Learning To Breathe

by Andy Cave

At age sixteen, Andy Cave followed in his father’s and his grandfather’s footsteps and became a miner — one of the last recruits into a dying world.

Every day he would descend 3,500 feet into the Grimethorpe pit. But at weekends, Andy inhabited a very different world — thousands of feet above the pitheads of the colliery. Introduced to his local mountaineering club while a miner, he soon learned to cherish this newfound freedom. Living through the coalminer’s strikes of the mid-eighties — the guilt, the broken friendships, the poverty — Andy continued to indulge his passion, and in 1986, after much soul-searching, he quit the mines in order to take up mountaineering professionally. At the same time he decided to educate himself, acquiring, almost from a standing start, academic qualifications including a PhD. in sociology.

This extraordinary twin odyssey is graphically recalled in this remarkable book. Andy also recounts the grim tale of one of the steepest and most difficult summits in the world — the north face of Changabang in the Himalaya. Seventeen days later, he and two of his teammates — his best friend had already perished — crawled into base camp, frostbitten and emaciated. His account of this terrifying experience provides a dramatic climax to this extraordinary story.

Learning to Breathe is first and foremost a lively and humorous memoir, written with energy and insight, about two very different groups of men, each navigating equally inhospitable worlds. Finally, on a larger scale, it is an examination of our ability to draw on inner strengths and the strengths of others.

Genres: Climbing, Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Autobiography, Adventure, Biography, Travel

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2005

Reviews

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant book from Andy Cave. I loved it.

[Katie Hull · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a well written book, but I feel like it's missed the mark with being a climbing / mountaineering book. Cave really dives into the experience of working in coal mining before 1984 and the closure of the mines by Thatcher. While interesting, this wasn't what I would have anticipated from how the blurb of the book was about.

The actual mountaineering section was super dense with random climber names, locations and other mountains being mentioned which made it really hard to follow.

[Harvey Portier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely interwoven stories, also goes into great details which makes it very easy to visualise what you’re reading.
Every climber should read it

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Among mountaineering adventure tales, this one stood out by including so much of Andy's background - specifically the culture of English mining towns. Perhaps this background made this book more relatable than other alpine tales I've read, building context for how a young man comes to a life of mountain-guiding, or simply that this book is set more recently than many I've read. Many other classics are referenced here, giving it a very modern and relatable sense of career uncertainty that older books lack.

One element of the writing style I struggled with was jarring transitions between days and locations. One paragraph could be describing curling up in a tent with his evening tea, then with no warning the next paragraph would have Andy mid-pitch up a wall the next day. I've never read a book that had me checking page numbers so much, just to figure out what I missed. Even just a section marker for these would have been helpful, but it happened enough that I think it must have been a stylistic choice.

My second critique is that the coal-oriented first half of the book felt largely disjointed from the mountaineering half. I'm not sure there is much avoiding that, considering the author's life history, but I almost felt like I was reading two different stories.

[Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting life. Growing up in a coal-mining village in England, down the pit at sixteen. I remember the mines being closed after awful lengthy strikes by men who knew their whole communities and way of life would disappear if/when the mines closed, and they did. He writes about life then well and how his growing love of climbing enabled him to see some other horizons in his life. His writing about climbing especially on Changabang is gripping and painful and fascinating. As someone who likes to go where someone has boldly been before, I'll never grasp the reason why other people go first. But I do like to read about it.

[Anne Waltham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful read

Fantastic mountaineering book, and, a tremendous insight to the oh so tough world of deep mining.
Captivating book.
Andy has captured the pain and rewards of two very different worlds.

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastically written autobiography about a period that, whilst not so long ago, feels absolutely alien. I was born two years before Cave's Changabang expedition, and the world has truly changed in the years since, but his writing is emotive, enthralling, and captures the sense of adventure, loss and adversity one experiences in the mountains. Truly remarkable.

[Joaquin Caballero · Rating 5 out of 5]

De los relatos biográficos más sinceros, inspiradores y humanos que he leído. La humildad y el coraje de Andy como minero y alpinista también están presentes en su faceta de escritor. Me parece brillante cómo narra con sencillez los acontecimientos que han marcado su vida y su forma de ver el montañismo . Muy recomendable.

[Joe Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, but it could have been an amazing book if it had been edited better. I found the climbing stories the least interesting part of the book and in many ways would have preferred he focused more on coal mining youth and phd studies.

[Zach Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite slow to start with but towards the end is very gripping

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written, easy to read and enjoyable for non climbers as well as climbers.

[Bex Jeffrey]

First book of this genre I ever read, and stil the best to date

[Telarak Amuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cave ha la grande capacità di evocare immagini piuttosto precise e vivide davanti agli occhi del lettore, il quale così riesce a immergersi e parzialmente vivere gli ambienti da lui raccontati, dagli abissi delle miniere alle algide vette dei monti, nonostante siano, molto verosimilmente, assai lontani dalla sua esperienza. Questo però non è solo un libro sull’alpinismo e sull’arrampicata scritto da una persona capace di scrivere, ma ambisce anche a fornire uno spaccato sociale e a problematizzare quanto narrato, dagli scioperi dei minatori e dal loro ambiente povero e molto pericoloso (a cui comunque si attaccano coi denti), al carattere e alle modalità di interazione degli alpinisti (cosa li spinge a quell’attività così pericolosa, in modo molto diverso dai minatori che devono guadagnarsi il pane), passando per il rapporto uomo-natura, che spesso si risolve in uno sguardo introspettivo su sé stessi. Cave unisce il passato di minatore all’esperienza di grande alpinista e alla sensibilità dello studioso o appassionato di letteratura, in un’opera stilisticamente e narrativamente di qualità, che non ambisce a indagare chissà quali dilemmi o eventi esistenziali, ma fornisce un ritratto molto sfumato e profondo in primis di sé stesso, dell’ambiente in cui si muove, in secondo luogo di cosa significhi fare alpinismo, di cosa rappresenti, anche con le sue ombre, soprattutto in relazione alle responsabilità sociale verso gli altri, verso le persone a cui si è affettivamente legati.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite surprised to enjoy the section where the author talks about his career in the coal mines, as it's not something I ever read about, but it was interesting and well written. You can imagine why he was then attracted by the clean air and bright scenery of the mountains after so many grim days down the pit. I have great admiration for those who do hard, filthy and dangerous work like that.

The climbing parts of the book are fascinating. I've never went up more than a hill but I like to read about others adventures and imagine myself experiencing it. Some of these expeditions though, you really don't want to be on. Wish I could be more specific but I no longer own the book and can't find my review notes so I'm sorry that this review is so vague about the climbing part!

Good read for mountain fans.

[Alan Onslow · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average book that actually made me reflect on my achievements as a mountaineer and gave me no desire to push myself further. So I suppose it's rather a biased review

[Sanna Keskioja]

What a great read! Andy Cave is a truly gifted story teller and his text captivates from the beginnings experiences in mining to adventures in the world's highest mountains.

[Gavin]

Great book about a eppic climb in the Himalaya's, and the history of coal mining in Yorkshire I also thought was really interesting.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant story, I have so much for the guy, but the book just seems to miss things, jumps on in time and misses some of his earliest forays into the Himalayas. Could have been so much better.

[David Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account of starting as a miner and discovering climbing. Tragic tale of his first ascent of the North face of Changabang.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy read, diverting.