Ascent

'Why is the best blood of England to waste itself in scaling hitherto inaccessible peaks, in staining the eternal snow, and reaching the unfathomable abyss never to return?' - The Times, 1865THE STORY OF HOW A WILD MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE EVOLVED INTO AN ELITE OLYMPIC SPORTIn the 1950s, rock climbing was a wild mountain adventure that was defined by a rebellious, bohemian culture and practised by small groups of amateur enthusiasts. Today, rock-climbing has become a professionalised, high-performance, mass-participation Olympic sport. There are now more than 400 climbing walls and over 500,000 people climb regularly in the UK. Ascent tells the story of this remarkable transformation. Anthony King a dedicated climber himself traces the sport's evolution through decades of rebellion, innovation and achievement to its place today as a vibrant, diverse culture. His own experiences colour the narrative; we discover not just how climbing developed, but what it feels like to climb and be a climber. More than just a history of the sport, through this story we also see how British society itself has changed. Expansive, immediate and deeply engaging, Ascent is both cultural sport history and lived experience.