, the first ascent of the East Face of Mt Fay in 1984, the North Ridge
of Rakaposhi in 1984, the first ascent of the North Pillar of North Twin in
1985.
5 Ward.
Ward Robinson is classic Canadiana. The son of an Air Canada pilot who died
in a landing crash, Ward is the only one of four brothers not to be
employed in aviation. Ward is a tree faller, he falls trees for a living.
Enigmatic, tough, and determined, in an arena were the hard test themselves
Ward is the hardest of all the hardmen that I’ve climbed with. The first
ascent of the Wild Thing on Mt Chephren in 1987 and the first ascent of the
North Face of Howse Peak in 1988.
6 Marc.
The katabasis, we raced each other to the bottoming out of our lives. Black
clothing, black music, black poetry. Long and late phone conversations
between Chamonix and Canmore ending in the hour of the wolf’. My favorite
alpinist in agony’, we stepped down into the basement of our psyches and
stayed there awhile. Mt Everest in 1988, a first ascent on the Northwest
Face of Les Droites in 1991 -the Richard Cranium Memorial Route (the
dickhead route, neither of our marriages made it out the other end).
7 Catherine.
I met Catherine Mulvihill at the Katmandu Airport. She was a member of our
expedition to the Kangshung Face of Mt Everest. We fell in love in the high
plains of Tibet, which not many people can say, unless they’re Tibetan.
Catherine moved to Canmore for love me- and fell in love with ice
climbing, an interesting journey for a woman who had been born dirt poor in
North Carolina.
8 Steve.
I’ve pursued my alpinism into the new millennium partnered with Steve
House, a man destined to become one of the best alpinists in the world. The
Emperor Face of Mt Robson, the first ascent of M-16 on Howse Peak in 1999,
the South Face of Nuptse in 2002.
9 Rosemary and Eowyn.
2004 and 2007, Catherine and I have been blessed with two of the most
fascinating souls I’ve ever met. The only real measure of wealth is
biological.