Poles Apart with some pointy bits in between

by Vaughan De La Harpe, Sean Disney

An entertaining and fascinating account of the authors’ formidable mountaineering and climbing accomplishments. In 2011 the pair completed the “Grand Slam”, which is summiting the world’s seven highest peaks as well as journeying to the North and South Poles. The book chronicles their achievements in an amusing and modest manner, while still sharing the drama of the various expeditions.
Poles Apart is highly informative about some of the real nitty gritty encounters and behind-the-scenes information about what exactly it takes to summit some of the world’s highest mountains, delving into the vast and varied challenges of mountaineering and very personal experiences of how the two authors overcame them, finding an inner strength that is just as vital as an outer, physical strength.
Although this book delves into the challenges but it does so with a good dose of humour, as both Sean and Vaughan bounce their experiences off each other and reminisce in sometimes hilarious ways with the kind of detail and stories that armchair adventurers (as well as genuine mountaineers) will enjoy.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Uswa Anjum · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further: it may be
Beyond that last mountain barred with snow...

This book made me laugh out loud (literally), shiver and experience wild adventure. Some will get it and some won’t. Just cherish your wilderness however it may manifest ❤️

[Mike Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a traditional climbing book, in that it tries to capture the essence of a multi-year adventure spanning 9 or 10 peaks and two polar hauls. It reads more like a fireside chat with a couple of climbing/drinking buddies but it does manage to include some of what drives people to embark on these epic challenges as well as numerous adventuring anecdotes (ranging from mundane, epic, humorous, farcical and even tragic). Sean Disney is a very experienced but ultra laid back mountaineer; Vaughan De La Harpe comes across as an ambitious, inquisitive adventurer who is constantly looking for something, and has some very humorous observations about almost everything; and David Bristow pulls their stories into a fairly cohesive book. Given the number of expeditions that it covers, this book has to skim the surface most of the time, so you won't find any coverage in depth of any expedition, but it is a good read if you want to get a feel for what it must have been like to be a fly on the wall (of the tent?) while Sean and Vaughan ticked off each accomplishment.