Then in the late 1970s came a surprise berth on an expedition that was to define his career as a high-altitude mountaineer and transform him personally. A chronicle of his apprenticeship, Thin Air established Child as one of the great mountaineering writers of our time.Thin Air is about the intensity of climbing on the edge day after day. It is about friendships and tragedies and the memories that linger for decades. Filled with humor, irony, and pathos, Thin Air touches us with the beauty of the Baltoro Glacier's landscape and encounters with the local people. It also paints portraits of legendary mountaineers Doug Scott, Don Whillans, Alan Rouse, and others.

    In 1963 he joined the Green Jackets, and in 1966 the SAS and this book describes his military campaigns as well as how he reached the summit of Everest in 1976 via the South Col route with fellow SAS climber Bronco Lane. The book also tell how the author made his first attempt on Everest's Northeast Ridge in 1986 with Mo Anthoine and Joe Brown, while describing the psychological and physical stress that the preparation for a big climb entails.