Book Review: No Easy Way – The Challenging Life Of The Climbing Taxman by Mick Fowler
Mick Fowler is the mountaineer that we all aspire to be. He’s accomplished more in the mountains than most people can even dream of – and he’s done it all while holding down a full-time job at the tax office in the United Kingdom.
Some might call Fowler an expert at “juggling work, climbing and family life.” He’s figured out how to stay gainfully employed and still get after it in the mountains for decades. Whether it’s a weekend trip in the UK or a month long expedition to the greater ranges of Tibet, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, or some other far flung locale, Fowler made climbing a priority. It’s what we all wish we could do.
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Fowler specializes in climbing remote, unclimbed peaks in the greater ranges in alpine style that “should:
- Have a striking line leading directly to the summit,
- Be unclimbed,
- Be visible from afar,
- Be technically challenging,
- Be objectively safe,
- Be on an eye-catching mountain,
- Be in a remote ethnically interesting area,
- Be somewhere I haven’t been before,
- Have an aesthetically pleasing – and different- descent route.“
Even after decades of expeditions to the greater ranges, he still has an endless tick list of objectives. His file “bulges with possibilities in the Hindu Kush, Chinese Karakoram, Tien Shan, Altai Republic, Andes, east Tibet and even Antarctica. And of course all the time there are wonderful opportunities for interesting adventures in the UK. It’s a worry really that there is so much to be done and so little time.”
Fowler’s mountaineering resume includes:
- 2003 – Wins 1st Piolet d’Or for 6250-meter Mount Siguniang in China with Paul Ramsden
- 2005 – Wins the Jon Whyte Award For Mountain Literature at the Banff Mountain Book Festival
- 2011 to 2013 – Serves as President of the Alpine Club
- 2012 – Wins King Albert Medal For Mountaineering Achievement
- 2013 – Wins 2nd Piolet d’Or for 6142-meter Prow of Shiva in the Indian Himalaya with Paul Ramsden
- 2016 – Wins 3rd Piolet d’Or for 6517-meter Gave Ding in Nepal with Paul Ramsden
Add his numerous greater-range expeditions, first ascents, and weekend climbing shenanigans and you’ll realize that Fowler is a truly inspiring climber and mountaineer. All he wants to do is “Seek out something special, accept the challenge on offer, try your best and keep climbing unless there is an exceptionally good reason to stop.”
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But this post isn’t about Mick’s impressive climbing resume. This post is about his third book, No Easy Way – The Challenging Life Of The Climbing Taxman. Fowler sums up his book by writing that it’s “about: the ups and downs and stresses and strains of fitting the little-understood urges of a greater-range mountaineer into the well-understood challenges of being a family man with a full-time job. There truly is No Easy Way.”
Fowler’s latest book explores his adventures in the big mountains of China, India, Nepal, and Tibet with mountaineering partners like Paul Ramsden, Dave Turnbull, Andy Cave, and Victor Saunders. It shines the spotlight on his successes on peaks like Gave Ding and Shiva. But it’s not always smooth sailing for Fowler. As he writes in the book, “If we were guaranteed success in everything we tried then life would be pretty boring.” From what we can tell, Fowler’s life is far from boring.
In No Easy Way Fowler shares stories about frightening dog walks, nuisance base camp bears in the Himalaya, getting hassled by castle security guards, big mountain climbing ethics, climbing partners with unfortunate stomach issues, duties of the Alpine Club president, permit issues, mountaineering failures, his new struggle with cancer, and so much more. As Fowler says, “The joys of adventure mountaineering are such that life can be a bit uncertain at times.”
No Easy Way by Mick Fowler is an incredibly well written climbing memoir. Fowler’s dry wit and mountaineering mindset will keep every mountain enthusiast entertained. And the fact that Fowler has achieved so much in the mountains while holding down a full time job will inspire everyone to get outside and have an adventure in the mountains.
No Easy Way by Mick Fowler is one of the better mountaineering books we have read in a long time. Two big thumbs up!!
Vertebrate Publishing published No Easy Way by Mick Fowler in October 2018. Vertebrate Publishing sent a copy of No Easy Way by Mick Fowler to Mountain Journey to read and review.
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