Espresso Lessons: [From the Rock Warrior's Way]


Arno Ilgner - 2009
    Espresso Lessons takes the material into practical climbing situations - it is the 'how to' application of The Rock Warrior's Way intended to build upon and complement it. The most challenging moment in rock climbing is when your mind doubts whether or not you can continue climbing, knowing when it is appropriate to push through this doubt and when to back off is critical for taking "appropriate risks"

Beneath Blossom Rain: Discovering Bhutan on the Toughest Trek in the World


Kevin Grange - 2011
    He was thirty-three, at a turning point in life, and figured the best way to go at a crossroad was up. Against a backdrop of Buddhist monasteries and soaring mountains, Grange ventured beyond the mapped world to visit time-lost villages and sacred valleys. In the process, recounted here with a blend of laugh-out-loud humor, heartfelt insight, and acute observation, he tested the limits of physical endurance, met a fascinating assortment of characters, and discovered truths about faith, hope, and the shrouded secret of blossom rain.    Beneath Blossom Rain, Grange’s account of his journey, packs an adventure story, a romantic twist, and a celebration of group travel into a single entertaining book. The result is the ultimate journey for any traveler, armchair or otherwise. Along with high adventure, it delivers an engaging look at Bhutan—a country that governs by a policy of Gross National Happiness and that many regard as the last Shangri-La.Watch a book trailer.Purchase the audio edition.

Storms of Silence


Joe Simpson - 1996
    Joe Simpson recounts his experiences as a mountain climber in the Himalayas, offering his insights into the perplexing nature of aggression and violence -- in himself, others, and society.

A Very Good Year: The Journey of a California Wine from Vine to Table


Mike Weiss - 2005
     Mike Weiss spent nearly two years with Ferrari-Carano, a California winemaker founded in Sonoma County just over twenty years ago by Don Carano, a casino and hotel mogul from Reno. The narrative in A Very Good Year follows Ferrari-Carano’s Fume Blanc from barren vines in November to its first sampling by a customer at the Four Seasons in New York, and, over the course of the book, Weiss presents his unique insight into the making and marketing of wine today. BACKCOVER: “Superb. . . . Weiss tells a great story.” —THE NEW YORK TIMES “Finally, a wine book that explains all the ingredients. . . . You will marvel at the richness of what Mike Weiss . . . was able to capture and convey within this delicious book.” —LOS ANGELES TIMES “Compelling . . . A Very Good Year is both entertaining and comprehensive.” —THE BOSTON GLOBE “A sweeping book about tourism, globalism, environmental sustainability, immigration, and glamour. . . . The bottle of Fume Blanc . . . is like a Pandora’s box. Open it up and out spill all the vanity, marketing savvy, self-mythologizing, acres of land, buckets of money, precise science, alchemical blending, and feudal working conditions that make up the California dream known as the wine industry.” —SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest


Jamling Tenzing Norgay - 2001
    As Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 Everest IMAX expedition led by David Breashears, Jamling Norgay was able to follow in the footsteps of his legendary mountaineer father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1953. Jamling Norgay interweaves the story of his own ascent during the infamous May 1996 Mount Everest disaster with little-known stories from his father's historic climb and the spiritual life of the Sherpas, revealing a fascinating and profound world that few -- even many who have made it to the top -- have ever seen.

The Dewsweepers


James Dodson - 2001
    Through laughter and tears, he reveals intimate details and finds that each Dewsweeper needs golf and friendship at the core of his life.

Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day


Peter Zuckerman - 2012
    Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world’s most dangerous peak, two Sherpas survived. They had emerged from poverty and political turmoil to become two of the most skillful mountaineers on earth. Based on unprecedented access and interviews, Buried in the Sky reveals their astonishing story for the first time.Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan explore the intersecting lives of Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Lama, following them from their villages high in the Himalaya to the slums of Kathmandu, across the glaciers of Pakistan to K2 Base Camp. When disaster strikes in the Death Zone, Chhiring finds Pasang stranded on an ice wall, without an axe, waiting to die. The rescue that follows has become the stuff of mountaineering legend.At once a gripping, white-knuckled adventure and a rich exploration of Sherpa customs and culture, Buried in the Sky re-creates one of the most dramatic catastrophes in alpine history from a fascinating new perspective.

Last Hours on Everest


Graham Hoyland - 2013
    His investigations led to the finding of Mallory's body; it will be his evidence that will recover Irvine's. 'Last Hours on Everest' meticulously reconstructs that fateful day. Combining his own expert insight with the clues they left behind. Graham Hoyland's at last answers the most intriguing of questions - did the two men actually reach the top of Everest?

Secrets of RVing on Social Security: How to Enjoy the Motorhome and RV Lifestyle While Living on Your Social Security Income


Jerry Minchey - 2016
     Readers all over the US and Europe have discovered the joys of retiring and living full time in an RV after reading Jerry Minchey's Amazon #1 best-selling book in Senior Travel Guides, Motorhome, and RV Retirement Living: The Most Enjoyable and Least Expensive Way to Retire. Now in this new epic book, Secrets of RVing on Social Security, he shows you step-by-step how to enjoy the RVing lifestyle while traveling and living on just your Social Security income. Imagine leaping out of bed every morning ready to cherish every day of your new adventurous life. On top of the adventure, you'll experience the unsurpassed freedom to live where you want to. At every fork in the road, you will be free to go wherever whim and chance might take you. You will also discover how other retirees are supplementing their retirement income while living full-time in their motorhome. Many people are actually adding to their savings while having the time of their lives living the RV lifestyle. In this book, you will grasp how they are doing it, and how you can do it too. You'll comprehend the brutally honest pros and cons of the RV lifestyle. There are some downsides to the lifestyle you need to be prepared for. My guess is that you will adore your new RVing lifestyle, but you'll never know if it's the right lifestyle for you if you don't read this book. The book is designed to keep you on the path to accomplishing your goal of living an exciting retirement lifestyle while staying well within your budget. This book should be required reading for anyone who is retired or getting ready to retire. It provides never-before-answered questions about living the attractive RVing lifestyle on a budget.

Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome


Bob Madgic - 2005
    The compelling account of recklessness, tragedy, courage, and rescue, this book's sobering depiction of Nature's danger is tempered by unforgettable portraits of the triumphant human spirit.

High Crimes: the Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed


Michael Kodas - 2008
    In the years following the publication of Into Thin Air, much has changed on Mount Everest. Among all the books documenting the glorious adventures in mountains around the world, none details how the recent infusion of wealthy climbers is drawing crime to the highest place on the planet. The change is caused both by a tremendous boom in traffic, and a new class of parasitic and predatory adventurer. It's likely that Jon Krakauer would not recognize the camps that he visited on Mount Everest almost a decade ago. This book takes readers on a harrowing tour of the criminal underworld on the slopes of the world's most majestic mountain.High Crimes describes two major expeditions: the tragic story of Nils Antezana, a climber who died on Everest after he was abandoned by his guide; as well as the author's own story of his participation in the Connecticut Everest Expedition, guided by George Dijmarescu and his wife and climbing partner, Lhakpa Sherpa. Dijmarescu, who at first seemed well-intentioned and charming, turned increasingly hostile to his own wife, as well as to the author and the other women on the team. By the end of the expedition, the three women could not travel unaccompanied in base camp due to the threat of violence. Those that tried to stand against the violence and theft found that the worst of the intimidation had followed them home to Connecticut. Beatings, thefts, drugs, prostitution, coercion, threats, and abandonment on the highest slopes of Everest and other mountains have become the rule rather than the exception. Kodas describes many such experiences, and explores the larger issues these stories raise with thriller-like intensity.

The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre


Kelly Cordes - 2014
    But controversy has swirled around this ice-capped peak since Cesare Maestri claimed first ascent in 1959. Since then a debate has raged, with world-class climbers attempting to retrace his route but finding only contradictions. This chronicle of hubris, heroism, controversies and epic journeys offers a glimpse into the human condition, and why some pursue extreme endeavors that at face value have no worth.

Forget Me Not: A Memoir


Jennifer Lowe-Anker - 2008
    Alex was widely considered one of the greatest modern climbers and the world mourned his loss -- Tom Brokaw did a one-hour special for Dateline, and Sting narrated and composed music for a tribute film. While Jenni and her sons faced the absence of the most important man in their lives, Alex's best friend and longtime climbing partner, Conrad Anker, was dealing with the terrible loss as well as feelings of survivor's guilt. Jenni and Conrad gradually, and unexpectedly, found solace in one another and married in 2001 -- Conrad is now the adoptive father of the three Lowe children. Through letters and expedition notes from Alex, Forget Me Not spans continents and tells the story of three people whose lives intertwine to a degree they could never have imagined. Jenni's account takes readers inside a woman's heart and mind as she navigates her shattered life and survives, ultimately finding transformative love through her great loss. From the valleys of Montana to the peaks of the Himalayas, this never-before told story exposes the controversial yet ultimately redemptive power of love.

Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2, the World's Most Feared Mountain


Jennifer Jordan - 2005
    Located on the border of China and Pakistan, K2 has some of the harshest climbing conditions in the world. Ninety women have scaled Everest but of the six women who reached the summit of K2, three lost their lives on the way back down the mountain and two have since died on other climbs.In Savage Summit, Jennifer Jordan shares the tragic, compelling, inspiring, and extraordinary true stories of a handful of courageous women -- mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, poets and engineers -- who defeated this formidable mountain yet ultimately perished in pursuit of their dreams.

Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest


Beck Weathers - 2000
    Then a storm exploded on the mountain, ripping the team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl for their lives. Rescuers who reached Weathers saw that he was dying, and left him. Twelve hours later, the inexplicable occurred. Weathers appeared, blinded, gloveless, and caked with ice—walking down the mountain. In this powerful memoir, now featuring a new Preface, Weathers describes not only his escape from hypothermia and the murderous storm that killed eight climbers, but the journey of his life. This is the story of a man’s route to a dangerous sport and a fateful expedition, as well as the road of recovery he has traveled since; of survival in the face of certain death, the reclaiming of a family and a life; and of the most extraordinary adventure of all: finding the courage to say yes when life offers us a second chance.  Praise for Left for Dead  “Riveting . . . [a] remarkable survival story . . . Left for Dead takes a long, critical look at climbing: Weathers is particularly candid about how the demanding sport altered and strained his relationships.”—USA Today   “Ultimately, this engrossing tale depicts the difficulty of a man’s struggle to reform his life.”—Publishers Weekly