'Far off on the horizon the snowfields sparkled, and across the meadow the Piz Molino towered formidably above the glacier, its snow cone glittering in the pale blue sky.'
North Wall is award-winning writer Roger Hubank's first novel. The premise is one familiar to those with a thirst for adventure at high altitude two men attempting to climb one of the world's most challenging peaks; yet at its core this is a story that examines the nature of climbing itself: trading familiar earthbound comforts for the allure of the mountains and risking it all to achieve the extraordinary.
Following a first ascent that ended in tragedy, the Alps' most demanding mountain - the staggering 3,753-metre Piz Molino - awaits a second ascent. Two very different climbers step up. Raymond, an experienced mountain guide, is struggling with demons after being left the sole survivor of a previous expedition. Daniel is an amateur torn between his need to climb and his responsibilities as a husband and father. Together they attempt the treacherous 1,200-metre North Face.
'Perhaps that is why we have been reduced like this ... deprived of those we love - stripped of all certainty - so that we may learn what it is to be ourselves.'
North Wall takes the reader on a gripping journey. We follow Raymond and Daniel through tragedy and triumph as they face both the physical challenges of the dangerous ascent and the psychological turmoil of finding themselves along the way.
A must-read for anyone interested in the quest to complete life's more extreme feats.