In this wide-ranging Very Short Introduction to climate, Mark Maslin considers all aspects of the global climate system, exploring & explaining the different components that control climate on Earth. He considers the processes that allow energy to reach the Earth & how it is redistributed around the planet by the ocean-atmosphere system; the relationship & differences between climate & the weather; how climate has affected life on Earth & human settlements; & the cyclic & quasi-cyclic features of climate such as the Milankovitch cycles & El Nino. He concludes by touching on the issue of climate change, & outlines some of the approaches that are now being taken to tackle it. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable. ...

Mountaineering has always demanded a fine balancing act between calculated risk-taking & the basic instinct for survival. The pioneers of the Victorian golden age tested this balance as they pushed themselves further & further, first in the Alps & later in the Himalayas. Of them all, it was perhaps Mummery whose attitude to climbing is closest to that of the 1990s, & this book recreates his first ascent of the Grepon. It also traces his attempts on Nanga Parbat, where he was to lose his life. In a book which treads across the stepping stones of Alpine & Himalayan climbing history, from the backbiting that attended the first ascent of Mont Blanc to the possibility of a sponsored race up Everest, Chris Bonington explores the way climbers develop their skills in order to push back the frontiers of the possible. He draws on his first-hand experience as a climber & interviews with notable climbers from both Europe & America. ...

This completely revised & updated edition with all new color photos brings together in a single volume the anchoring systems most popular among climbers. Most climbers today learn their craft on artificial climbing walls & on sport routes with fixed protection. Their first efforts to lead on trad routes often come as a rude shock--they find that they haven`t the skills & training to safeguard the climb or to set up solid belays. This new edition of Climbing Anchors is the climber`s complete & authoritative source of information on protection, from fundamental knots to sophisticated rigging & equalizing skills. ...

Whether you are scaling the world`s most challenging peaks, bouldering on epic rock faces or hanging underneath cavernous crags spread out along the ocean, rock climbing is one of the world`s most exciting sports. From the most beautiful routes in the UK, France & America to deep-water soloing in Majorca & opening new lines in South Africa, James Pearson & Caroline Ciavaldini, two of rock climbing`s biggest stars, take you to the sport`s most iconic, unusual & daring destinations. With stunning photography showcasing rock climbing`s various styles & landscapes, each entry also

Includes:: expert tips, grading details & helpful topography of specific routes or sectors. Climbing Beyond is a beautiful homage to the sport of rock climbing & an inspiration to anyone who has ever dreamed of chalking up their hands & taking on the world`s most epic rock faces.

...

Shortlisted for a 2016 Edward Standford Travel Writing Award. In Climbing Days, Dan Richards is on the trail of his great-great-aunt, Dorothy Pilley, a prominent & pioneering mountaineer of the early twentieth century. For years, Dorothy & her husb&, I. A. Richards, remained mysterious to Dan, but the chance discovery of her 1935 memoir, Climbing Days, leads him on a journey. Perhaps, in the mountains, he can meet them halfway? Following in the pair`s footholds, Dan begins to travel & climb across Europe, using Dorothy`s book as a guide. Learning the ropes in Wales & Scotl&, scrambling in the Lake District, scaling summits in Spain & Switzerl&, he closes in on the serrate pinnacle of Ivor & Dorothy`s climbing lives, the mighty Dent Blanche in the high Alps of Valais. What emerges is a beautiful portrait of a trailblazing woman, up to now lost to history
- but also a book about that eternal question: why do people climb mountains?
...

Collection of published writings on the Everest by George Mallory, the man who may have been the first man to reach its top 29 years before Hillary. George Mallory belongs to a short but distinguished line of literary mountaineers such as Joe Simpson, Jon Krakauer & Edward Whymper, the conqueror of the Matterhorn. He answered the questioned ' Why climb Everest' with the dry put down ' Because it is there.' In this book his published writings on Everest are collected for the first time. ...

In Climbing Everest, George Mallory (18 June 1886
- 8/9 June 1924), possibly the first man to summit Everest, takes us with
...

Challenge & train your hands, feet, body & brain with over 120 climbing games. This book is for anyone wanting to have fun climbing while developing crucial skills. The games described can be used in a wide range of activities from working on specific skills to fun warm-ups. As an aid to a climbing session or as the sole activity, climbing movements can be broken down & practised in a safe but challenging environment. The book takes an introductory look at which specific aspects of climbing & methods of coaching are important
- together with some aspects of sports science, this give the text a dual purpose as a coaching manual & as an encyclopaedia of games. Many of these games are particularly suited to those that are new to climbing & wish to improve their skills. If you`re new to climbing, you`ll find games which introduce some essential skills (such as `crimping` a hold). Equally, old hands may welcome new games as an aid to helping friends progress or as an addition to a weekly climbing session. As a qualified instructor or an informal coach teaching friends or a parent teaching their children, this book provides an invaluable tool for hours of practical training or even just entertainment for rainy afternoons! The easy to use format allows those coaching or even the client themselves to select their own games based on current needs & desires. The overview of skills employed in each game will help you turn play into progress.
...

Gerry Galligan`s first book is a bold & expansive travel diary recounting his assembling of a small team of Irish mountaineers & their attempts on unclimbed mountains & unexplored valleys in the remote corners of the Indian Himalaya. Getting there, the team see the hardships of the sub-continent, while in the mountains they experience storms, dangers & failure before ultimately, success & contentment. But it is when Gerry returns to the mountains alone & his subsequent experiences overlanding across Asia & Europe back to Ireland that we start to get a glimpse of the big, wide world out there. A world of temples, festivals, holy cows, Kalashnikovs, donkey herders, corruption, opportunists, stoners & sages. Gerry gives us an insight into the day-to-day lives of mountain peoples, the dysfunctional functionality of India. He finds charm & tolerance in Pakistan & a surprising openness in today`s Iran. We travel across rural Turkey & work our way back to the efficient & affluent West, where right on cue Gerry meets his first breakdown on a German train. Climbing Ramabang; One man`s understanding of mountains, myth & mayhem. ...

`I was born in a sprawling house by the Yamuna River in Delhi. When I was a few minutes old, Grandmother welcomed me into the world by writing ” Om”, which means ”I am” in Sanskrit, on my tongue with a little finger dipped in honey. When the family priest arrived to draw up my horoscope, he scribbled astrological symbols on a long scroll, & set down a name for me, Indrani, or ”queen of the heavens”. My father ignored him completely & proclaimed my name was to be Madhur (”sweet as honey”).` So begins Madhur Jaffrey`s enchanting memoir of her childhood in India. Her description of growing up a in a very large, wealthy family (half a train was booked to transport the family from Delhi to the mountains for the summer) conjures up the spirit of a long lost age. Whether climbing the mango trees in her grandparents` orchard, armed with a mixture of salt, pepper, red chillies, & roasted cumin, or enjoying picnics in the foothills of the Himalayas, reached by foot, rickshaw, palanquin or horse, where meatballs stuffed with sultanas & mint leaves, cauliflowers flavoured with ginger & coriander, & spiced pooris with hot green mango pickle were devoured, food forms a major leitmotiv of this beautifully written memoir. With recipes drawn from memories of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, weddings, & picnics, moving effortlessly from the lamb meatballs of Moghul emperors to the tamarind chutneys of the streets, this book will appeal to keen armchair cooks, as well as fans of Madhur the world over. ...