Climbing the Walls

(Hardback)

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATURE

Learning to cope when your world crumbles

'I'd always expected to meet my biggest challenge in the Himalayas or Yosemite. Instead it's happening a little above sea level in a one-bed apartment in a small town in Italy'

After spending a decade globe-trotting in search of a sustainable way of life, Kieran Cunningham alighted on Sondrio in the Italian Alps. There he found the perfect combination of mountains, a strong network of friends and lots of climbing. Finally he was able to accept and manage his diagnosis of Bipolar I. And then he found himself in the epicentre of Covid-19 with his beloved mountains off limits.

How do you cope when the things you need to maintain your delicate equilibrium are taken away As Kieran's mental health crumbles, he looks desperately for something to help him face his greatest trial.

Climbing the Wallsis a devastatingly honest memoir about struggling with mental health and the power of nature and exercise.

Reviews

'A deeply affecting, witty but deadly serious memoir... A truly hopeful and positive book' -- Chris Dolan
'A poignant, profound, personal and often humorous reflection on finding our boundaries and then learning to scale them' -- Vanessa Coleridge
'Kieran Cunningham eulogises the healing power of climbing, even in the middle of a lockdown' * Choice *

Author Bio

Kieran Cunninghamis a Scottish climber and journalist who lives in Sondrio, a mountainous part of Lombardy which lies south of the Swiss border and about fifty miles from Lake Como. He has lived there for six years, having arrived as a teacher and then switched to a full-time career as a climbing journalist, writing for the Observer,Little India,Cool of the Wild, andMoja Gear as well as editing the outdoors blogsMy Open CountryandTake Outdoors.