Book Review: "How Hard Can It Be"

Mark Charlton reviews "How Hard can it be?" By Nick Wharton
ISBN 978-1838428105

How hard can it be? is a memoir of a lifetime’s climbing at the edge of what’s possible. It is also a reflection on how outdoor adventure enriches our lives, even if at times the drive to achieve can verge on obsession. Nick takes us on a whirlwind tour of crags and mountains – with some cycling and kayaking thrown in – revealing something of the mindset (and no small dose of skill and dedication) that it takes to perform at the highest levels. In that sense, of course, the title is a little self-effacing, for in we know truth how hard it is; and the answer is not that it’s easy!

An unexpected aspect of the narrative is Nick’s discussion of his time in the military and later his career in risk management. The reflections on managing danger in these different contexts, and how this can transfer to outdoor adventure, are insightful. For those of us who are more modest achievers, I suspect these passages will be some of the most relevant aspects of the book. So too, Nick’s incredible drive to keep going, the undiminished sense of there being ‘more to do’ even as years take their toll and perhaps ambitions soften just a little. Which bring us back to the question of how difficult can it be? I guess the answer is ‘as hard as you like’.

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