Shisha Pangma: An Alpine Style First-ascent of the South Face - Tapa blanda

In 1982, following the relaxation of the Chinese access restrictions to Tibet, six climbers set off to explore the little-known Shisha Pangma massif near the Nepalese border. Starting from Beijing, in the throes of it's post-Maoist evolution, they moved on to Tibet, where they witnessed a country under military rule. After overcoming bureaucratic obstacles they gained access to Shisha Pangma's unclimbed South-West Face and the remote approach valley that had been identified during earlier exploratory probes from Nepal. A series of taxing acclimatisation climbs followed which soon revealed the disparate nature of the party with the accompanying tensions. These events and the story of how the three strongest team members (Scott, Maclntyre and Baxter-Jones) went on to make one of the most audacious and stylish ascents ever achieved are recounted in this tense and candid book. Published in 1984 as The Shishapangma Expedition, it won the first Boardman Tasker Literary Award.