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  • Tides

  • A Climber's Voyage
  • By: Nick Bullock
  • Narrated by: Nick Bullock
  • Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (64 ratings)
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Tides cover art

Tides

By: Nick Bullock
Narrated by: Nick Bullock
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Summary

Winner: Mountain Literature Award, Banff Mountain Book Festival 2018

Shortlisted for the 2018 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature

Nick Bullock is a climber who lives in a small, green van, flitting between Llanberis, Wales, and Chamonix in the French Alps. Tides, Nick’s second work, is the much-anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, Echoes

Now retired from the strain of work as a prison officer, Nick is free to climb. A lot. Tides is a treasury of his antics and adventures with some of the world’s leading climbers, including Steve House, Kenton Cool, Nico Favresse, Andy Houseman, and James McHaffie. Follow Nick and his partners as they push the limits on some of the world’s most serious routes: The Bells! The Bells! on Gogarth’s North Stack Wall; the Slovak Direct on Denali; Guerdon Grooves on Buachaille Etive Mor; and the north faces of Chang Himal and Mount Alberta, among countless others.  

Nick’s life can be equated to the rhythm of the sea. At high tide, he climbs, he loves it, he is good at it; he laughs and jokes, scares himself, falls, gets back up, and climbs some more. Then the tide goes out, and he finds himself alone, exposed, all questions and no answers. Self-doubt, grieving for friends or family, fearful, sometimes opinionated, occasionally angry - his writing more honest and exposed than in any account of a climb. Only when the tide turns is he able to forget once more.  

Tides is a gripping memoir that captures the very essence of what it means to dedicate one’s life to climbing.

©2017 Nick Bullock (P)2019 Vertebrate Publishing

What listeners say about Tides

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Epic, emotional, and inspiring!

Tides is a gripping listen! It tells the story of Nick Bullock as he transitions from working in a prison to following his passion and becoming a climber full time. Bullock delves deep into the world of climbing in a raw and meaningful way, detailing his adventures and telling of what it means dedicate your life to this sport. This is a brutally honest and very personal account which illustrates the highs and lows, risks and rewards, and at many points turns inward to explore the psychological struggles one can face when embarking on a bold and unpredictable lifestyle such as this. Inspirational, emotional, and interspersed with humour: an all-round enjoyable and enlightening read.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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the most depressing writing ever

It was like listening to a 14 year old talk about how they got dumped and they are so broken by it. I have never heard an adult write such absolute self indulgent crap about their feelings. At one point he talks about how a stubbed toe won't hurt as long as a broken heart. The man needs to get a grip and talk to a psychiatrist.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Cracker

Really enjoyed this, nearly done it all in one sitting going on holiday as the flight was delayed. He told the story well and i liked his narration too. He is hard as nails although not boastful, he really explores his own psyche in this book, there seems to be a lot of regret but he is also very focussed and single minded when it comes to climbing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating

Brilliantly written and orated, kept me fully engaged and coming back for more. Will be looking for more books from this author.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

Very good listern, Nick has a skill for narrating in a poetic sort of way.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Inspired!

Best climbing book Iv ever read, never before have I been left lusting for the mountains and adventure climbing in my entire existence, this book should be every climbers end of lockdown read 💪🏼

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful, exciting and poetic

This is a real climbing book. There are so many trashy ghost-written or just plain boring climbing books. Tides is more like Messner or Boardman. It’s an instant classic.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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inspiring

as a climber stuck in a dead end job, never have I felt the pull of the mountains stronger than in sharing this author's story .. I now have to finish a shift knowing all I want to do is get in my own van, and pull into that little lay by under Tryfan to begin my own journey .. thanks for sharing your tale

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A bit dreary, but not in a bad way

Story is v good, interesting and evocative. A lot of emotion and self doubt/criticism throughout the book, interesting to hear it read by the author, I had read his first book and didn't pick up on the emotions as much as hearing it read. Audio quality was good, but only sometimes was a tad unclear.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Who gave Nick a microphone?!

Another good book from a fascinating climber, but he should be forced to have someone else read them!

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