
The Bond
Simon McCartney
WINNER: Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
WINNER: Mountain and Wilderness Literature Award, Banff Mountain Book Competition
'Man, the only – only – good thing about that climb was that you were tied on to the other end of the rope.'
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 Simon’s.
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 for over three decades. But the bond between Simon and Jack couldn’t 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 McCartney’s award-winning story of these legendary climbs.
Duration - 11h 23m.
Author - Simon McCartney.
Narrator - Robert James Bayley.
Published Date - Sunday, 12 January 2025.
Copyright - © 2016 Vertebrate Publishing ©.
Location:
United States
Networks:
Simon McCartney
Robert James Bayley
Vertebrate Publishing
English Audiobooks
Findaway Audiobooks
Description:
WINNER: Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature WINNER: Mountain and Wilderness Literature Award, Banff Mountain Book Competition 'Man, the only – only – good thing about that climb was that you were tied on to the other end of the rope.' 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 Simon’s. 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 for over three decades. But the bond between Simon and Jack couldn’t 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 McCartney’s award-winning story of these legendary climbs. Duration - 11h 23m. Author - Simon McCartney. Narrator - Robert James Bayley. Published Date - Sunday, 12 January 2025. Copyright - © 2016 Vertebrate Publishing ©.
Language:
English
Opening Credits
Duration:00:00:07
Dedication
Duration:00:00:15
Foreword by Mark Westman
Duration:00:22:19
Prologue
Duration:00:18:12
1 First Time Lucky
Duration:00:20:33
2 Deliverance
Duration:00:30:12
3 The Walking One and Only
Duration:00:08:15
4 A New World
Duration:00:10:46
5 Alaska
Duration:00:11:45
6 The Ruth Glacier
Duration:00:37:43
7 Craps
Duration:00:20:29
8 Roulette
Duration:00:31:48
9 The Ramp
Duration:00:13:23
10 The Surprise
Duration:00:15:42
11 Sheer Luck
Duration:00:28:34
12 Coming Down
Duration:00:13:26
13 'An obsession for the mentally deranged'
Duration:00:45:02
14 Unfinished Business
Duration:00:18:02
15 The Natural
Duration:00:37:59
16 Too Loose
Duration:00:28:30
17 The Valley of Death
Duration:00:13:54
18 The Fissure McCartney
Duration:00:17:38
19 Mixed Feelings
Duration:00:14:31
20 The Roberts Traverse
Duration:00:11:58
21 Hypoxia
Duration:00:22:39
22 The Dilemma
Duration:00:18:33
23 The Choice
Duration:00:30:16
24 The Freaks
Duration:00:14:26
25 Airdrop
Duration:00:22:42
26 Flight
Duration:00:22:33
27 Providence
Duration:00:22:04
28 Australia
Duration:00:08:30
29 The Kangaroo Route
Duration:00:09:27
30 Hong Kong
Duration:00:14:38
31 The Bond
Duration:00:11:57
Postscript: A Return to the Scene of the Crime
Duration:00:03:30
Acknowledgements
Duration:00:11:02
Closing Credits
Duration:00:00:17