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BOOK REVIEWS
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'The Andes Trekking Guide'
by John & Cathy Biggar.. Published by 'Andes', Kirkcudbrightshire, 2001, 196 pages. ISBN 0-9536087-1-9
John and Cathy Biggar have been mountaineering in the Andes since the eighties and run an adventure travel business. This guide to walking and trekking complements John's earlier climbing guide to this fascinating range along the whole spine of South America from Venezuela to Patagonia. The advantages of self-organised trips are compared with the comfort of getting a specialist company to do all the work. Each country has details of the main walking areas, suggested day and longer treks and a gazetteer of useful contacts, with telephone and e-mail details; guidance on health and hygiene, safety and security, flora and fauna and backed up stunning photographs of the mountains and mountain people. There is even a few encouraging words for Colombia, which I would definitely have put in the 'haud me back' category.
All in all this is an extremely useful guide. There is a strong recommendation to learn Spanish, as outside the cities and tourist hotspots there are few English speakers.
"Habla castellano, gringo?"
John Donohoe
'Climbing New Zealand,
A Crag Guide for the Travelling Rock Climber'
by Alastair Lee.
Published by Posing Productions. 204pp.
B&W photos throughout. ISBN 0-9541382-0-1.
 Anyone who has seen Alastair's 'Posing Productions' show will know what to expect of his guide: eclectic style, startling imagery and playful text full of humorous anecdotes. It makes the usual UK guidebook look like a psychology textbook, written by men in white suits. This has been written by a 'man in black'! The layout is exciting. Each page a journey of discovery. All the information you need is there; Maps, crags sketches, type of climbing, the best routes, all sorts of useful information about the climbing, the locals, and the environment. The only thing missing is full route descriptions, but he does tell you where to get them! It really doesn't matter that the photos are all black and white. I love this guide. It inspires and informs and could indicate the future of UK climbing guides? Now, where's my plane ticket money coming from!
Kevin Howett
The Mammoth Book of the Edge;
An anthology of climbing adventures.
Edited by Jon E. Lewis
Published by Robinson, London, 2001, 494 pp. ISBN 1-84119-264-3
 The Mammoth Book anthology series comprises many subjects from Arthurian Legends to UFOs and encompasses cats, chess, and sex, drugs, and rock and roll. This book consists of 25 extracts of classic stories of mountaineering epics, mostly in the greater ranges. The usual suspects are here, Whymper, Tilman, Herzog, Harrer, Winthrop Young, Mallory, Messner, Bonatti, Buhl and Hillary. The afterword is Mummery's Pleasures and Penalties of Mountaineering. It was written in 1894 and it tells it like it is – still. Among my favourites is the story of the desperate retreat of the 1953 American expedition from K2.
This collection of stories will introduce you to the classic literature of our sport, or remind you of the half-remembered tales that fired your youthful imagination. If you are not moved try one of the others in the series, Erotica, New Erotica, Bridge, Haunted House or Historical Whodunnits. As they say in Germany, 'chacun a son gout'.
John Donohoe
'True Summit'
by David Roberts.
Published in UK by Constable, 2001, ISBN 1-84119-339-9.
 When a French team reached the summit of Annapurna in June 1950, the first 8,000m peak to be conquered, the consequences were immense. The pursuit of the other big hills was energised among the climbing nations, French prestige and self-confidence, after defeat, occupation and collaboration by the Vichy regime, was restored, and probably the best two mountaineering books ever written were spawned. Maurice Herzog, the team leader wrote the classic Annapurna and Lionel Terray the incomparable Conquistadors of the Useless.
Roberts, who freely confesses how much this adventure influenced his own youth, revisits the story and discovers that the official report of the expedition did not tell the whole story. Sacre Bleu! Quelle Surprise! Politics, sponsorship, nationalism, and racism all affected how the story was presented. For the purposes of La Gloire de France, dissent was suppressed and the leader glorified and honoured. The parts played by team members Terray, Rebuffat and Lachenal are now revealed.
Recommended reading for anyone interested in the history of Alpine and Himalayan climbing and the interplay of sport, politics, and national prestige in the presentation of major expeditions. Could it happen today? Is Henrik Larsson a striker?
John Donohoe
'Navigation for Walkers'
by Julian Tippett.
Published by Cordee. 128pp. Full Colour. ISBN 1-871890-54-3
 A well illustrated book, at a reasonable price, aimed at those taking their first steps to independent walking using a map rather than a guide book. It helps people where the path network is well defined but it will not prepare walkers for serious hill walking / mountaineering in Scotland or for winter conditions even on lower Scottish hills. It focusses on following man made features represented on the 1.25,000 scale O.S. maps. It finishes where map reading needs to start for using the 1.50,000 scale OS maps on Scottish hills.
It seems to be a supporting text for those acquiring or delivering the National Navigation Award or the Bronze level of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme or for young people in schools, voluntary youth organisations and for leaders operating at Walking Group Leader level. Those with little understanding of maps may find it a difficult to understand text. Map reading skills are required to understand the diagrams! And the contents need to be supported by demonstration. But experienced map readers may regard it as simplistic.
It contains good advice on choosing a compass (commends the use of a clip on compass), a useful innovation called a 'clippy card' and a system for marking the map with 3M's removable tape.
A useful book, to polish personal skills and guide an instructional progression. Not a book to help an experienced hill walker deal with difficult aspects of mountain navigation.
Nick Halls
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