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Hazard's Way by Roger Hubank Find!

Being married to a climber and mother of another, I automatically reached for this book when I saw the picture of Wasdale adorning the cover. Set at the turn of 19th century, the book revolves around the life of a young man, George Hazzard, as he struggles to reconcile his family life (largely his relationship with his strict authorative father), his conflicting attitudes to the Boer War, and the contradictory influences of his climbing friends. All this against a wonderful evocation of life at Wasdale Head, at the time the mecca for English climbers.

A century ago,early rock climbers were pitting themselves against what were then the most challenging rock faces in the country, on Scawfell at the head of Wasdale. Some of the climbers were locals like the Abraham brothers from Keswick, but the most famous of them all was the short sighted O G Jones who went on to write the classic book on rock climbing. It was Jones who made the first epic ascent up Lords Rake to Scawfell Pinnacle solo and in stockinged feet.

In the book it is this climb of Jones that is the centre of conversation among the group of climbers who regularly stay at the Waswater hotel. One such climber is George Hazard who escapes from his medical studies to the fells whenever he can. It is the time of the Boer War and to the British public's disbelief, the British army is struggling to cope with their Boer opponents. In the face of defeat the British tactics become increasingly ungentlemanly and brutal. In a mirror image of the war, the climbers in the Wastwater hotel, including George, face a similar dilemma ~ is the best man, or climber,the one who puts safety first or the one who takes the most risks? Constantly searching for new routes on the crags, the gentleman amateur climbers must take more and more risks, just as in life the British soldiers are also finding that they have to change in order to survive.

What happens in the end is for the reader to discover. Roger Hubank has writen a wonderfully evocative novel. Published in 2001, it not only gives us beautiful descriptions of the Lake District crags and landscape, but also gives a sense of the time, when men were caught up in the exhilaration of climbing, regardless of the dangers and risks involved, in order to prove themselves. But for George, his family and friends life is changing forever.

Fantastic ~ a real gem!

8 September 2009 from Anne

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