Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

High: Stories of Survival from Everest and K2 (The Adrenaline Series)

High: Stories of Survival from Everest and K2 (The Adrenaline Series)

In this pioneering anthology, Clint Willis presents 75 years of great writing - from Neil O'Dell to Jon Krakauer - on the fabled peaks. Here are stories of two British expeditions to Everest in the 1920s; a piece on the 1939 K2 attempt that claimed four climbers' lives; a firsthand account by the Sherpa who accompanied Edmund Hillary to the summit of Everest in 1953; the story of the first successful American... (more)

Disappearance: A Map: A Meditation on Death and Loss in the High Latitudes

Disappearance: A Map: A Meditation on Death and Loss in the High Latitudes

by Sheila B. Nickerson

Weaving together personal experience and wilderness lore, this poetic journey through Alaska and Alaskan history is "a potent map of love and loss and how we find our way back home through the landscape of the heart" (Terry Tempest Williams).

The Other Side of Everest: Climbing the North Face Through the Killer Storm

The Other Side of Everest: Climbing the North Face Through the Killer Storm

by Matt Dickinson

This dramatic tale of the storm that hit Mount Everest in the spring of 1996 will resonate with anyone fascinated by life on the outer edge of physical and psychological limits. Before the killer storm subsided, some climbers reached the summit, others abandoned their quest, and twelve people froze to death. Matt Dickinson, a filmmaker and a novice climber, chose that fateful May for his first ascent of Everest,... (more)

On the Ridge Between Life and Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined

On the Ridge Between Life and Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined

by David Roberts

What compels mountain climbers to take the risks that they do? Is it the thrill in the physical accomplishment, in managing to defy the odds, or both -- and why do they continue to do what they do in the face of such great danger? In On the Ridge Between Life and Death , David Roberts confronts these questions head-on as he recounts the exhilarating highs and desperate lows of his climbing career. By the time he... (more)

The Wall

by Jeff Long

A half mile up the sunlit walls of Yosemite, a rope breaks, a young woman plunges to her death, and the rescue from hell begins. Thirty-five years ago, Hugh Glass found glory on El Cap, and met the woman he would marry and lose. Now he's back to climb the wall again, and make a fresh start. But when disaster strikes a team of women high above, Hugh finds himself drawn into a dead vertical race against time.... (more)

K2: Triumph and Tragedy

by Jim Curran

Second only to Everest in height but more formidable, K2 has challenged the greatest names in climbing--and often won. K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain is the first comprehensive climbing history of this beautiful but deadly peak. From fateful first attempts to the harrowing events of 1986 and more recent ascents, the book examines the human and natural factors that have given the mountain its... (more)

The Right Mountain: Lessons From Everest On the Real Meaning of Success

The Right Mountain: Lessons From Everest On the Real Meaning of Success

by Jim Hayhurst

In 1988, Jim Hayhurst, a forty-seven year old ex-advertising executive, became the oldest member of the Canadian Expedition to Mount Everest. The Right Mountain is the riveting story of that climb. He tells you about the life-threatening experiences that affected each member of the team. He describes the critical choices that had to be made, and the lessons that were learned as a result. But it is much more... (more)

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

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

by Bob Madgic

The compelling account of recklessness, tragedy, courage and rescue, a book whose sobering depiction of nature's danger is tempered by unforgettable portraits of the triumphant human spirit.

A Soldier of the Great War

by Mark Helprin

For Alessandro Giullani, the young son of a prosperous Roman Lawyer, golden trees shimmer in the sun beneath a sky of perfect blue. At night the moon is amber and the city of Rome seethes with light. He races horses across the country to the sea, and in the Alps he practices the precise and sublime art of mountain climbing. At the ancient university in Bologna he is a student of painting and the science of beauty.... (more)

His Dark Materials Boxed Set

by Philip Pullman

Now, for the first time, the HIS DARK MATERIALS Trilogy is available in a trade paperback edition. All three books in the His Dark Materials trilogy-- THE GOLDEN COMPASS, THE SUBTLE KNIFE, and THE AMBER SPYGLASS--are available in a new complete boxed set featuring the trade paperbacks. New material is available in all three books: The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife feature black-and-white ... (more)

Anansi Boys

by Neil Gaiman

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother. Now brother Spider's on his doorstep&#8212about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting . . . and a lot more dangerous.

We're in the Mountains, Not over the Hill: Tales and Tips from Seasoned Women Backpackers

We're in the Mountains, Not over the Hill: Tales and Tips from Seasoned Women Backpackers

by Susan Alcorn

Travel, adventure, women's interest! True adventures, challenging journeys, and life affirming trips. Three dozen women, in the prime of their lives, take you backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, the Rockies, the Appalachians and more. This compelling collage of stories and advice combines honesty, insight and humor with practical wisdom and proven tips to inspire women and men of all ages. Gutsy women ford... (more)

Storms of Silence

by Joe Simpson

In Storms Of Silence, Joe Simpson presents a thoughtful, funny, moving account of his maverick life as a mountaineer. But behind the rich tapestry of adventures lies a dark and brooding disquiet. Simpson recalls the terrifying avalanche that nearly wiped out his base camp during an attempt on the unclimbed north face of Gangchmpo in the Himalaya. While climbing on Cho Oyo he meets a band of Khampas, including a... (more)

The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures

The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures

by John Muir, Lee Stetson

Here is an entertaining collection of John Muir's most exciting adventures, representing some of his finest writing. From the famous avalanche ride off the rim of Yosemite Valley to his night spent riding out a windstorm at the top of a tree to death-defying falls on Alaskan glaciers, the renowned outdoorsman's exploits are related in passages that are by turns exhilarating, unnerving, dizzying and outrageous.

The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier

The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier

by Bruce Barcott

Mount Rainier is the largest and most dangerous volcano in the country. Looming massively above the rugged Cascade Range in Washington State, it is visited by millions, climbed by thousands, and romanticized as the most potent icon of the region. Yet it is a mountain that few truly know. In The Measure of a Mountain, Seattle writer Bruce Barcott sets out to know Rainier. His method is exploratory, meandering,... (more)

Colorado: A History Of The Centennial State

Colorado: A History Of The Centennial State

by Carl Abbott

Since 1976 newcomers and natives alike have learned about the rich history of the magnificent place they call home from Colorado: A History of the Centennial State . In this revised edition, co-authors Carl Abbott, Stephen J. Leonard, and Thomas J. Noel incorporate more than a decade of new events, findings, and insights about Colorado in an accessible volume that general readers and students will enjoy. The... (more)

Roof of the Rockies: A History of Colorado Mountaineering

Roof of the Rockies: A History of Colorado Mountaineering

by William M. Bueler

Women on High: Pioneers of Mountaineering

Women on High: Pioneers of Mountaineering

by Rebecca A. Brown

These tales of courageous women of centuries past will captivate anyone who loves a good story of the mountains. In Women on High , Rebecca A. Brown traces the lives and achievements of the inspiring women of mountaineering's early days, who bravely bucked convention to pursue a passion for standing atop the world's highest places. Defying Victorian perceptions of women as frail, delicate creatures, these bold... (more)

The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation

The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation

by Clint Willis

This book tells the story of a band of climbers who reinvented mountaineering during the three decades after Everest's first ascent. It is a story of tremendous courage, astonishing achievement and heart-breaking loss. Their leader was the boyish, fanatically driven Chris Bonington. His inner circle — which came to be know as Bonington's Boys — included a dozen who became climbing's greatest generation.... (more)

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (The Western Frontier Library, 14)

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (The Western Frontier Library, 14)

by Isabella L. Bird

In 1872, Isabella Bird, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes 'in search of health' and found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. In 1873, wearing Hawaiian riding dress, she rode her horse through the American Wild West, a terrain only newly opened to pioneer settlement. The letters that make up this volume were first published in 1879. They tell of magnificent, unspoiled landscapes... (more)

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