Where the Mountains Throw their Dice

There are regular reports in the media of mountaineering fatalities and costly rescues, and to some of us climbing may seem a selfish and crazy game in which victims have only themselves to blame. But to Dunedin climber Paul Hersey climbing is nothing less than a reason for living; even if – or perhaps even because – at the most life-affirming moments he may be just one step from ‘a tumble into the abyss’. In this fascinating book, which includes white-knuckle accounts of his own climbs in the South Island and the Italian Alps, Paul chats with some of New Zealand’s most experienced climbers, such as Bill McLeod, Lydia Bradey and Erik Monasterio, to find out why they are drawn to the mountains, and why, even after losing close friends, they keep returning to this place of ‘other-worldly limbo’. Accompanying the text are Paul’s spectacular photographs from his own climbs.


An active climber for many years, Paul Hersey has completed more than 60 rock and alpine first ascents in New Zealand and Europe, and has participated in expeditions to the Pamirs and the Himalayas. He has worked as an ice climbing and glacier guide on Franz Josef Glacier, and as a rock climbing instructor in the United Kingdom. As a writer Paul has at times been employed as a newspaper reporter, magazine journalist and photographer. The former climbing columnist for Wilderness magazine, he continues to write for The Climber and the Alpine Journal. Paul is currently an outdoors shop retail manager in Dunedin. He has published four books with New Holland.