There's nothing quite like an epic account of an epic climb to inspire you to take on your next big adventure into the mountains. If you love outdoors as much as we do then you're going to love our best mountaineering reads. Once you start you won't stop, so get a cup of tea, park yourself next to a log fire and start reading!

1. Into Thin Air

By Jon Krakauer

If you're looking for a page turner then here it is. If you had a chance to catch the blockbuster movie, 'Everest' then the story might be familiar. Without doubt our favourite mountain adventure book of all time. Into Thin Air follows the journalist Jon Krakauer as he ascends Everest during the fateful spring of '96. The disaster that follows will forever be remembered in mountaineering history and Krakauer writes it like a master story teller, never missing a beat and keeping the reader rapt with excitement. The story also focuses on the issue of commercial climbing and certainly highlights some major problems with the commercial set up on Everest. There has been a fair amount of controversy over whether the details described in the book are completely correct and several other books have been written on the disaster such as The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev and Left For Dead by Beck Weathers, both good books in their own right.

2. Touching The Void

By Joe Simpson

If you loved the award winning movie of the same name, you'll love the book it was based upon. After successfully pioneering a dangerous and difficult new route up the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes, disaster strikes. Joe Simpson and his partner Simon Yates have to make some extraordinary decisions just to survive. Touching The Void is an astonishing account of hardship and survival and is simply one of the best mountaineering stories ever written. The compelling narrative forces the reader to imagine what they would do in the same situation and how they might have acted.

3. K2 - No Way Down

By Graham Bowley

One of our favourites. K2 - No Way Down, tells the terrifying story of the 2008 events on K2 that left a large group of climbers struggling for their lives after an ice shelf collapsed, sweeping away their ropes and their best chance of getting down alive. The book is a gripping hour by hour account of the events that took place. K2 is one of the most dangerous mountains on earth and this hair raising story certainly highlight this fact. Fortitude, endurance, heroism and heart wrenching sadness make this book one of the best mountaineering reads out there.

4. Everest - The West Ridge

By Thomas Hornbein

Everest - The West Ridge, tells the incredible and dramatic story of Thomas Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld first attempt to climb Everest from the Western Ridge approach. The amazing journey to become the first men in history to accomplish the task is laid out in detail and is certainly one of the best Everest books ever written. The Western Ridge, dismissed as hopeless by previous mountaineers, pushes the two men to the point of no return and the book is a stunning portrayal of fortitude and survival.

5. Annapurna

By Maurice Herzog

Annapurna is the official story chronicling the successful attempt of the first ascent of an 8,000-meter peak. This book is still a serious page turner and demonstrates what the French alpine team had to go through to make history. The French team face frostbite, snow blindness and near death as they ascend higher and higher into uncharted territory. Herzog's harrowing adventure of drama, camaraderie and romance has been criticized by some as dishonest, however, that will be for you to decide after reading.