Chris Bonnington , The Next Horizon (o/p). Britain's most famous mountaineer looks back over his climbing achievements, and devotes a chapter to his two slightly anti-climactic ascents of Volcán Sangay.

 

Rob Rachowiecki, Mark Thurber and Betsy Wagenhauser , Climbing and Hiking in Ecuador (Bradt Publications). The only dedicated climbing and hiking guide to Ecuador, now in its fourth edition, with details of more than seventy routes throughout the country, concentrating on the sierra.

Richard Snailham , Sangay Survived (o/p). Brisk, stiff-upper-lip account of the attempt of six British-army climbers - the advance party of a geological survey - to climb Sangay in 1976, when an unexpected eruption left two of them dead and the rest of the team seriously injured and stranded on the volcano.

Edward Whymper , Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator (o/p). Exploits of the pioneering mountain climber at the end of the nineteenth century, who managed to rack up a number of first summits, including Chimborazo, Cayambe and Antisana. Climbing stories and engaging travelogue are interspersed with observations on insects and pre-Columbian pottery. Best of all, though, are the stunning illustrations of brooding peaks and highland life.