Don Whillans Portrait of a Mountaineer

Description

Published by Heinemann, London, 1971, 1st UK Edition, D/w, Nr. Fine.    Don Whillans (1933-1985) was a legendary British world leading climber and mountaineer in the 1950s and 1960s, who pioneered new routes in Britain, the Alps and the Himalaya, particularly on Everest and Annapurna.  Don kept diaries from 1951 and has used them to vividly and authentically create this autobiography of his climbing life, often colourful, with linking text by Alick Ormerod.  Don put up numerous new routes on British rock, often with Joe Brown, pushing the standard of rock climbing to new levels. He moved on to the Alps, where notable climbs included the Central Pillar of Freney, the West Face of the Dru, the Bonatti Pillar on the Dru, and the West Face of the Blatiere.  The greater ranges then beckoned, with an expedition to Masherbrum in 1957, further expeditions to the Argentine, Chile, Nepal, the Karakorum and Peru, before joining Chris Bonington’s expedition to the South Face of Annapurna in 1970 and, with Dougal Haston, making the first ascent.  After writing this book, he continued to climb and was on one of the early big international expeditions attempting to climb the SW Face of Everest in 1971. Further climbing partners included Ian Clough, Chris Bonington, Wilfrid Noyce, Dennis Gray and Royal Robbins.