Tides: A Climber’s Voyage

The much-anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut ‘Echoes’. Now retired from the strain of work as a prison officer, Nick is free to climb. A lot. ‘Tides’ is a treasury of his antics and adventures with some of the world’s leading climbers, including Steve House, Kenton Cool, Nico Favresse, Andy Houseman and James McHaffie. Follow Nick and his partners as they push the limits on some of the world’s most serious routes: The Bells! The Bells! on Gogarth’s North Stack Wall; the Slovak Direct on Denali; Guerdon Grooves on Buachaille Etive Mòr; and the north faces of Chang Himal and Mount Alberta, among countless others.

Nick’s life can be equated to the rhythm of the sea. At high tide, he climbs, he loves it, he is good at it; he laughs and jokes, scares himself, falls, gets back up and climbs some more. Then the tide goes out and he finds himself alone, exposed, all questions and no answers. Self-doubt, grieving for friends or family, fearful, sometimes opinionated, occasionally angry – his writing more honest and exposed than in any account of a climb. Only when the tide turns is he able to forget once more.

‘Tides’ is a gripping memoir that captures the very essence of what it means to dedicate one’s life to climbing.

This special, signed edition has a different binding from the unsigned, hardcover trade edition and contains an additional signature page with the limitation number and Andy’s signature.

Shortlisted for the 2018 Boardman/Tasker Mountaineering Literature Award and Winner 2018 Banff Mountain Book Festival Jon Whyte Award for Mountain and Wilderness Literature.