mountaineering books

[mr._happy]

so, the recent thread on climbing movies sparked memories of a conversation i had a few years ago at the climbers' ranch in the tetons. i was talking to a girl one evening, likely trying to get into her pants. she was a hiker and camper, but not a climber. however, she showed a definite interest in the 'romantic' notions of alpinism...man against the elements, pushing the limits physically and mentally, braving the furies of mother nature, blahblahblah...(turns out we were both english majors in college)

anyways, she asked me if i knew of any classic mountaineering books, if there was such a thing as a 'mountaineering canon', so to speak. i can't remember what garbage came spilling out of my mouth at the time, but whatever i said it didn't get me into said girl's panties.

but now that a few years have gone by and i've finally learned to read, there are a few books that i think should be on every alpinist's bookshelf. true stories of human courage, perseverance, and suffering(of course). i find a lot of these books inspirational. tell me what you think and add or subtract to the following list:

the white spider-heinrich harrer(got me interested in alpinism in the first place; great and scary read)

everest, the west ridge-tom hornbein(inspirational--includes the greats: hornbein, unsoeld, big jim and others)

the last step, the american ascent of k2-rick ridgeway(another great story of americans at altitude; more heavy hitters like wickwire, roskelley, reichardt, ridgeway, and of course, big jim)

everest the hard way-chris boningtonannapurna south face-chris boningtonthe shining mountain-pete boardman, anything else in the boardman-tasker omnibus(i love reading about the hard brit mountaineers of the '70's--bonington, scott, boysen, haston, whillans...those dudes were HARD)

everest: alone at the summit-stephen venables(summited via the kangshung face, awesome read)

and though it's pure fiction, the ascent of rum doodle-w.e. bowman is CLASSIC.

i'm sure there are others out there i haven't read or can't find...opinions?

[Maurice]

These are my highlights:

Starlight and Storm, Gaston Rebuffat, I love his descriptions of freezing on ledges while becoming the first to climb all 6 of the great North faces.

Annapurna, Maurice Herzog, Interesting to feel his determination at ANY risk.

The Crystal Hoizon, Reinhold Messner

My Alpine Jubilee, Frederic Harrison, This is no too common, published in 1915, a collection of essays about his experiences from 1880-1910 in the Alps, a friend of Leslie Stephen, plus who else is quoting in Latin and Greek in mountain lit?

[mr._happy]

i forgot about annapurna. that's another good one. haven't read the other two.

btw, maurice, are you...maurice HERZOG?

[cj001f]

Instead of the standard most influential books - I'll add the ones I liked best! In no particular order:Nanga Parbat Pilgrimmage - Hermann BuhlConquistadors of The Useless - L. TerrayEverest the Hard Way - C. BoningtonGervasutti's Climbs - G. GervasuttiDownward Bound - by the late Warren HardingAny Issue of Ascent

For a nonclimbing book - 7 years in Tibet by Harrer is awesome -

Carl

[Fairweather]

My two favorite mountaineering books are both local mountaineering classics:

"Tales of a Western Mountaineer" by CE Rusk. Great book written in the 1920's by the author about his many climbing adventures in the Pacific NW.

"Mountain Fever" by Aubrey Haines. A collection of very descriptive historical climbs of Rainier around the turn of the last century and before.

"K2 The Savage Mountain" is my favorite "big mountain" book. I've got a signed, 1st ed. copy.

[Biff]

I love "Starlight and Storm", and another is "Deborah-A Wilderness Narrative" and "Mountain of My Fear", David Roberts. The relationship between two friends and climbing partners is tested, as it always is, by stress and fear.

[salbrecher]

Ultimate High by Goran Kropp. His story of biking to Everest, climbing it and biking home; alll carrying his own gear and food. Anybody who can sit in the bike saddle for 6 months and still walk, let-alone climb, must be pretty boss.

[mr._happy]

david roberts also wrote a book called true summit, not really a climbing book as much as a research narrative, where he gives an account of the french annapurna climb from the viewpoint of lachenal, terray, and rebuffat. an interesting read if you've already read herzog's book.

what's the kurt diemburger book where he goes to k2 in '86 with julie tullis? anybody read it?

[red]

anatoli boukreev's above the clouds

[cj001f]

Senor Happy -

Although I've not read Annapurna I found true summit fascinating, particularly as I'd read Rebuffart & Terray before hand. Roberts has had an interesting career - I liked his ascent pieces.

The Diemberger book is "the Endless Knot" which for some reason I've avoided.

What about "Challenge of the North Cascades"? It's not literary, but it is pertinent.

Carl

[allison]

The David Roberts books are quite good. The Boukreev book I read was his version of what happened on Everest in '95 ('96?) and while it was interesting (I recommend reading it back to back with the Krakauer) it was poorly written by a ghostwriter, verging on the hokey. Still worth reading to get another perspective. "The Armchair Mountaineer" has some great stuff in it, a collection of short stories by various writers. I can only take Mark Twight in small doses, so I won't comment. The Diemburger book is worth the read. All of Krakauer's books are well written and interesting, including surprisingly, the one non-climbing book about the kid who died in the Alaska bush. I especially like his shorter works, the ones originally written for magazines, I think he's at his best in shorter pieces. I also really enjoyed a book written about the first winter ascent of Denali....Farenheit somethingorother....somebody help me out.

And of course there's the Whittakers. Good old fashioned local climbing lore. Read this stuff, and you'll feel like being tall, wearing a sweater, and trying to fake enough that we locals won't know you moved here two years ago from Chicago.

[MysticNacho]

I'm almost finished with Tasker's "Everest the Cruel Way," which is so far a really good read. A lot of other mountaineering books are poorly written, in my opinion, but who cares? They're fun to read, plus I like to hear about real people doing things in the mountains that are just a wee bit out of my comfort zone.

[Bug]

-148. The first winter ascent of Denali. More of a slog than a climb but that 6 day bivy makes "heinous" sound like a picnic.

Or Winter of Our Discontent. Three assholes pull off the first winter ascent of the Cassin Ridge. These guys were true assholes. Even Dru seems nice by comparison. Well, sort of nice.

[Dru]

"Mt. Analogue, A Symbolic adventure in non-Euclidean mountaineering" - by Rene Daumal.

"Vortex" by David Harris.

"The Longest Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz.

"Climbers" by M. John Harrison

"Green Mars" (novella) and "Escape From Kathmandu" (linked short story collection) by Kim Stanley Robinson.

"Everest - the Mightiest Hump" by Tami Knight

"The Unknown Mountain" - Don Munday

"Killing Dragons" - Fergus Fleming

"Angels of Light" -Jeff ("NOT JOHN") Long

"Mixed Emotions" and "Thin Air" - Greg Child.

"Touching the Void" and "This Game of Ghosts" -Joe Simpson

"No Picnic on Mt Kenya" - Felipe Benuzzi

"Against The Wall" -Simon Yates

"Deep Play" - Paul Pritchard

No offense but those wooden accounts of 1950's explorers seiging up mountains, or exen worse romanticised accounts of Tibetan and Nepalese life c. 1932, leave me bored, so I have offered some non-traditional alternatives to the ones others have proposed.

[Walter_Burt]

"Feeding the Rat" by Alvarez about Mo Anthoine (sp)

"No Picnic on Mt Kenya" about an Italian prisoner of war who manufactured his gear and organized an escape from the POW camp to climb Mt Kenya because he was essentially bored. The climbers returned to the camp after the climb

The "Long Walk" about a Polish POW escaping the Siberian Gulag in mid-winter during WWII and walking all the way to India. Though not really a climbing book, it's a good reminder that things can always be worse, so quit whining.

[Beck]

...a second for Rene Daumal's "Mount Analogue" being a book of fundamental importance in Mouuntaineering literature and it's slim enough for the top pocket of the pack-

[mr._happy]

looks like i've got some reading to do...

i'm curious as to the nature of mount analogue. what exactly is non-euclidean mountaineering?

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by mr. happy:

looks like i've got some reading to do...

i'm curious as to the nature of mount analogue. what exactly is non-euclidean mountaineering?

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you gotta read it to find out. very 60's/70s. rene daumal was a leading figure in the post-surrealist movement, le grand jeu (The Big Game).apparently he cranked at fontainbleau and chamonix as well, though nothing special for the era.

[roger_johnson]

I've enjoyed Tom Pateys "One Mans Mountains" time and again. Good tales of climbing and great humor! A must read!

"Welzenbach's Climbs" by Eric Roberts A good biography about one of the early hard men pioneering ice rts. in the Alps before modern equipment made "murder of the impossible" possible.

A recent release by the mtneers. "Eiger-The Vertical Arena" edited by Daniel Anker This is a great book! A thorough examination of the Eiger, from early history to modern rts. The mystic of the great north face and the railroad through the guts and the great rescues and deaths. If you have any interest or have been there this is the book to help understand its' bigger than life reputation. Don't miss this one!

[roger_johnson]

Mr. Happy--"White Spider" is good but falls short when we are talking about the whole of the Eiger. "Eiger-The Vertical Arena" deals with all of the stuff that goes into the making of the legend. It has some very insightful chapters about the first ascent of the North face and the Nazi connection, a-la "White Tower". Fascinating stuff!

[Dru]

"Conquistadores of the Useless" -Lionel Terray.

[ 03-06-2002: Message edited by: Dru ]

[mr._happy]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alpine Tom:

"Touching the Void" remains one of the most vivid and scary books I've ever read.

"In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods", Galan Rowell's account of the first Wickwire expedition to K2, is well worth the read.

Goran Kropp is a whiny, self-righteous jerk.And a liar.

[ 03-06-2002: Message edited by: Alpine Tom ]

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rowell's book has some great photos in it, too. unfortunately, the actual expedition was less than harmonious. big jim did it right the second time in '78--read the last step, the american ascent of k2 by ridgeway.

what's the story on kropp?

[ScottP]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dru:[QB"Vortex" by David Harris.

[/QB]

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Isn't Vortex the name of David's boat?

[ScottP]

That "Camp 4" book by Steve Roper provides an interesting first person perspective on the whole Valley saga.

[mr._happy]

quote:

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Originally posted by ScottP:

That "Camp 4" book by Steve Roper provides an interesting first person perspective on the whole Valley saga.

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that's a good one, too. not mountaineering, but cool to read about guys like chouinard, frost, harding, etc in their beginning valley days.