The Bond: Survival On Denali and Mount Huntington
In 1977, Jack Roberts, a California “Stone Master” and experienced young alpinist, met Simon McCartney, a highly motivated 22-year-old Brit who had cut his teeth climbing in Europe with some of the most respected mountaineers of the time. Over the next three years, the pair enjoyed a magical partnership during which they completed two of the boldest and most audacious climbs in the history of Alaskan alpinism. Then McCartney disappeared from the climbing scene entirely, emerging now, nearly 40 years later, to tell the story.

The north face of Mount Huntington is one of the most dangerous walls in the Alaska Range, and Denali’s southwest face is one of the largest and most technically difficult. Roberts and McCartney made the first ascents of both, eschewing any notion of fixed ropes or siege tactics. With success as their only option, they got themselves to the foot of these faces with the bare minimum of gear and simply started climbing. The ascent of Mount Huntington’s north face was made in the summer of 1978; that of Denali’s southwest face, in 1980.

These two legendary climbs created a stir at the time, and a flurry of controversy and criticism followed the Denali climb. Years later, some people went so far as to suggest that the Huntington climb was a fake. Jack Roberts passed away in 2012 without telling his side of the story publicly.

The Bond, told primarily via McCartney’s first-person narrative and augmented by extracts from the diaries of Roberts and others, shares for the first time the experience of these two challenging climbs—and the strong bond forged between the two climbers. It is, in short, the quintessential climbing story, and the stuff of Legends and Lore.
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The Bond: Survival On Denali and Mount Huntington
In 1977, Jack Roberts, a California “Stone Master” and experienced young alpinist, met Simon McCartney, a highly motivated 22-year-old Brit who had cut his teeth climbing in Europe with some of the most respected mountaineers of the time. Over the next three years, the pair enjoyed a magical partnership during which they completed two of the boldest and most audacious climbs in the history of Alaskan alpinism. Then McCartney disappeared from the climbing scene entirely, emerging now, nearly 40 years later, to tell the story.

The north face of Mount Huntington is one of the most dangerous walls in the Alaska Range, and Denali’s southwest face is one of the largest and most technically difficult. Roberts and McCartney made the first ascents of both, eschewing any notion of fixed ropes or siege tactics. With success as their only option, they got themselves to the foot of these faces with the bare minimum of gear and simply started climbing. The ascent of Mount Huntington’s north face was made in the summer of 1978; that of Denali’s southwest face, in 1980.

These two legendary climbs created a stir at the time, and a flurry of controversy and criticism followed the Denali climb. Years later, some people went so far as to suggest that the Huntington climb was a fake. Jack Roberts passed away in 2012 without telling his side of the story publicly.

The Bond, told primarily via McCartney’s first-person narrative and augmented by extracts from the diaries of Roberts and others, shares for the first time the experience of these two challenging climbs—and the strong bond forged between the two climbers. It is, in short, the quintessential climbing story, and the stuff of Legends and Lore.
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The Bond: Survival On Denali and Mount Huntington

The Bond: Survival On Denali and Mount Huntington

by Simon McCartney
The Bond: Survival On Denali and Mount Huntington

The Bond: Survival On Denali and Mount Huntington

by Simon McCartney

Paperback

$21.95 
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Overview

In 1977, Jack Roberts, a California “Stone Master” and experienced young alpinist, met Simon McCartney, a highly motivated 22-year-old Brit who had cut his teeth climbing in Europe with some of the most respected mountaineers of the time. Over the next three years, the pair enjoyed a magical partnership during which they completed two of the boldest and most audacious climbs in the history of Alaskan alpinism. Then McCartney disappeared from the climbing scene entirely, emerging now, nearly 40 years later, to tell the story.

The north face of Mount Huntington is one of the most dangerous walls in the Alaska Range, and Denali’s southwest face is one of the largest and most technically difficult. Roberts and McCartney made the first ascents of both, eschewing any notion of fixed ropes or siege tactics. With success as their only option, they got themselves to the foot of these faces with the bare minimum of gear and simply started climbing. The ascent of Mount Huntington’s north face was made in the summer of 1978; that of Denali’s southwest face, in 1980.

These two legendary climbs created a stir at the time, and a flurry of controversy and criticism followed the Denali climb. Years later, some people went so far as to suggest that the Huntington climb was a fake. Jack Roberts passed away in 2012 without telling his side of the story publicly.

The Bond, told primarily via McCartney’s first-person narrative and augmented by extracts from the diaries of Roberts and others, shares for the first time the experience of these two challenging climbs—and the strong bond forged between the two climbers. It is, in short, the quintessential climbing story, and the stuff of Legends and Lore.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781680510904
Publisher: Mountaineers Books, The
Publication date: 10/15/2016
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Simon McCartney was introduced to the mountains of the United Kingdom by his father, becoming a full-time climber before his nineteenth birthday. Now a successful businessman in Hong Kong, McCartney’s dubious talent in calculated but compulsive risk-taking has continued, albeit on some of Southeast Asia’s skyscrapers rather than the highest mountains in Alaska.

Table of Contents

Foreword Mark Westman 11

Prologue 20

1 First Time Lucky 28

2 Deliverance 37

3 The Walking One and Only 50

4 A New World 54

5 Alaska 59

6 The Ruth Glacier 64

7 Craps 82

8 Roulette 92

9 The Ramp 105

10 The Surprise 111

11 Sheer Luck 118

12 Coming Down 130

13 'An Obsession for the Mentally Deranged' 136

14 Unfinished Business 154

15 The Natural 162

16 Too Loose 177

17 The Valley of Death 189

18 The Fissure McCartney 196

19 Mixed Feelings 203

20 The Roberts Traverse 210

21 Hypoxia 215

22 The Dilemma 225

23 The Choice 234

24 The Freaks 248

25 Airdrop 255

26 Flight 264

27 Providence 274

28 Australia 283

29 The Kangaroo Route 287

30 Hong Kong 291

31 The Bond 297

Postscript 302

Acknowledgments 304

Index 309

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