Greg Child (born 12 April 1957) is an Australian-born rock climber,

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and filmmaker. He has authored several books: ''Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas'', ''Mixed Emotions: Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child'', ''Postcards from the Ledge'', '' Over the Edge'' and ''Climbing Free'' (co-authored with

Lynn Hill Carolynn Marie Hill (born January 3, 1961) is an American rock climber. Widely regarded as one of the leading competitive climbers, traditional climbers (and particularly big wall traditional climbers), sport climbers, and boulderers in the ...

), and has written numerous magazine articles for "Outside", "Climbing", "Rock and Ice" and "Men's Journal". In 1987, Child was honoured with the American Alpine Club's Literary Award for his prolific and insightful mountaineering literature. In 2011 Child was President of the Jury for mountaineering's coveted

Piolet d'Or An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

Notable ascents

*1981 ''Aurora'', (VI 5.8 A5, 900m),

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surroun ...

, USA. FA with Peter Mayfield. *1985 ''Lost in America'', (VI 5.9 A5, 900m),

, USA. FA with Randy Leavitt. *1986 ''Northwest Ridge'',

Gasherbrum IV Gasherbrum IV ( ur, گاشر برم -4; ), surveyed as K3, is the 17th highest mountain on Earth and the 6th highest in Pakistan. It is one of the peaks in the Gasherbrum massif. The Gasherbrums are a remote group of peaks located at the north ...

Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...

. FA of the Northwest Ridge (second ascent of Gash IV) with

Tim Macartney-Snape Tim Macartney-Snape (born 5 January 1956) is a mountaineer and author. On 3 October 1984 Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer were the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest. They reached the summit, climbing without supplementary ...

and Tom Hargis. *1990 K2 successful climb with Steve Swenson and Greg Mortimer and others, per lecture and slides at Harvard Traveler's Club, 21 May 2013 *1992 ''Run for Cover'', (VII 5.11 A3, 1000m),

Trango Tower __NOTOC__ The Trango Towers ( ur, ) are a family of rock towers situated in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan. The Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world, and every year a number of expe ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. FA with

Mark Wilford Mark Wilford (born January 27, 1959, Boulder, Colorado) is an American rock climber and alpinist known for his bold, traditional style. Biography Wilford graduated from Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1977 and attended the Univer ...

. *1994 ''Belligerence'', (VI 5.11 A3+ 1200m), Mount Combatant,

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

(B.C. Canada). FA with Greg Collum and Steve Mascioli. *1994 ''Wall of Shadows'', (Alaska Grade 6, AI6+ 5.9 A4), Mount Hunter,

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...

Alaska, USA. FA with Michael Kennedy.

Writings

* 1987: * 1987: * 1988: ''Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalaya'', Mountaineers Books, Seattle, WA, USA. 1988 , * 1993: ''Mixed Emotions: Mountaineering Writings'', Mountaineers Books, Seattle, WA, USA. 1993 * 1998: ''Postcards from the Ledge'', Mountaineers Books, Seattle, WA, USA. 1998 (Winner

National Outdoor Book Award The National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) was formed in 1997 as an American-based non-profit program which each year presents awards honoring the best in outdoor writing and publishing. It is housed at Idaho State University and chaired by Ron Watte ...

, Outdoor Literature, 1998) * 2002: '' Over the Edge'', Villard Books (Random House), New York, New York, USA. 2002

References

1957 births Australian mountain climbers Australian non-fiction writers Living people {{australia-writer-stub