Books about Mountaineer from Amazon.com

This updated edition of the mountaineering classic is an essential reference for novices and experts alike. Chapters are devoted to in-depth discussions of outdoors fundamentals; climbing techniques for rock, snow, and ice; safety procedures and emergency response; geology and weather; and appendices for climb ratings and supplementary reading, among other topics. Detailed sections on navigation, ropes, knots, and protection include drawings, diagrams, and maps. Enjoy the freedom of the hills to the fullest with this thorough guide..
Price: $18.80 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Sustainability is the new "bling," and Grist knows how to wear it.

Not a guide about guilt, but about making little choices throughout the day that improve the planet.

Grist is the hottest online magazine covering sustainability and popular culture.

Like Grist, this is a quirky, humorous, entertaining, and sometimes irreverent read. We all have our morning routines, whether it's making coffee, walking the dog, feeding the kids, a shower and a shave, the office commute, or some combination thereof. And at each of these morning moments-in fact, at any given time throughout the day-we're making choices. What to eat, what to wear, how to dispose of dog poop or diapers, how to travel from point A to point B, where to have a post-work cocktail, and on, and on-this compact and resourceful handbook takes a look at how to simplify and "green" our daily choices, from the moment we get up in the morning, until we finally lay our heads down at night.

Grist magazine's news about green issues and sustainable living is far from predictable. A self-proclaimed "beacon in the smog," it provides some of the most refreshing and knowledgeable voices on how to live wisely and promote a healthy world. Consider this guide an off-line beacon, bringing Grist's edgy authority, impeccable research, and planetary cheerleading to a broader audience..
Price: $6.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Concise and yet packed with detail, Touching the Void, Joe Simpson's harrowing account of near-death in the Peruvian Andes, is a compact tour de force that wrestles with issues of bravery, friendship, physical endurance, the code of the mountains, and the will to live. Simpson dedicates the book to his climbing partner, Simon Yates, and to "those friends who have gone to the mountains and have not returned." What is it that compels certain individuals to willingly seek out the most inhospitable climate on earth? To risk their lives in an attempt to leave footprints where few or none have gone before? Simpson's vivid narrative of a dangerous climbing expedition will convince even the most die-hard couch potato that such pursuits fall within the realm of the sane. As the author struggles ever higher, readers learn of the mountain's awesome power, the beautiful--and sometimes deadly--sheets of blue glacial ice, and the accomplishment of a successful ascent. And then catastrophe: the second half of Touching the Void sees Simpson at his darkest moment. With a smashed, useless leg, he and his partner must struggle down a near-vertical face--and that's only the beginning of their troubles..
Price: $4.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

New in the Mountaineers Outdoor Expert series: instruction for the beginning to intermediate rock climber by an internationally known guide.

*Author is an American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) certified rock guide and instructor
*Learning exercises reinforce key skills
*Step-by-step technique illustrated in over 150 photos

Craig Luebben has taught rock climbing basics to hundreds of clients and has conducted self-rescue clinics across the U.S. Here he presents the most common foot positions, hand grips, and body positions and how to use them precisely, from the smear to the crimp to the twistlock. Going beyond static moves, he emphasizes a dynamic style of movement for the greatest climbing efficiency--a style that makes the most of your strength and your time on the rock.

With an emphasis on safety and how to stay within your abilities, Luebben teaches how to evaluate potential hazards and then avoid them. Topics addressed include: risk management, face climbing, crack climbing, gear, knots, anchors, belaying, toproping, sport climbing, trad climbing, multi-pitch free climbs, rappelling, aid climbing, bouldering, training, and self-rescue..
Price: $12.38 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This gripping and triumphant memoir follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time.

For eighteen years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing’s holy grail: to stand atop the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go.

A preternaturally cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest but who would not shrink from a peak (Annapurna) known to claim the life of one climber for every two who reached its summit, Viesturs lives by an unyielding motto, “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” It is with this philosophy that he vividly describes fatal errors in judgment made by his fellow climbers as well as a few of his own close calls and gallant rescues. And, for the first time, he details his own pivotal and heroic role in the 1996 Everest disaster made famous in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

In addition to the raw excitement of Viesturs’s odyssey, No Shortcuts to the Top is leavened with many funny moments revealing the camaraderie between climbers. It is more than the first full account of one of the staggering accomplishments of our time; it is a portrait of a brave and devoted family man and his beliefs that shaped this most perilous and magnificent pursuit.

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Price: $7.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The amazing story of Australian mountain climber Lincoln HallÂ’s rescue following a night spent near the summit of Mount Everest, where he had been left for dead by the other members of his expedition.

Lincoln Hall likes to say that on the evening of May 25, 2006, he died on Everest. Indeed, he attempted to climb the mountain during a deadly season in which eleven people perished. And Hall, in fact, was pronounced dead, after collapsing from altitude sickness. Two Sherpas spent hours trying to revive him, but, as darkness fell, word came via radio from the exhibitionÂ’s leader that the Sherpas should descend the mountain in order to save themselves.

The news of Lincoln HallÂ’s death traveled rapidly from mountaineering websites to news media around the world, and ultimately to his family back in Australia. Early the next morning, however, an American guide, climbing with two clients and a Sherpa, was startled to find Hall, sitting cross-legged on the summit ridge, just staring at them.

As featured in the Emmy-nominated Dateline NBC documentary “Miracle on Mount Everest,” Dead Lucky is Lincoln Hall’s account of this miraculous night atop Everest and the days and nights that led up to and followed this fascinating expedition. Hall had been part of Australia’s first attempt to climb to the top of the mountain in 1984, but, he had not done any serious climbing for many years, having set aside his passion in order to support his family. Hall was forced to turn back due to illness in 1984 so his triumph in reaching the summit at the age of fifty is a story unto itself. Not since Into Thin Air has there been such a thrilling Everest story. Dead Lucky is a page-turner from beginning to end..
Price: $12.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]

New in the Mountaineers Outdoor Expert Series: everything climbers need to know about setting climbing anchors, in one comprehensive guide

· Author is an American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) certified rock guide and instructor
· Learning exercises reinforce key skills
· Proper gear placement shown in more than 300 photos

Climbing anchors allow climbers to safely defy gravity. Solid anchors and proper rope techniques can prevent a fall from turning into a catastrophe, while bad anchors are an accident waiting to happen, says certified guide Craig Luebben, who invented his own type of climbing protection, the Big Bro. Since then, he has taught rock climbing to hundreds of clients and has conducted self-rescue clinics across the United States. He distills more than twenty-five years of experience into Rock Climbing Anchors.

This new entry in the Mountaineers Outdoor Expert Series, for intermediate-to-advanced climbers, presents modern anchoring ideas and techniques for top-roping, rappelling, sport climbing, traditional rock climbing, and mountaineering—all in one comprehensive guide. Luebben covers the finer points of all types of commonly used anchors: removable anchors including hexes, wired nuts, tri-cams, expanding wedges, expandable tubes, and cams; natural anchors such as trees and boulders; and fixed anchors like bolts and pitons. Photos show a variety of gear placements, accompanied by discussion of the pros and cons of each..
Price: $12.66 [Notify me when price goes down.]

When your climbing team is in trouble on the mountain—how to get yourself out of a jam without calling 911. • Self-rescue procedures for teams of two—the most common climbing party size • Techniques equally effective on rock, snow, and ice • Utilizes gear climbers already carry in their rack • Includes 40 one-page rescue scenarios and solutions for analysis The rope is stuck—or too short. A crucial piece of gear is MIA. You've wandered off route into dicey terrain. An injury leaves you or your partner in need of help. Climb long enough and finding yourself in a jam far from help is inevitable. In Climbing: Self Rescue, two longtime climbing instructors and guides teach how to improvise your own solutions, calling for outside help only when necessary.

Because few climbers carry fancy (and expensive) search and rescue gear, all skills taught in this book use the items typically found on a climbing rack: rope, carabiners, slings, and cord. Text, illustrations, and photos explain knots, belaying and hauling systems, rappelling, ascension, passing knots, how to safely assist and rig an injured climber, and more. Roughly half of the book is devoted to real-life climbing scenarios and solutions ranging from moderate to severe. Because real-life situations rarely unfold as they do in practice, Climbing Self-Rescue teaches how to analyze and improvise your way out of a crisis.

ANDY TYSON is a guide for Alpine Ascents, Exum and Antarctic-logistics and Expeditions. MOLLY LOOMIS is an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Alpine Ascents and Prescott College. Tyson is the author of Glacier Mountaineering; Loomis has written for Rock & Ice, Climbing, She Sends, and other publications..
Price: $11.54 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An insightful and at times wrenching memoir of love lost and love found, set against a backdrop of the world's tallest peaks

In 1999 Jennifer Lowe's husband Alex Lowe died tragically in an avalanche on the Himalayan mountain Shishapangma, leaving her alone to raise three sons. 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..
Price: $10.75 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"You're either cruisin' or you're bummin', so you might as well cruise."--Scott Fischer

Mountain climber Scott Fischer's mantra would lead him to scale the highest and most treacherous peaks on earth. Best known as one of the guides who perished near the summit of Mount Everest during the tragic spring of 1996, Scott Fischer became for many an iconic symbol of audacity, hubris, and the limits of human endurance. But to those who knew him well, Scott was much more than an action figure at the heart of a modern-day cautionary tale. Now in this vivid, candid biography, Robert Birkby--one of Scott's close friends--gives us a fascinating, in-depth portrait of who Scott Fischer really was and what led him to the top of the world.

As a teenage athlete growing up in New Jersey, Scott felt a restless drive to reach beyond the limits of his suburban environment. He discovered the freedom he sought during summers in the rugged mountains of Wyoming. A natural mountaineer blessed with tremendous physical strength and willpower, Scott thrived on the challenges of climbing, the beauty of the high country, and the like-minded people he found there. With the creation of a guide service he called Mountain Madness, Scott meshed his need to climb with his joy in sharing with others the lofty, rarified realms he had made his own.

In adrenaline-filled narratives that take us to the world's tallest places, Robert Birkby traces the expeditions that made Scott one of the most respected climbers of the close-knit mountaineering community. From Alaska to the Soviet Union, from the granite walls of Yosemite to the punishing storms of the Himalayas, Scott's achievements are hair-raising, inspiring, and always exhilarating--a relentless quest for new highs that builds inexorably to the rendezvous with disaster on Everest.

Scott's life was a journey filled with adventures, deep friendships, and dramatic successes and failures in the obscure reaches of some of the world's most beautiful and dangerous places. A captivating homage to a man who eagerly went where few dare to go, Mountain Madness is an extraordinary account of courage, passion, and extreme living..
Price: $11.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]