Echoes: One climber's hard road to freedom [Kindle Edition]

Echoes has been an interesting book to read. On the one hand I've found it incredibly interesting and enjoyable, but it's also frustrated me at times. A number of years back I met Nick in the bar at Plas Y Brenin whilst on a BMC climbing meet. We spent a very enjoyable hour chatting over a couple of pints. He fascinated me then, and ever since. The life he leads is one that many of us, at some point, surely fancy for ourselves. He is a professional climber and mountaineer, and now writer, with no fixed abode (though he does own a house which he has paid off the mortgage for, and lives off the rental income), moving from one trip to the next, following the weather and a network of friends around the globe to suit his mood. I'm well aware that we are all the masters of our own destiny and can choose what we want to do, but I also believe that it takes a certain sort of person to lead Nick's life. Anyhow, I digress.

As with most autobiographies found Nick's back-story the most interesting part of the book. Something of a mischievous and under-achieving kid he went on to a string of random jobs including working at Alton Towers, and also spending some very unhappy time as a gamekeeper in North Wales. In his early twenties he ended up working as a prison officer, a role he would stick with for over a decade, before taking the plunge as described above. It's his descriptions of prison life, infamous criminals such as Charles Bronson and the Kray Brothers, that I enjoyed most. I've rarely had such an insight into the machinations of our prisons. Whilst working in various high security prisons around the country he accidentally finds himself becoming drawn into the world of exercise - he trains and qualifies as a physical education officer within the prison service - and ultimately into the outdoors whilst on a training course at Plas Y Brenin. As you would expect from a man who has the courage of his convictions to resign from `regular' life and live in his van, his drive and dedication lead to him quickly rising through the grades and becoming a very accomplished climber.

The book it comprised of 40 short chapters. The first half is generally focused on his life in the prison service, with occasional references to climbing, whilst the second half switches to his trips away from the service to Scotland, The Alps, Snowdonia, and the Greater Ranges, with plenty of references to his life and work back home. Initially the short chapters worked for me, each with a different story, but with some general continuity, but towards the end I struggled to piece together the references to previous climbs in previous chapters. There is little in the way of a timeline, so we don't know how old he was when he did the various routes or left his job. Personally I'd have liked this information as I like to compare with my own life experiences - I used to go to secondary school a few miles from the estate he worked on as a game keeper, I think, at around the same time.

As the book winds to a close he makes more and more reference to the fact that his drive for climbing is really more of an addiction, and draws parallels between himself and the repeat offenders he spent so long living with. It's an interesting parallel, and one that's been made before, but rarely as rawly.

In all, it's a thoroughly absorbing read, and more interesting than most books of its kind.

Nick's book does way more than describe his climbing adventures (which make for exciting and gripping reading in equal measure).
This book details Nick's motivations, depicts his doubts and fears, and conveys his attitude, style and philosophy with a fascinating degree of honesty and self-awareness.
Brilliant.

'Echoes' is a striking book with an evocative cover photo featuring Nick surmounting a cornice--or so we assume. On reading the photo description we learn he is actually down-climbing the cornice, and I think this crazy image sets the tone for the rest of the book!

The book is described as 'one climber's hard road to freedom'. The concept of freedom, and what this means to different people, is the engine that drives this remarkable story. Nick Bullock's early life is described in engaging detail, and while at first the reader feels impatient to get on with the climbing action, it soon becomes clear how important this build-up is to the story. Just as every character is a sum of his or her experiences, this story depends just as much on Nick's early years as it does his impressive climbs in later life.

As someone who has lived both in the flatlands and amongst mountains, I strongly identified with parts of the story. Nick was at one point stationed on the Suffolk coast, not far from where I grew up, and I can relate to his sense of being cast adrift and far from where he wanted to be. However, I also started to gain the impression at this point that, in his single-minded determination to climb at all costs, Nick failed to see the beauty and meaning in everyday existence. This impression strengthened as I read the book. The type of freedom that 'Echoes' champions is the result of choices most of us will never have the courage to make, but I think his total rejection of a normal life betrays a lack of balance--or perhaps simply a blindness to the wonders that ordinary life can provide.

The conflict between freedom and security is a prominent theme, and Nick struggles with this conflict for many years before making his definitive choice. Although these concepts do interplay, I gained the impression that the author sees them as mutually exclusive; that, for him, he could not have the freedom he desired while also having the security of a job for life. "Security is a sentence" is one quote that particularly intrigued me. It's a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a truly obsessive and committed climber--one who is not able to fully function in regular society.

The climbing scenes are intense, although I noticed a pattern emerging after a while: the author attempts something at the upper limit of his capability, before falling off and almost killing himself (then apparently not learning from this experience!) Gripping as the climbing scenes are, I must admit that towards the end of the book I found them becoming a little repetitive. The scenes are fairly jargon-intensive and might be difficult to understand for the non-climber. Nevertheless, the description is frequently superb and the imagery is masterful.

Perhaps my minor criticisms are unfair. The author is not an ordinary person and his extraordinary life translates into an extraordinary story, written with skill, feeling, and truth. It provides unique insights into the mind of a truly committed climber, and the reader finishes the book with a profound understanding of the conflicts and motivations that make such a unique person get out of bed every morning.

'Echoes' is a brilliant book and should be essential reading for everyone with an interest in mountaineering and climbing.