The Bond: Two epic climbs in Alaska and a lifetime's connection between climbers

About this book

WINNER: 2016 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature WINNER: Mountain Literature Award 2016 Banff Mountain Book Competition An intoxicating read. - Paul Pritchard 2016 Banff Mountain Book Competition Jury Read it. - Joe Simpson author of Touching the Void The finest mountaineering book ever written. - Jim Perrin Rarely do I encounter a cannot-put-down book but Simon McCartneys aptly titled The Bond is exceptional in many ways. - Tom Hornbein author of Everest: The West Ridge Simon McCartney was a cocky young British alpinist climbing many of the hardest routes in the Alps during the late seventies but it was a chance meeting in Chamonix in 1977 with Californian Stonemaster Jack Roberts that would dramatically change both their lives and almost end Simons. Inspired by a Bradford Washburn photograph published in Mountain magazine their first objective was the 5 500-foot north face of Mount Huntington one of the most dangerous walls in the Alaska Range. The result was a route so hard and serious that for decades nobody believed they had climbed it - it is still unrepeated to this day. Then raising the bar even higher they made the first ascent of the south-west face of Denali a climb that would prove almost fatal for Simon and one which would break the bond between him and climbing separating the two young climbers. But the bond between Simon and Jack couldnt remain dormant forever. A lifetime later a chance reconnection with Jack gave Simon the chance to bury the ghosts of what happened high on Denali when he had faced almost certain death. The Bond is Simon McCartneys multi-award-winning story of these legendary climbs.