The Longest Climb - Dominic Faulkner

This book was recommended to me by my friend Paul (look Paul, you're in my blog post) and it's not easy to put down. A recent post queried whether books can change your life. I don't know if this one changed my life but it did inspire me to jump on my bike and challenge myself to ride further than I had before. It also gave a great insight into the challenges involved in climbing Everest - and I really wish I had a spare $60000 so I could climb it.

The Longest Climb is the true story about a team of adventurers who travel by foot and by bike from the Dead Sea to the Summit of Mount Everest -  a world first. The team - hailing from England - ride 5000 miles across Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Tibet where they make an attempt on the summit.

How cool is that?

Faulkner gives a great, straightforward and easily readable account of the trials his team faced while travelling across the Middle East and Asia. These trials included everything from managing their money to managing their safety. Faulkner tells of his own personal struggles in taking on a Leadership role and ensuring that the journey ran as smoothly as possible (which is difficult when you're battling food poisoning, riots and local police that just don't want to leave you alone). While it lacked depth in some places, I thought the book gave a really good overview of the type of challenges and surprises encountered on such an amazing journey. There were times when I thought the participant's determination was truly inspirational - they insisted on riding the whole way regardless of the setbacks - even convincing army personnel to drive them back to the spot where they were forced to stop riding the night before.

The climb itself is also well described. The fears and illnesses that they had at such a high altitude and the actual technical details that go into planning the trek and maintaining group dynamics were fascinating. Faulkner also touches on a dark side of Everest treks with brutal honesty. He talks about how easy it is to pass a sick climber without stopping to help, thinking that the people behind you will take responsibility instead. Faulkner and his team are forced to decide whether or not to help one such climber on their bid for the summit. Personally, I hope I'd stop to help, even if it meant giving up what I came to do.

I really enjoyed this book and recommed it to any would be adventurers out there. It shows what amateur cyclists and climbers can achieve with good planning, good training and a lot of determination.

The Longest Climb - Dominic Faulkner