I am writing this in the early days of coronavirus quarantine. Many people are experiencing loneliness during self-isolation, and I hope this blog can bring some comfort - I know I can dream myself away on these trails. My own life is turned upside down too, my amazing London life came to a grinding halt when King’s College closed and almost all my friends left. Nothing to do now but get fit and read. Here is the second Tales of Adventure reading list for those of you in need of some distraction right now. This reading list spans wide across the wild world: here are books on climbing, ultrarunning, skiing, exploration and of course, thru-hiking. Snuggle up with stories of crazy endeavours, record-setting feats and survival (or lack thereof…)!

the push - tommy caldwell

Tommy Caldwell rose to worldwide fame - even outside the chalk-dusted crowds of the climbing community – after his legendary first ascent of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall. He and his partner, Kevin Jorgeson, invested years to climb the seemingly blank granite wall, the icon of all things vertical in Yosemite Valley. Their final push took 19 days of sleeping on a portaledge, skinning their fingers on razor-sharp holds the size of peppercorns and braving the international media circus while scaling a 3000 ft wall. Impressive, to say the least. The Dawn Wall was made into a great documentary which kindof serves as the visual companion to The Push.

Caldwell writes of his life from the early days of growing up in Colorado with a climber/bodybuilder dad, until the climax of the Dawn Wall. When he was in his early twenties, Caldwell, his then-girlfriend and their climbing crew were kidnapped my Islamist militias in Kyrgyzstan. They endured harrowing days of starvation and trauma until they managed to escape. It defined the rest of their lives, and Caldwell spares nothing in his detailed account of his relationships forming, struggling and breaking apart. His book is a standout in the ruggedy climbing literature, but is also an excellent personal account of the hard-won balance between adventure and intimacy. My only criticism would be that The Push is a reaaallyyyy long book. Caldwell has indeed made super cool ascents, but he also writes about… every single one of them. Dear editor, kill ‘em darlings. Anyway, you’ll enjoy this book regardless of whether you climb yourself or have a crippling fear of heights.

north - Scott jurek and jenny uehisa jurek

Scott Jurek. The legend of legends of ultrarunning. Co-written by Jurek and his wife Jenny, North details the story of his fastest known time (FKT) attempt of one of America’s Triple Crown trails: The Appalachian trail. His wife, Jenny, was the main support provider for this crazy feat, a highly underestimated role. In sports, we always think of the athletes as the heroes, but let’s give a shoutout to their amazing support systems! Reading North certainly put the logistical aspect of ultrarunning into perspective, and both Jenny and Scott are brutally honest about the tolls they suffered throughout the run. Scott’s motivation for taking on the AT in 46 days was a midlife crisis-type situation. Although I haven’t yet turned 25 at the time of writing, I can definitely emphasize with the need for a project!

Ultrarunning is perhaps the most unfathomable outdoor sports of all. When I tell people I hike ultralong trails, they think it’s insane. Now, imagine running it. Heck, I can barely do a lap around Hyde Park! True enough, Scott Jurek is pushed to the edge of his limits as he faced 3500 km of soggy forest trails from Georgia to Maine, ending – and setting the FKT – on the majestic Mt Katahdin. He got by on hours of sleep, running on a torn quadriceps, and yup - all vegan. This dude was plant-based before being plant-based was a thing. Like, way before. Regardless of whether you’re even into running (I’m famously not a runner, but an eater^^), this memoir is inspiring and will make you want to get out there and impress yourself!

unbound - steph jagger

“Skiing became for Steph what hiking was for Cheryl Strayed” it reads on the back of this book. SOLD! What would my reading list recommendation be without a sample of extremely badass woman conquering her part of the world? Steph Jagger decided to break the record for most altitude skied in a year – 4 million vertical feet. And that is exactly what she did. Her tale is speckled with powder snow, sunrises, mishaps, love affairs and chasing winter across five continents. Jagger chased the limitless in every aspect of her life, gave gender roles the finger and pushed on up the corporate ladder.

Unbound is the story of “raising the restraining device” as you do when getting off a ski lift. It’s about talking the financial and personal risk of abandoning everything to set out on life-changing journeys, the courage and self-doubt that follows for every plane-ticket booked and every painful inch of rebuilding a new identity for yourself. If snow inspires you more than forest, this one is for you.

a blistered kind of love - angela and duffy ballard

As some of you may recall, I have advised against couples thru-hiking. I dunno, it’s just so dirty and tough and why would you do that when you can go to Bora Bora or something instead? I know, I’m a hermit. But this isn’t too far from what Angela and Duffy heard before they decided to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail together. Like, together together. All 4270 km of it.

A Blistered Kind of Love is a welcome break from all the deeply existential, metaphor-laden, trauma-induced PCT memoirs. Angela and Duffy’s account of their trail adventures is flooded with SO relatable humour (beginning with their Acknowledgements section, which is dedicated to the humble peanut). Their “trial by trail” is shared 50/50 (take note, Congress!), with them each writing every other chapter in their unique style. They were stranded in creepy towns, they got giardia, they froze and sweated and starved and triumphed like all us thru-hikers on our ultralong journeys. They learned – like one does – that freeze-dried food does unmentionable things to your digestion. I take my hat off for these two, who overcame sharing a 2-person tent for 132 days to reach Canada… and got married after!

into the wild - john krakauer

The wilderness classic, made into an amazing movie and inspired a movement of people who seek to escape materialism and revel in nature’s simplicity. Into the Wild is not a diary as many people think, it’s a piece of investigative journalism. It tells the journey of Chris McCandless as he left his comfortable life in Virginia post-graduation, donated all his savings and hit the road. His ultimate destination: Alaska, where he famously spent 100 days in an abandoned schoolbus, foraging for food and encountering dangerous wildlife just south of Mt Denali. Opinions are split on McCandless. His journey can be read as one of both truth-seeking and selfish pretentiousness. Regardless, it’s pretty impressive for a city kid to survive the harsh Alaskan wilderness for as long as he did – and the abandoned bus has become an unfortunate tourist attraction for like-minded people on similar quests to “destroy the false being within”.

Predictable spoiler alert, McCandless starved to death. But his travels across the Western US led to so many inspirational encounters that he remains a cult figure – and the message of rejecting materialism and seeking simple truths is still a powerful one. I read Into the Wild on the Motatapu Track of the Te Araroa in New Zealand, and it kept me going throughout a crippling heatwave. Jon Krakauer belongs to the “not just outdoor person but also good author” category, so the narrative arc is on pointe. In addition, the movie soundtrack by Eddie Vedder is my favourite music album of all time, and a constant companion on all my outdoor adventures.