Mountain Memoir

"This is the tale of Mark Horrell’s not-so-nearly ascent of Gasherbrum in Pakistan, of how one man’s boredom and frustration was conquered by a gutsy combination of exhaustion, cowardice, and sheer mountaineering incompetence. He made not one, not two, but three intrepid assaults, some of which got quite a distance beyond Base Camp, and overcame many perilous circumstances along the way. The mountaineer Joe Simpson famously crawled for three days with a broken leg, but did he ever have to read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown while waiting for a weather window?

With Mountain Madness, Clinton Crockett Peters chronicles his travels and personal transformation from a West Texas evangelical to mountain guide to humbled humanist after a near-fatal injury in Japan's Chichibu Mountains. From 2007 to 2010, Peters lived in Kosuge Village, nestled in central Japan's peaks, where he was the only foreigner in town. This essay collection profiles who he was before Japan, why he became obsessed with mountains, and his fallout from mountain obsession. Ultimately, the collection asks, how can landscape create and end identities?

On October 12, 2007, a young soldier is injured in Afghanistan. For the next two years, as he is moved from Bagram to Germany to Walter Reed to Palo Alto and finally home to Washington State, his family never leaves his side. And throughout those years, his father writes daily emails to family and friends, chronicling the journey from a dusty road in Afghanistan to the snowy summit of Mt. Rainier.

On October 7, 1780, American Patriot and Loyalist soldiers battled each other at Kings Mountain, near the border of North and South Carolina. With over one hundred eyewitness accounts, this collection of participant statements from men of both sides includes letters and statements in their original form—the soldiers' own words—unedited and unabridged.

Now in his late seventies, Sir Ranulph Fiennes looks back on a lifetime of exploration, and draws powerful, inspiring lessons that we can all use when faced by the tribulations of everyday life. Having crossed both Polar ice caps on foot, climbed Everest and the Eiger, served in the SAS and circumnavigated the world along its polar axis—a 53,000-mile odyssey that has never been repeated—'Ran' looks back from the summit of an incredible life.

From the award-winning author of Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon comes an intimate exploration of Alaska's northernmost mountain range with observations on Indigenous cultures, conservation, and intense cross-country travel, all shaped by respect for the land. Follow author Michael Engelhard through tussock-studded tundra for a remarkable tale of bear encounters and white-knuckled river moments, as well as poetic reflections on a vast, untamed landscape.

For the Love of It: The Mammoth Legacy of Roma and Dave McCoy traces the lives of Roma and Dave McCoy, visionary founders of world-renowned Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, from their singular childhoods through their eventual building of the first chairlift in the Eastern Sierra. The nostalgic narrative non-fiction book depicts California skiing in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s and illustrates the power of dedication, upbeat attitudes, and teamwork.

In Wilderness and Mountain Lore explores the stories and adventures of visiting a mountain wilderness retreat over a 50-year period with a group of friends. We nearly always were able to reserve the only two cabins for the second week of June. Domke Lake is located in the North Cascades wilderness area of North Central Washington State. There is no electricity or phone service of any kind along with little change other than what nature has wrought.

By the time life had finished hitting Rick Crandall from all sides, he was at the lowest point of his life, both personally and professionally. His wife, Pamela, makes an astute and life-changing suggestion: "Let's get a dog." So begins the story of Emme, a 200-pound Saint Bernard trapped in the body of a five-pound Australian terrier puppy. Soon, Emme and Rick hit the hiking trails around Aspen, Colorado. While she is groomed to be a show dog, it's soon obvious that her heart is in the hills and with Rick, who decides to add more challenging hikes to the mix.

This is a collection of short stories and essays on a variety of subjects from the scientific and technical to the humorous and childhood memories, from sasquatch and bigfoot to personal relationships. It is a volume of easy listening, sometimes humorous and sometimes poignant, but always worthwhile.

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.

Outdoor journalist James Edward Mills's book The Adventure Gap is a groundbreaking volume that is equal parts adventure story, history, and inspiration as it chronicles the first American all-Black summit attempt on Denali in 2013. Mills uses this momentous expedition as a jumping-off point to explore diversity in the outdoors, from Mathew Henson who stood at the North Pole in 1909 to contemporary adventurers such as polar explorer Barbara Hillary and rock climber Kai Lightner.

More than half a century after the Vietnam War, a riveting, true story emerges. The author embarks on a journey to bridge the silent gap between himself and his estranged father, whose memories of the war are deeply buried. This quest for understanding leads him to a close-knit brotherhood of Marine combat veterans who become the voice for the untold stories, filling the void left by his father's unspoken past.

Throughout the course of history, civilization has been blessed by strong-minded men and women who have impacted our world in extraordinary ways. Their imprint upon humanity is beyond dispute. And many would contend that they were no less than the result of Divine Providence - a gift of God to the human race. The Mark of a Giant examines the lives and contributions of seven men and women who changed the world: Abraham of Ur, Pericles, the Apostle Paul, Sir Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa.

Stable Weight is a story of resilience, empowerment, and the transformative power of the human-animal bond, revealing how even the most sensitive soul can ditch being a good girl for becoming an independent woman.

Great-granddaughter’s creative historical non-fiction by narration interviews. An exploration of the life and true stories of Henrietta Cloud Brown and the Brown homestead of Telluride through the creative use of imagined interviews.

Discover the life of Som Tamang, a true hero of the Himalayas, and be inspired by his incredible journey of triumph against all odds. Penned by award-winning former ABC journalist Kirsty Nancarrow, Som's life is a testament to the incredible strength of the human spirit, and the enduring power of hope and a singular purpose - to protect girls in Nepal from trafficking and child marriage.

Growing up in a family where everyone was just fine, Don Follis learned early on to keep his arms crossed and his emotions at bay. While his spiritual life groaned for development, the land of numb held him back. He didn’t think about the connection between his emotional and spiritual lives.

At 54, Lisa Stewart set out to regain the fearless girl she once had been, riding her horse, Chief, 500 miles home. Hot, homeless, and horseback, she snapped back into every original cell. On an extraordinary homegoing from Kansas City to Bates and Vernon Counties in Missouri, Lisa exhausted herself, faced her past, trusted strangers, and stayed in the middle of her frightened horse to document modern rural America, the people, animals, and land.

In a story of remarkable perseverance, Helen Joy writes a memoir of her unusual childhood, her mental breakdown at age 31, and how she fought for a year to stay alive in the mental healthcare system.