Nick Wharton, co-author of the FRCC Eastern Crags and Eden Valley & South Lakes Limestone guidebooks, is a well known fixture on the Lake District climbing scene and has been climbing at very high grades for decades; in fact, four decades. This book recounts many tales from his climbing and other adventures.
How hard can it be? Not a bad question for anyone to ask when faced with a challenging situation whether that is at work, in the home, or on an E5, the irony being that as a Health & Safety Manager and Consultant, Nick probably should not have been anywhere near such a climb.
The book takes the reader on a journey through a wide collection of stories and insights into his own escapades, starting with learning to climb at boarding school by climbing the buildings in the middle of the night. We get an insight into his time in the army: holding back the Russians in Germany; patrolling the streets of Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles; training Mozambique forces in Zimbabwe; and, back home in the UK. Living in the Lake District, Wharton retrained as an Environmental Health Officer which started his unlikely choice of career in health and safety. We get an insight into his perspective of risk and how he has used his climbing to help get the H&S message across to colleagues and clients with great effect.
He gives us an insight into his own, distinctive approach to climbing. His insight into the world of hazards and risk management helps us to understand, what has been described by many as one of the most bold approaches to climbing in recent years.
A fabulous collection of stories and anecdotes with contributions from many others - colleagues, friends, climbing partners and well-known characters from the climbing world. Illustrated throughout with a range of brilliant full-colour photos. The book will appeal to climbers and other outdoor activity enthusiasts but also to anyone with a sense of adventure and fun.
Contributors include Leo Houlding, James McHaffie, Steve Scott, Alan Steele,
David Birkett, Brian Davison, Will Birkett, Neil Gresham and many others.
By Nick Wharton.
Card cover, 21cm x 15cm, 210 pages.
Published 2021.
ISBN 13: 978-1-8384281-0-5.