Vertical Pleasure: Early climbs in Britain, the Alps, the Andes and the Himalaya/The secret life of a taxman

by Mick Fowler

Vertical Pleasure is the first set of climbing memoirs from Mick Fowler - Britain's hardest-climbing tax inspector, the 'Mountaineer's Mountaineer' and recipient of the Piolet d'Or. Vertical Pleasure begins with Fowler's early teenage years on easy British rock and Swiss 4000m peaks under the guidance of his father. A frenzied spell follows, with climbing worked in around jobs, discos and girlfriends before Fowler takes a job at the tax office and settles in London. Long-distance drives in clapped out mini-vans see him tackle new winter routes in the Scottish Highlands, always managing to return for work on Monday mornings. He dodges vomiting fulmars, sinking boats and over-enthusiastic policemen in the pursuit of first-ascents on remote sea-stacks and crumbling coastal cliffs, and tackles Alpine testpieces as he develops into one of Britain's finest mountaineers. Along the way, the sport of chalk-climbing is born on the White Cliffs of Dover and a burst and frozen water pipe allows the first winter ascent of St Pancras station in London. It is when he moves in to the Greater Ranges that Fowler really begins to shine. With climbers such as Victor Saunders and Steve Sustad he begins a run of first ascents on peaks like Taulliraju, Spantik and Cerro Kishtwar. Written with a dry sense of humour, Vertical Pleasure is a must read for the enthusiastic rock, winter and Alpine climber - a classic of the genre.

Genres: Climbing, Biography

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 1995

Reviews

[Duncan Sproul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mick Fowler is a legend in the UK climbing world. This is his first volume of autobiography and its a hilariously understated account of his early climbing adventures in the UK and beyond. I enjoyed the book a lot and can't recommend it enough.

[Tamara Covacevich · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, and so relatable for someone living in London!

Really enjoyed the British adventures and looking into the development of climbing at the time. From southern sandstone, to wales, to gritstone, to chalk cliffs (with ice screws!), to sea stacks, and an honest view of the Himalayan expeditions. Even an ice column in St Pancras station.

Some quotes:
- "was the proud owner of a battered blue minivan - the first of 13 to follow"
- "It s3emed that though I had originally left London to maximise my climbing time, the lack of pressure frequently lead to leaving things for another day and generally losing momentum"
- "although its far from conventional rock-climbing centers, whatever perverse destination one may wish to visit at the weekend an enthusiastic partner can invariably be found, whether it be for a weekend on Scottish ice, the Dover chalk cliffs or even flying over to sea stacks on the west coast of Ireland"
- "British winter climbing had been a gradual learning process for me and it took many unsuccessful trips before I concluded that short, sharp weekend dashed from London were the most likely to be productive"
- "Chris, Victor and I groped blindly in the worsening blizzard, remembering to be revelling in the contrast between weekday deskbound dreariness and character-building weekend excitement (...) Fourteen hours later I was back in the Tax Office listening to how colleagues had spent their weekends going shopping"
- "The aftermath of 24hr hours diriving every weekend somehow never seems as bad as people expect, maybe is the adrenaline flow, perhaps mastering art of sleeping in the car. Either way a return to London at 7 am in the desk has remarkably few tiredness problems"
- "The only conclusion that can be drawn must be that weekend trips to Scotland are good for you"
- "Our favorite tongue in cheek adjective 'unjustifiable" was cropping up just a bit too often"
- "To have the courage of ones convictions is vital in such circumstances"
- "challenging seas and adrenaline-packed climbing provided a combination that was fully approved. I walked up the aisle comfortable in the knowledge that Scotlands sea-stack calls would continue to be answered"
- "having agreed an alternate-years greater-ranges schedule with Nicki"

[Bex Jeffrey]

This book had a more profound effect than I thought it would - it made me realise you can work full time and have other aspirations, you don't have to sacrifice one for the other

[Sam Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mick Fowler is one of the world's premier alpinists and, in my opinion, is the best writer in the mountaineering genre. He has a knack for making fascinating observations that would typically be missed or quickly forgotten, and describing them with prose that is rich and precise. Some of the most enjoyable sections in the book are not about climbing, but about preparing for or travelling to climbs. He is also hilarious. On several occasions, his writing made me laugh uncontrollably for several minutes.

[Edda Nella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!