One Day as a Tiger: Alex MacIntyre and the Birth of Light and Fast Alpinism
By John Porter Vertebrate Publishing
The 1970s and ’80s were ambitious and distinctive times in the evolution of modern cutting-edge alpinism in the Greater Ranges. Those days were characterized by an overlap between the swan songs of empire – large expeditions and the planting of f lags based upon the established borders of their sponsoring countries – and the chaotic alliances amongst elite alpinists who shed themselves of all those trappings and like pirates, set sail onto the biggest walls with the minimum of gear and a revolutionar y purpose. This transition, from nationalistic siege expeditions to small, close partnerships, arguably makes those times amongst the most signif icant.
John Porter’s is the stor y of Alex MacInt yre, a central f ig ure of that era whose meteoric career was trag ical ly cut shor t when a single fal ling rock took his life high on the South Face of Annapurna in 1982. Writing the biography of a legend is no easy task. Imminently qualif ied as a fr iend, mentor and par tner of MacInt yre, Porter traverses this ground graceful ly and always with interest and pace. We are spared hero worship and we are spared scandalous exposé – neither of these ser ves biography well.
Porter maintains an honest y in his writing and this book is particularly special because he places himself, appropriately, as a character in the book as well as a narrator and obser ver. It’s not egotistical and it works ver y well. The list of hard climbs builds – Scotland, the Alps, the Greater Ranges – and Porter describes MacIntyre’s ascents of hard new routes on Changabang, Dhaulagiri, Shishipangma and many others in ways that speak to the good and the bad that comes with adventure, change, success and development of skill and ambition and the effect this can have on partnership. If you’re a student of alpine climbing and want to be inspired by the vision of a bold climber on the cutting edge of his day, you’l l f ind lots here. If you’re a student of histor y, of how it shapes and inf luences its participants as much as they do it, you’l l also be satisf ied. deser vedly won the 2014 Banff Mountain Book Competition Grand Prize and if you’re someone who enjoys a touching and great read from start to f inish, this book will become one of your favourites.–