William Cecil Slingsby: 'Norway. The Northern Playground: Sk...

Estimate

£100 - £200

William Cecil Slingsby: 'Norway. The Northern Playground: Sketches of Climbing and Mountain Exploration in Norway between 1872 and 1903', Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1904, 1st edition, 9 double page maps, 32 full page plates (many from b/w photographs) + 70 b/w line illustrations in text complete, plain blue cloth binding, spine gilt lettered. William Cecil Slingsby (1849–1929) was an English mountain climber and alpine explorer born in Bell Busk, near Gargrave, Yorkshire. Slingsby first visited Norway in 1872 and fell in love with the country. He has been called the discoverer of the Norwegian mountains, and the father of Norwegian mountaineering. Together with Norway's early skilled mountain climber Kristian Bing (1862–1935), he is considered to have been a pioneer explorer of Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in continental Europe. Slingsby made the first ascent of numerous peaks in Norway including "Storen", or Store Skagastølstind (7,890 feet (2,405 m)), the third highest peak in Norway, which he climbed in 1876. At the time, it was considered impossible to climb, but Slingsby defied popular notion and climbed the mountain, for the last part alone. Neate S83. The classic, indispensable work on the region. Scarce