The Echo: Stories from the Edge of Survival

The Echo: Stories from the Edge of Survival

By Barry Blanchard

• Publisher: Patagonia
• Format: Hardcover, 352 pages, full colour with photos throughout
• Genre: Mountaineering / Memoir

Canadian alpinist and mountain guide Barry Blanchard picks up where The Calling (Patagonia, 2014) left off. He writes about the climbs, partners and close calls that shaped the second half of a life spent in the mountains, and about what it takes to keep coming home from them.

Synopsis

The Echo opens on Alaska’s Infinite Spur on Mount Foraker, where an ascent turns into an improvised rescue managed by radio and shaped by hard ethical choices. From there it moves to Everest’s unclimbed Northeast Flank with Mark Twight, a fast, style-first attempt that ends with pulmonary and cerebral edema and a night in a Gamow bag. Later chapters cover a solo new route on Kusum Kanguru and the odd world of Hollywood rigging on Cliffhanger.

Alongside the climbing, Blanchard writes about Métis identity and family, the cost of ambition, partners lost, and getting older in a sport that rarely forgives. The final chapters return to the big walls of the Canadian Rockies, including Howse Peak and the Emperor Face of Mount Robson, before a catastrophic fall and long recovery change his relationship with risk. What he’s left with is partnership, craft and love.

Like The Calling, the book includes Blanchard’s playlist of songs tied to each chapter and a reading list of his favourite books, plus an epilogue and a glossary.

Praise

“Vicariously thrilling for armchair—and actual—alpinists.”

— Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Barry Blanchard is a UIAGM-certified mountain guide from Canada. His first ascents include The Andromeda Strain (1983), the North Pillar of North Twin (1985), a solo new route on the North Face of Kusum Kanguru (1991), M-16 in winter on the East Face of Howse Peak (1999) and Infinite Patience on the Emperor Face of Mount Robson (2002). He has also worked as a climbing double on films including K2, Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit, and is the subject of the documentary Spindrift: The Barry Blanchard Story. He lives in Canmore, Alberta.

Specifications

• Pages: 352
• Binding: Hardcover
• Dimensions: 15.2 × 23.5 cm (6 × 9.25 in)
• Weight: 993 g (35 oz)
• Paper: 100% post-consumer recycled
• Contents: 20 chapters, epilogue, glossary, index, playlist and reading list
• ISBN: 978-1-952338-39-7