Peter Boardman, (now dead from a subsequent mountaineering accident), in this book relates his successful 1976 two-man climb with Joe Tasker up the west wall of Changabang in the Garhwal Himalaya. The hardships of an Alpine-type assualt on this monster mountain are related, as are the doubts and fears he experiences, along with the disciplined mental state he cultivates to banish them.
The most curiously attractive thing about the book is the young author's thinking: clear, intelligent, and able to remain focused on each task at hand under the most extraordinary circumstances. The reader follows PB through each portion of the ascent and descent as he and Joe Tasker face and eliminate seemingly impossible obstacles one by one. The rhythm of the tale told feels right. It moves forward at a careful and deliberate pace, never puffed up or pedantic.
An emotional epilogue by climber Chris Bonington underscores Boardman's achievements both on the mountain, as a climber, and off, as a gentle human being.