• Book cover for 'Freedom Climbers' by Bernadette McDonald, featuring a dark blue-toned photograph of two mountaineers in winter gear with large white title text and a dark red review banner at the bottom.
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Freedom climbers - Bernadette McDonald

Freedom climbers - Bernadette McDonald

Bernadette McDonald

£13.00 GBP
£13.00 GBP
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To understand the success of a sub-set of mountaineers who pushed the boundaries of Himalayan climbing, you have to go deeper than just their mountaineering exploits. Bernadette McDonald's book gets under the skin and delves deep into the cultural context that shaped legendary climbers like Voytek Kurtyka and Wanda Rutkiewicz. A must-read for armchair and aspiring mountaineers alike.

From the publisher:

Freedom Climbers tells the story of the extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression following the Second World War to become the world's leading Himalayan climbers. Although they lived in a war-ravaged landscape, with seemingly no hope of creating a meaningful life, these curious, motivated and skilled mountaineers built their own free-market economy under the very noses of their Communist bosses and climbed their way to liberation.

At a time when Polish citizens were locked behind the Iron Curtain, these intrepid explorers found a way to travel the world in search of extreme adventure - to Alaska, South America and Europe, but mostly to the highest and most inspiring mountains of the world. To this end, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nepal became their second homes as they evolved into the toughest Himalayan climbers the world has ever known. In her most engaging book to date, renowned and award-winning author Bernadette McDonald weaves a passionate and literary tale of adventure, politics, suffering, death and - ultimately - inspiration.

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  • Telling women's stories

    You can't be what you can't see. We hope that reading about women's adventures will inspire more women to explore the edges of their comfort zones. You don't need a beard to climb a mountain or cross an ice cap!

  • Supporting female authors

    The 'adventure' bookshelf is often dominated by books about and by male climbers and explorers. We aim to raise the profile of books written from a broader range of perspectives, especially female authors.

  • Female specific advice

    There is much less research and training advice tailored to female specific physiology, but this is changing. We aim to help re-balance the gender disparity and highlight the advances in this field.