North Wall

Another mountaineering fiction title, from the anthology I am working through.

This one, published in 1977, is about two French climbers - one a professional, the other an amateur, who are climbing a complex (fictional) peak in the Swiss Alps. The pair are attempting to become the second team to conquer the peak, after the first ended in tragedy.

They are affecting a climb, having met up with a Czech climbing pair partway up, conversing in German only vaguely familiar to both parties, before there is a rockfall and the challenge becomes all the more complex.

This story is very technical (and technically legitimate, as far as I can tell) - as a reader you will need to brush up on your climbing terminology and paraphernalia - there were plenty I wasn't familiar with - prussik clips, pied d'elephant (half a sleeping bag matched with a down jacket), etrier (short ladder clipped on to a peg to allow resting in position, mid climb), etc

But the story is not just climbing, there is plenty of self-reflection by Daniel, the amateur in the pair, and some back-story from Raymond, the guide. Daniel gets to assess all the major decisions he has made in his life.

If it had a flaw for me - it contains quite a lot of French and German dialogue - and while this is probably very basic language - I am not at all gifted in languages, and have no inclination to type a load of text into a translator as I read. In most cases the gist of the conversation is able to be gained, but I still find this an annoyance.

Generally, I am not convinced about mountaineering fiction - there are so many non-fiction mountaineering stories that are gripping and well written, is there a need for fictional stories about climbing fictional mountains? Just not sure - although that shouldn't take away from this story, it was a pretty well paced read, with peaks of excitement.

3.5 stars, rounded down.