In January of 1978, Rob Taylor and his climbing partner, Harley, attempt the unclimbed Icicle Route on Kilimanjaro’s Breach Wall. The Breach Wall has been compared to the North Wall of the Eiger. The story takes you to the mountain, the accident, the rescue, and the healing, which is more then just physical. I really enjoy reading hiking and mountaineering memoirs. This is truly a great read, and it turns into a page turner.
I’m so glad to find someone else who reads mountaineering books–right in my own building no less! For me, it all started with _Annapurna: A Woman’s Place_ many years ago. I lived on the mountain with those women till all hours of the night. My most recent mountaineering read was _Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing’s Greatest Generation_ (which is at Colby and Bates). The amazing thing is that Chris Bonington is still alive while nearly all his peers have died pursuing their passion. For a quick page turner, start with _Into Thin Air_ the John Krakauer account of the 1996 Everest disaster. (Also available on cassette tape in the library for those of you with cassette players in your cars!)
Now, back to my armchair…
Joan