Seven Deadly Sins

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited January 2013 in Pro race
I guess people have mentioned it in the Armstrong thread, but it probably gets lost in all the noise of pointless nonsense that gets sprayed around there.

So started reading it yesterday - About a 1/3rd of the way through. It's a very good read - Walsh writes well, and can be quite funny. Just got past a piece around how L'equipe treated a journo we all know and they weren't always as enlightended as we like to think of them.

It's worth a read. It's not as good as Into the Silence (which I urge everyone to read) but a fun little diversion.
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
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Comments

  • fish156
    fish156 Posts: 496
    iainf72 wrote:
    ... Into the Silence (which I urge everyone to read) ...
    Author please Iain? Just looked on Amazon & it comes up with books about climbing Everset.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    fish156 wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    ... Into the Silence (which I urge everyone to read) ...
    Author please Iain? Just looked on Amazon & it comes up with books about climbing Everset.

    That's the one I meant :P

    [I like books about mountaineering]
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • fish156
    fish156 Posts: 496
    iainf72 wrote:
    fish156 wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    ... Into the Silence (which I urge everyone to read) ...
    Author please Iain? Just looked on Amazon & it comes up with books about climbing Everset.

    That's the one I meant :P

    [I like books about mountaineering]

    Must be a common trait - I've a shelf of cycling books and a shelf of mountaineering books, although not (yet) Into the Silence.
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    Another closet mountaineering fan here, thanks for the recommendation.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Marco Pinotti's book The Cycling Professor has just hit Kindle. We should all buy it (I have)
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Just finished reading Mad,Bad and Dangerous to know. (Ranulph Feinnes) and found the bits about climbing Everest and The North Face of the Eiger really interesting. ( I have no previous knowledge of mountaineering other than watching Touching the Void). Maybe there is a common link between cycling types and mountaineering. A friend of mine recommended Into the Silence. Said it was an excellent read.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Into the silence isn't as highly thought of within the mountaineering community as it is outside it, as well written as it may be. For some balance, read "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    slimreaper wrote:
    Just finished reading Mad,Bad and Dangerous to know. (Ranulph Feinnes) and found the bits about climbing Everest and The North Face of the Eiger really interesting. ( I have no previous knowledge of mountaineering other than watching Touching the Void). Maybe there is a common link between cycling types and mountaineering. A friend of mine recommended Into the Silence. Said it was an excellent read.

    The best book on the Eiger is still "The White Spider", by Heinrich Harrer(He of Seven years in Tibet fame, and a Nazi to boot!!)
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Garry H wrote:
    Into the silence isn't as highly thought of within the mountaineering community as it is outside it, as well written as it may be. For some balance, read "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev.

    They're about 2 different things though, aren't they? I've read The Climb (96 on Everest) vs Into the Silence about Mallory
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    iainf72 wrote:
    Garry H wrote:
    Into the silence isn't as highly thought of within the mountaineering community as it is outside it, as well written as it may be. For some balance, read "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev.

    They're about 2 different things though, aren't they? I've read The Climb (96 on Everest) vs Into the Silence about Mallory

    Whoops, you're right.I was thinking of "Into thin air", by Krakauer. Into the Silence is indeed a good read.
  • ratsbeyfus
    ratsbeyfus Posts: 2,841
    I also went through a mini phase of reading mountaneering books. Thanks for the tip Iain - it's now on my amazon wish list.


    I had one of them red bikes but I don't any more. Sad face.

    @ratsbey
  • I'm surprised how many here are into mountaineering. Can I ask what it is about it that you enjoy? Are the books as good as 'Scott's Last Expedition'?

    I've watched Touching the Void and found it superb and can appreciate the skill to climb (a guy at work has climbed Everest). I dislike what it has turned into though through its commericalisation and apparent ease with which nobodies are able to climb at least part way up Everest.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    edited December 2012
    dupe
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Cheers for the recommendation - i'll give Into The Silence a go. (another cycling and mountaineering fan here)
  • I'm surprised how many here are into mountaineering. Can I ask what it is about it that you enjoy? Are the books as good as 'Scott's Last Expedition'?

    I suppose what got me into cycling was the epicness of the tour, the big climbs etc, so maybe mountaineering and cycling are more similar than you may think?

    I've watched Touching the Void and found it superb and can appreciate the skill to climb (a guy at work has climbed Everest). I dislike what it has turned into though through its commericalisation and apparent ease with which nobodies are able to climb at least part way up Everest.

    Yes
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    I'm surprised how many here are into mountaineering. Can I ask what it is about it that you enjoy? Are the books as good as 'Scott's Last Expedition'?

    I've watched Touching the Void and found it superb and can appreciate the skill to climb (a guy at work has climbed Everest). I dislike what it has turned into though through its commericalisation and apparent ease with which nobodies are able to climb at least part way up Everest.

    I think that Touching The Void is much closer to the true spirit of mountaineering than most modern Everest ascents, a bit like comparing a Cavendish sprint victory to a 100KM solo mountain breakaway maybe.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • Maybe there is a common link between cycling types and mountaineering. A friend of mine recommended Into the Silence. Said it was an excellent read.g.gif
  • Garry H wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    Garry H wrote:
    Into the silence isn't as highly thought of within the mountaineering community as it is outside it, as well written as it may be. For some balance, read "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev.

    They're about 2 different things though, aren't they? I've read The Climb (96 on Everest) vs Into the Silence about Mallory

    Whoops, you're right.I was thinking of "Into thin air", by Krakauer. Into the Silence is indeed a good read.

    Ta, for the recommendations re: into the silence. Will add it to my wish list too.

    I'd agree re: The Climb offering a more balanced account than Krakauer's of the 96' Everest Controversies, a pity the author died in a avalanche barely a year later.

    Re: a mountaineering book, it's difficult to beat Joe Simpson's Touching the Void.
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    If you like climbing books then have a look at "psychovertical" by Andy Kirkpatrick. Andy Cave's "Learning to Breathe" is also very good.

    There is a very good reason the premiere mountaineering literary prize is the Boardman Tasker, I have a hardback compendium of their books which is well worth reading, sadly they are no longer with us.

    As Garry H says "The White Spider" is also compulsory reading.

    I have many more books on the mountaineering shelf of my bookcase than the cycling one!
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    If you like climbing books then have a look at "psychovertical" by Andy Kirkpatrick. Andy Cave's "Learning to Breathe" is also very good.

    There is a very good reason the premiere mountaineering literary prize is the Boardman Tasker, I have a hardback compendium of their books which is well worth reading, sadly they are no longer with us.

    As Garry H says "The White Spider" is also compulsory reading.

    I have many more books on the mountaineering shelf of my bookcase than the cycling one!

    Would also have recommended the books by the two Andy's,escpecially Learning to Breathe. Any of Joe Simpson's books are well worth a read, especially "This game of ghosts", which i prefer to Touching the Void. Joe Brown's "The hard years" is also worth a read. As Shinyhelmut alluded to, there are far too many good books to recommend.
    I've watched Touching the Void and found it superb and can appreciate the skill to climb (a guy at work has climbed Everest). I dislike what it has turned into though through its commericalisation and apparent ease with which nobodies are able to climb at least part way up Everest.

    Wouldn't say that anybody has ascended Everest with "apparent ease", but I agree with the gist of your viewpoint. To me,mountaineering and climbing was/is all about self-sufficiency and having to live by your own decisions,quite literally in some cases. Not paying someone something in the region of 20-30k to lay a trail of ropes up a mountain and to have all your gear carried up by Sherpas. A cycling analogy would probably be comparing US Postal/Sky's tactics to that of a Pantani or Contador, but I won't get into that...

    Another thing common between the two sports is the obsession with lightweight gear andstrength to weight ratios :lol:
  • Garry H wrote:
    To me,mountaineering and climbing was/is all about self-sufficiency and having to live by your own decisions,quite literally in some cases. Not paying someone something in the region of 20-30k to lay a trail of ropes up a mountain and to have all your gear carried up by Sherpas.

    Precisely this.

    If mountaineering would appeal to me more it would be due to the aspects of human suffering/endurance/fortitude/courage etc which I would admire (much like in cycling) rather than the actual who/what/how of climbing a mountain.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Books recommended on this thread:

    Into the Silence
    Mad,Bad and Dangerous
    The Climb
    The White Spider
    Touching the Void
    Psychovertical
    Learning to Breathe
    This game of ghosts
    The hard years
    Contador is the Greatest
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    Garry H wrote:
    Another thing common between the two sports is the obsession with lightweight gear and strength to weight ratios

    and discussions of ethics :lol:
  • pat1cp
    pat1cp Posts: 766
    I didn't buy it on the basis that I assumed it would be excerpts from his previous books complete with a final chapter saying "told you so".

    If it's not that I'll maybe give it a go.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Garry H wrote:
    Another thing common between the two sports is the obsession with lightweight gear and strength to weight ratios

    and discussions of ethics :lol:

    Don't even start me onthat one :wink:
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    I'd add the Tomaz Humar book in there (while on the subject of people who polarise opinion)

    Also, Annapuma by Herzog is very good
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    Has anyone climbed anything of note?

    Is that Hillary book worth a look?
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Bakunin wrote:
    Has anyone climbed anything of note?

    Is that Hillary book worth a look?

    Define "of note".
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    Garry H wrote:
    Bakunin wrote:
    Has anyone climbed anything of note?

    Is that Hillary book worth a look?

    Define "of note".

    I'd rather not -- but any of the big 7?
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    I take it by "the big 7" you mean the highest on each continent?

    If that is the case I have climbed one, but I don't really consider it a mountain "of note" by the standards we're talking here.

    I've bagged a few peaks in the alps, all guided, and got HAPE in the Himalayas, which put paid to my climbing ambitions.

    I do have a colleague at work who has summited Everest, and not as part of a commercial guided trip.