Vertebrate Publishing
  • 01142679277
  • info_AT_v-publishing_DOT_co_DOT_uk
  • Login
  • Basket
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Books
  • About
  • News
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Submissions
Join Our Mailing List

Sign up to be the first to find out about pre-order and special edition offers, author events, freebies, and receive an additional 5% off your order ... 

Don’t Show Again
  • Home
  • » Books
  • » Savage Arena
  • Coming Soon
  • Look Inside with Issuu
  • Share Join Us Follow Us

Savage Arena

K2, Changabang and the North Face of the Eiger


£ 7.99 £7.99 each £ 9.99 full price
Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-83981-056-5
336 pages
Author
Joe Tasker
Publication date
4 Feb 2021
  • Description
  • Author
  • Specification
  • Reviews

Available to pre-order

Joe Tasker lies, struck down by illness, in a damp, bug-infested room in the Himalaya, wondering if he will be well enough to climb Dunagiri, his first venture to the ‘big’ mountains. One of Britain’s foremost mountaineers and a pioneer of lightweight climbing, he is about to attempt one of the first true ‘alpine-style’ climbs in the Greater Ranges.

The Dunagiri attempt forms part of Tasker’s striking tale of adventure in the savage arena of the mountains. A superb writer, he vividly describes the first British winter ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, the first ascent of the West Wall of Changabang – considered a ‘preposterous’ plan by the climbing world – and his two unsuccessful attempts on K2, the second highest mountain on Earth.

Savage Arena is both moving and exciting, an inspirational tale of the adventuring spirit which follows its own path, endlessly seeking new challenges, climbs and difficulties to overcome. It is not reaching the summit which counts, it is the journey to it. It is also a story of the stresses and strains of living for long periods in constant anxiety, often with only one other person, and of the close and vital human relationships which spring from those circumstances.

Also available as an ebook:

Kindle UK

Kindle USA

Kobo

Nook

Google Play

iTunes

AUDIOBOOK AVAILABLE 

Joe Tasker (1948-82) was a phenomenal mountaineer, an innovative pioneer of lightweight climbing with a real talent for writing. He died attempting a new route on Mount Everest with his friend Peter Boardman. Their deaths marked the end of a remarkable era in British mountaineering.

Tasker began climbing in his teens. Increasingly drawn to mountaineering, he made several remarkable ascents in the Alps, including the first British winter ascent of the Eiger North Face. Progressing to the Himalaya, he began to tackle routes of extreme technical difficulty in a bold, lightweight style at a time when huge expeditions and siege tactics were still the mountaineering norm. Among his many climbs were the first ascent of the awesome West Wall of Changabang with Peter Boardman, the first ascent of Mount Kongur and an epic attempt on K2 with Boardman, reaching nearly 8,000 metres before being thwarted by unsettled weather.

Tasker was a fantastic writer and the author of two books. The first was Everest the Cruel Way, an exciting account of his winter attempt on Everest. The second Savage Arena, recounted his adventures in the ‘savage arena of the high mountains’ and was finished just before he left for Everest in 1982. Both have become mountaineering classics.

Tasker and Boardman left two legacies: their innovative climbs and the books they wrote. The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was established in memory of the two men by their family and friends. It is presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature. For more information, visit: www.boardmantasker.com

  • Title: Savage Arena
  • Subtitle: K2, Changabang and the North Face of the Eiger
  • Imprint: Vertebrate Publishing
  • ISBN: 978-1-83981-056-5
  • Rights: Worldwide
  • Publication: 4 February 2021
  • Author: Joe Tasker
  • Size: 198mm x 129mm
  • Extent: 336 pages
  • Weight: 350g
  • Cover: Paperback 
  • Retail price: £9.99

Also available as an ebook:

  • Imprint: Vertebrate Digital
  • ISBN: 978-1-906148-75-1
  • Publication Date: 01 October 2013
  • Price: £4.99

‘The most riveting book on climbing that I have ever read.’
Chris Bonington

‘A gripping story of tremendous courage and unbelievable endurance.’
Sir Edmund Hillary

Other Titles You Might Like

Freedom Climbers Bernadette Macdonald
Freedom Climbers
Bernadette McDonald's Freedom Climbers is the incredible story of Poland's high altitude mountaineers ...
£ 10.39 £10.39 each £ 12.99 full price
  • Coming Soon
Sacred Summits Peter Boardman Cover Image
Sacred Summits
New 2021 paperback edition. Mountaintops have long been seen as sacred places, home to gods and dreams. ...
Details
  • Coming Soon
The Shining Mountain Peter Boardman Cover Image
The Shining Mountain
New 2021 paperback edition. The Shining Mountain is Peter Boardman’s first book. It is a personal and ...
£ 7.99 £7.99 each £ 9.99 full price
Ron Fawcett Rock Athlete cover
Ron Fawcett - Rock Athlete
WINNER - Boardman Tasker Prize 2010. The extraordinary autobiography of British rock climbing legend ...
£ 10.39 £10.39 each £ 12.99 full price
Nick Bullock Echoes paperback cover
Echoes
Echoes is the first book by British mountaineer Nick Bullock. A powerful and compelling exploration of ...
£ 7.99 £7.99 each £ 9.99 full price
  • Join UsJoin Us
  • Follow Us Follow Us
  • View Us View Us
  • See Us See Us
  • Watch Us Watch Us
  • Read Us Read Us
  • Delivery and Returns
  • Privacy Policy
  • Trade Information
  • Terms and Conditions
  • About Us
  • Submissions
  • V-Publishing Blog
  • News

Join our mailing list

Website by Little Fire Digital

© Vertebrate Publishing Ltd 2021