Mountain Memoir

Nuns with Shotguns, Vol II of THE WORLD IS MY ASHTRAY, picks up where Pepperoni, Jalapeños & LSD left off. Paul and Lonnie disappear into a Rocky Mountain ghost town to decompress from a manic year in Boulder, Colorado. The town of Eldora is spectacular, serene, virtually uninhabited. Perhaps a hundred hermits are scattered throughout the mountain valley, cleaning their guns and guarding their bongs. Now twenty years old and even more determined to write his way to financial freedom, Paul hunkers down at his typewriter in his new, idyllic setting and begins banging out his first novel.

For 18 years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's 14 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.

Defiance led Lisa Thompson to the male-dominated world of mountain climbing. But after battling breast cancer, she needed to understand the motivations behind the risks she took while climbing. Finding Elevation is more than her climbing memoir. It is an examination of the human spirit and motivation.

Acclaimed writer David Smart illuminates the fascinating life of Royal Robbins—in all its soulful ambition, rivalry, and romance. Royal Robbins chronicles his early years growing up as a latchkey kid in Southern California, the push and pull between being an aspiring banker or one of the original Camp 4 dirtbags, and his later decades as a father, husband, kayaker, and the trailblazing founder of the outdoor apparel company that bears his name.

This is an amazing true story of a female civilian employee of the Army Corps of Engineers in Basrah and Nasiriyah, Iraq. She was riding in a truck with men when a roadside bomb destroyed the vehicle. Her body was so severely damaged that there was no possible way she could live. She vividly recounts her near-death experience when she went out of her body, to the spirit world.

In May 1972, Liese Greensfelder arrived in the small Norwegian town of Øystese to startling news: Johannes, the farmer who hired her for the summer, had just been hospitalized after a stroke. Could she please watch over his place for a month or so, until he got back on his feet? Twenty years old and with no farming experience, Liese was dropped off the next day at a centuries-old mountain farm at the end of a dirt road high above the magnificent Hardanger Fjord—with 115 sheep, two cows, one calf, a draft horse, and a Norwegian herding dog to care for.

Jim Donini has been an icon of American climbing for the past fifty years, pushing the boundaries of alpine ascents around the world, and inspiring generations with his achievements. In Survival Is Not Assured, award-winning author Geoff Powter dives into Donini's remarkable life story, exploring his groundbreaking climbs and his tumultuous experiences both on and off the rock.

This is the second volume in a best-selling series of true stories from "[a]n extraordinary landscape populated with befuddled bears, hormonally-crazed elk, homicidal wild boars, hopelessly timid wolves, and nine million tourists, some of whom are clueless." In Kim DeLozier's world, when sedated wild black bears wake up unexpectedly in the back seat of a helicopter in mid-flight, or in his car as he's driving down the highway, or in his office while he's talking on the phone, it's just another day in the park.

Following in the grand tradition of such Irish memoirs as Angela’s Ashes and Are You Somebody?, Liam Clancy relates his life’s story in a raucously funny and star-studded account of moving from provincial Ireland to the bars and clubs of New York City, to the cusp of fame as a member of Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers.

In a remote enemy-held valley in Afghanistan, a Special Forces team planned to scale a steep mountain to surprise and capture a terrorist leader. But before they found the target, the target found them. The team was caught in a deadly ambush that threatened not only their lives but the entire mission. The elite soldiers fought huddled for hours on a small rock ledge as rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine-gun fire rained down on them.

When empty nester Paula Whyman climbs to a peak in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, her plans for a backyard ecology project quickly morph into a massive endeavor. In Bad Naturalist, Whyman struggles with conflicting advice from experts, an influx of invasive species, delayed plans, and the occasional rattlesnake—but none of it dampens her irrepressible passion for protecting the land.

A fast, gritty, durable player who could read a basketball floor as well as anyone who ever played the game, John Stockton left the NBA after 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz, holding a massive assist record, including the career mark (15,806). He also twice led the league in steals - with a career total of 3,265 - and retired as the NBA's all-time leader. And during Stockton's career, the Jazz never missed the playoffs.

The Cairngorm mountains in Scotland are a magnet for climbers and walkers. John Allen spent more than thirty years in the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team saving the lost and injured. This special anniversary edition of his story includes new chapters discussing how mountain rescue has developed over the last decade.

Letters from Everest is an eye-opening set of personal letters from Mallory to his family, recently discovered hidden in a drawer. In the letters, Mallory is completely open about his life, his climbing and especially the three Everest Expeditions he was a part of – 1921, 1922 and the last in 1924. His writing is full of extraordinary insights – most of which have never been published in any form.

On May 22, 2010, at the age of 13, American teenager Jordan Romero became the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. At 15, he became the youngest person to reach the summits of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. In this energizing memoir for young adults, Jordan recounts his experience, which started as a spark of an idea at the age of nine and, many years of training and hard work later, turned into a dream come true.

Failure Is an Option is the story of an average runner who sets out to discover just how far he can go. With the support (and misgivings) of his family, and aware that his quickest years are behind him, Matt Whyman leaves the Saturday morning 5K to push towards 100-mile ultramarathons and beyond. By slowing things down to run a very long way, he joins a growing number of men and women from all walks of life striving to do something extraordinary.

A deeply personal travel memoir that combines alpine adventure, family connections, and spiritual encounters in two very different worlds: a Himalayan village and Vancouver, Canada. In 2012, Michael Schauch and his wife, Chantal, undertook an expedition deep in the Himalaya of northern Nepal, into a remote valley that had been closed off to outsiders for decades. They led a team of artists (a photographer, a musician, and a painter), with the objective of capturing a moment in time through their unique lenses.

An accurate and personal record from one of America's first breed of mountain men, giving a detailed description of many the lands he passed through and the habits and character of the various tribes encountered.

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease. Profound and powerful, Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia.

Meet Me in the Mountains is an edgy, uplifting, and truthful memoir that is sure to bring hope and inspiration to those who listen to it. A stubborn and determined eight year old girl named Candy Cotten finds her own way of dealing with her parents’ divorce - along with a father who drinks too much. She moves through life facing fears and unexpected challenges with determination. Her faith in Jesus Christ was apparent in grade school, and continues to this day. She strives to find hope in all situations even when life is not fair.