Book picks similar to
Early Days in the Range of Light: Encounters with Legendary Mountaineers by Daniel Arnold
mountaineering
non-fiction
adventure
history
One Mountain Thousand Summits: The Untold Story of Tragedy and True Heroism on K2
Freddie Wilkinson - 2010
When eleven men perished on the slopes of K2 in August 2008, it was one of the deadliest single events in Himalayan climbing and made headlines around the world. Yet non of the surviving western climbers could explain precisely what happened. Their memories were self-admittedly fogged by exhaustion, hypoxia, and hallucinations. The truth of what happened lies with four Sherpa guides who were largely ignored by the mainstream media in the aftermath of the tragedy, who lost two of their own during the incident, and whose heroic efforts saved the lives of at least four climbers. Based on his numerous trips to Nepal and in-depth interviews he conducted with these unacknowledged heroes, the other survivors, and the families of the lost climbers, alpinist and veteran climbing writer Freddie Wilkinson presents the true story of what actually occurred on the "savage" mountain. This work combines a criticism of the mainstream press's less-than-complete coverage of the tragedy and an insightful portrait of the lives of 21st-century Sherpas into an intelligent, white-knuckled adventure narrative.
Higher Love: Skiing the Seven Summits
Kit DesLauriers - 2015
Centered on her quest to climb and ski the Seven Summits, Higher Love is a hero’s journey, rich with personal insights, life-threatening consequences, and a thrilling crescendo.Spanning seven continents in just two years, this is Kit’s personal account of the secret journey that would change her heart and her life forever. From braving Antarctica’s bone-chilling temperatures to trudging through an African rain forest, from corn snow on the continental slopes of Australia to blue ice on Everest, Kit leads you up each mountain and gives you a heart-racing ride back down.This candid, fast-paced story shows how inspiration, teamwork and honoring our true nature blazes the trail to every summit, on or off the mountain.
One Woman Walks Wales
Ursula Martin - 2018
In 17 months, she traversed beaches and mountains, farms and urban sprawl. She received unimaginable support – people offered beds, food, cups of tea, donated to her chosen charities. Walking Wales rooted her in the country and in herself; her account of the physical and mental challenges painting a unique portrait of the natural landscape of a country and its people.
Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide
Mike Gauthier - 1999
Name any route on Rainier, and he can describe its rewards and specific challenges (he's summited Rainier more than 170 times during all seasons and under intense conditions). Whether you choose the classic Liberty Ridge route, the drama of Success Cleaver, or the rarely attempted Mowich Face, Gauthier provides all the details you'll need for a successful and enjoyable climb.This edition presents the information on logistics, regulations, and permits. It includes expanded material on understanding and surmounting Rainier's famed glaciers; tips on selecting a guide service; excellent mountaineering training sites around Rainier for those bound for the world's highest peaks; and bonus routes on adjacent Little Tahoma, Washington's third highest peak.
Annapurna
Maurice Herzog - 1951
Z99 grit and courage members of the French Alpine Club face frostbite snow blindness and near death to reach the summit of the uncharted 26493-foot Himalayan peak Annapurna
K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain
Jim Curran - 1995
Curran mines the rich history of K2 to discover a repeating pattern of naked ambition, rivalry, misjudgment, selfless heroism and inspired route-making.
The Trail Life: How I Loved it, Hated it, and Learned from it
Julie Urbanski - 2010
She begins the trail with the sole purpose of getting to Canada and quickly realizes she has a lot to learn not only about backpacking, but more importantly, about herself. Much more than an account of meals, miles and mammals, this book takes key aspects from life on the trail and relates them to how they impact her on a deeper level through valuable lessons learned while traveling one of America's most beautiful and rugged hiking trails. From the simple lessons regarding the importance of food and water to the deeper questions about personal fulfillment and happiness, Stopwatch covers the gamut, sharing the trail experience with all its joys and challenges. This book is for those who enjoy and appreciate challenging, life-altering experiences. Even if you never step foot on the trail, the thought-provoking and entertaining stories from Stopwatch’s hike will call on you to evaluate the way you look at yourself, your choices, and the life around you.
Lost on Purpose: Adventures of a 21st Century Mountain Man
Patrick Taylor - 2015
In October/November 2013, Patrick Taylor crossed the Rocky Mountains alone on foot. He passed through one of the largest wilderness areas in the Lower 48 to reach and retrace the route of Lewis & Clark in the winter. The sacrifices – vocationally, financially, emotionally – are measured against the benefits by the author in a refreshingly honest, humorous, and inspirational fashion. It is the first book in a 3-part series on the 21st Century Mountain Man.See: https://www.facebook.com/thetexasyeti..."I spent my adult life pursuing all types of adventure all over the world; shark-diving in Burma, caving in Borneo, alpine adventures on big rock and ice, and 'social adventure', too. It started in the Marine Corps, blossomed in the international oilfield scene, and matured in the mountains on long solo treks.I crossed the Rocky Mountains alone on foot in the winter of 2013. I spent the next two years immersed in the mountain man way-of-life. I became a stockman and backcountry packer, and learned to leverage my alpine experience to become a self-sufficient trapper. I spent the winter of 2016 alone in an old cabin in the the Frank Church Wilderness, and finished the adventure in early March by walking 33 miles up & over the mountains with nothing more than a tarp, a sleeping bag, and a few bags of instant oatmeal.Leaving my business life behind, I have committed to a life of adventure. I have become an author of non-fiction adventure books. I share my adventures hoping to inspire my peers to challenge themselves and embrace adventure in their lives, too."Patrick Taylor'The Texas Yeti'taylor@thetexasyeti.com
The Yosemite
John Muir - 1912
Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
Walking the Himalayas
Levison Wood - 2016
Praised by Bear Grylls, Levison Wood has been called "the toughest man on TV" (The Times UK). Now, following in the footsteps of the great explorers, Levison recounts the beauty and danger he found along the Silk Road route of Afghanistan, the Line of Control between Pakistan and India, the disputed territories of Kashmir and the earth-quake ravaged lands of Nepal. Over the course of six months, Wood and his trusted guides trek 1,700 gruelling miles across the roof of the world.Packed with action and emotion, Walking the Himalayas is the story of one intrepid man's travels in a world poised on the edge of tremendous change.
Climbing Everest: The Complete Writings of George Mallory
George Mallory - 2010
Enveloped by mystery whether he reached Mount Everest's summit before his fall, he continues to grip the imagination. An exceptionally gifted and driven climber, his spell-binding memory inspires mountaineers to this day, attracting lively speculation as well as fact-finding expeditions to retrace his steps. Climbing Everest gathers for the first time Mallory's influential canon on mountaineering from its disparate locations in archives.Mallory was unique in drawing a new literature from his mountain craft. For him, as for his predecessors, earth was still a heroic place with hidden parts promising novel experiences while the eyes of history were trained upon them. But he was strongly inspired by the Bloomsbury group, unlike previous explorers, and a talented writer and poet. He chose to break with the Edwardian stiff upper lip in favor of emotional truthfulness about the art of climbing. The result created a novel branch of mountaineering literature, as fresh and vivid as the feelings he recorded in handwriting under the most harrowingly extreme mountain-top conditions.--From the 2010 edition.
The Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking's Boldest Voyage
Dave Shively - 2018
Gillet, at the age of 36 an accomplished sailor and paddler, navigated by sextant and always knew his position within a few miles. Still, Gillet underestimated the abuse his body would take from the relentless, pounding, swells of the Pacific, and early into his voyage he was covered with salt water sores and found that he could find no comfortable position for sitting or sleeping. Along the way he endured a broken rudder, among other calamities, but at last reached Maui on his 63rd day at sea, four days after his food had run out. Dave Shively brings Gillet's remarkable story to life in this gripping narrative, based on exclusive access to Gillet's logs as well as interviews with the legendary paddler himself.
The Fish's Eye: Essays about Angling and the Outdoors
Ian Frazier - 2002
He sees the angler's environment all around him--in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description that's among the best contemporary writing on the subject. The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.
Dear Bob and Sue
Matt Smith - 2012
National Parks. Written as a series of emails to their friends, Bob and Sue, they describe their sense of awe in exploring our national parks, and share humorous and quirky observations. The national parks are among the most stunning places in America - pristine wilderness, geologic wonders, and magnificent wildlife - places everyone should put on their must-see-before-I-die list. Matt and Karen take you along as they visit them all. Unlike a traditional guidebook, this is one couple's perspective on the joys and challenges of traveling together. This is a story of discovery and adventure: chased by a grizzly, pushed off the trail by big horn sheep, they even survived a mid-air plane collision. Dear Bob and Sue is the next best thing to visiting all the parks in person.Note: Dear Bob and Sue was previously published as two separate volumes. This version contains all the content from those first two volumes plus additional stories from the final parks Matt and Karen visited.