Snowlines

Simon Akam was almost killed on Russia's highest mountain in 2017.

It was a narrow escape from a near-fatal accident on a commercial skiing expedition – and it provided a reckoning. Rather than turn away from the mountains, Akam resolved to go back. This time, though, he wanted to do it properly.

He would go with the right people – alpine natives. He would learn the right skills and serve a proper apprenticeship, aimed at true autonomy: months in France and Switzerland, perfecting his French and German while honing his mountain craft. His destination was the famous Haute Route traverse in the French and Swiss Alps, the very place where ski mountaineering was born, whose riveting history he would unearth and whose breathtaking peaks and valleys he would learn to ski – unguided – in preparation for one of the most difficult ski mountaineering races in the world: the Patrouille des Glaciers.

Woven through this personal journey is the story of the sport and the route itself: a tale that slalomed from Scandinavia to the Alps, east to Asia, west to the New World, and up and down to the poles. It is about how a select group of men, and a few women – often bound by dynasty as much as skill – negotiated the long twentieth century, on the mountains and off. It is about which of winter's myriad hazards can be controlled, and which cannot, and at what cost control is maintained. And it is about whether the mastery you believe you hold over your environment, your body and your mind is truly as strong as you think.

Blending high-altitude adventure with narrative history, Snowlines is a gripping account of risk, mastery and reinvention – and of testing yourself against a landscape that can never be fully tamed

Reviews

'A whole century of the Alps – war, ambition, exploration – found inside a single race. Akam has written in this book the truest account of ski mountaineering I have read'

Kilian Jornet, mountain athlete

PRAISE FOR SIMON AKAM'S THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

‘Simon Akam has written a perceptive, challenging and passionate book that looks at modern soldiering. In doing so, Akam provides an invaluable look at how the British Army works ― and how the changing world in the 21st century is asking new and complex questions for soldiers and military strategy alike.’

Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

‘The truth about the British Army’

Jason Burke, The Guardian

‘A blockbuster critique … with heaps of evidence.’

Matthew Paris, The Times

‘A passionate book.’

Max Hastings, Sunday Times

‘It’s compellingly written ― I got through all 500-plus pages in two sittings ― and it is certainly worth the effort.’

Adrian Weale, Mail on Sunday

‘Detailed and well structured.’

Anthony Loyd, New Statesman

‘Impassioned … It is a valuable addition to analysing the past, present and future of a venerated institution.’

Kim Sengupta, The Independent