The true story of the thrill-seekers map-makers soldiers occultists artists and porters who
paved the way for modern mountaineering. 'A beautifully written and sure-footed history of
mountaineering "before Everest" full of wonderful stories and spanning continents and
centuries. A splendid debut.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes author of Shackleton Beautiful remote
and dangerous - for generations we have looked to the mountains in awe. Yet for most that is
where the fascination ends. For a rare few however the allure of the peaks proved
irresistible. There are the devout Incan priests who scaling the Andes' icy slopes to pay
tribute to each mountain's 'Great Lord' travelled higher than any European would for
centuries. The Gurkha riflemen who joined their commanders in canvassing the Karakoram
admiring the distant summits of Broad Peak and K2 with gleeful anticipation. The tweed-clad
mountaineers who made the first serious assaults on Everest hauling yards upon yards of
battered rope through the cold. Tracing the world altitude record from the ashy slopes of
the sacred volcano Llullaillaco to the icy crags and crevasses of the Karakoram Daniel Light
takes a panoramic journey through the storied history of mountaineering before Everest. Joining
a cast of colourful characters The White Ladder offers an ode to mountains' capacity to
enthral and the fundamental human drive to climb higher and higher. *** 'Thrilling...
Daniel Light delivers stories that are poetic spiritual and astonishing in their courage and
drive.' Sonia Purnell author of A Woman of No Importance 'Daniel Light guides the reader
through a mountain-scape that stretches from the Alps to the Himalaya... with the sure footing
of a serious student of climbing history and the élan of a skilled storyteller. This is a book
to curl up with on a cold dark night in a comfortable armchair before a bright fire.' Maurice
Isserman co-author of Fallen Giants 'Wonderful... a massive story with an enormous cast of
characters among them some of the most compelling figures of mountaineering history.' Wade
Davis author of Into the Silence
