Essays from the Edge gathers fifty years of selected writing by Dennis Gray, one of British climbing's most influential voices. These twenty-one essays, spanning one of British mountaineering's most exciting periods, provide a compelling narrative of a life studying the art of climbing and of living it first-hand on the cliffs and mountains of the world in the company of some of the sport's most colourful characters of the last century.
Vivid portraits anchor the collection: the legendary Joe Brown and Don Whillans, members of the Rock and Ice Club; American pioneers Royal Robbins, Jeff Lowe and Warren Harding; and unsung originals such as the Barley brothers, Robin and Tony. A wide-ranging 1973 interview with climber Allan Austin gives a fascinating insight into the Yorkshire scene of the early 1970s. Dennis's commentary expands to cover other issues, such as the 1932 Kinder Mass Trespass, climbing's debut in the Olympics and the development of modern rock climbing in Belgium.
Broad in scope yet precise in observation, Essays from the Edge celebrates the values and spirit of British climbing.
Gray, Dennis: - "Dennis Gray first climbed as a schoolboy, with the 'Bradford Lads', a group that emerged in the 1940s and remained united for many years. In 1954, when called up for National Service, he was posted to Manchester where he would go on to climb with the finest talent in the country: members of the Rock and Ice club - Joe Brown, Don Whillans, Merrick 'Slim' Sorrell, Ron Moseley, Nat Allen, and many others. A brief posting to Innsbruck in 1955 gave him his first taste of Alpine rock, and countless more Alpine visits then followed throughout the sixties, as well as a visit to the Himalaya, which led to the first ascent of the Manikaran Spires. In 1966 he led an expedition to film the first complete ascent of the north ridge of Alpamayo in the Cordillera Blanca range in the Peruvian Andes, and two years later led another which made the first ascent of Mukar Beh in the Kulu valley in India. Gray became the first general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), a position he held for eighteen years until 1989, before later guiding in Morocco, the Atlas Mountains, and the Himalaya. He then returned to academia and has written three papers about various aspects of development in China, after some time spent lecturing in China and researching in Oxford. He founded the Chevin Chase cross-country race in 1979, one of the most popular running events in Yorkshire, and has published seven books including a novel, a book of poems, and two books of anecdotes and stories. He lives in Leeds, and has three grown children and five grandchildren."
Moorehead, Catherine: - Catherine Moorehead was born in Nairn, Scotland and was educated at Edinburgh University before embarking on a teaching career. Widely travelled in many countries, she has led numerous mountaineering expeditions, particularly in Central Asia. She completaed 'compleated' (in inverted commas) her Scottish Munros in 1996.
