books and magazines – Page 16

December 26, 2013December 23, 2013

Murder in the High Himalaya – a review

Popular and a prize winner, I’d been looking forward to listening to this book on my recent trip to the Himalaya.

Murder in the High Himalaya: Loyalty, Tragedy, and Escape from Tibet (2010)

It’s based around the Nangpa La shooting incident of 2006 near Cho Oyo:

… A group of unarmed Tibetan pilgrims attempting to leave Tibet via the Nangpa La pass were fired upon by Chinese border guards. Kelsang Namtso, a 17-year-old nun, was killed and a number were injured. …

The Chinese government initially denied the charges, but Kelsang’s murder was graphically filmed by a Romanian photographer, who was nearby as part of a climbing expedition.

After Romanian photographer Sergiu Matei smuggled the video out of Tibet, it became headline news around the world, drawing attention to the plight of Tibetans under Chinese rule/occupation. …

A documentary called Tibet: Murder in the Snow, based on this incident, was released in 2008 by 360 Degree Films, an Australian production company, working in collaboration with the BBC. …

It’s an awful story.

There’s no need for the author to demonize the Chinese. Their crime speaks for itself.

Click PLAY or watch a book trailer on YouTube. The video includes the shooting of Kelsang Namtso.

Quickly I lost confidence in first time author, investigative journalist Jonathan Green.

The telling is very cliche. Everything China BAD. Everything Tibetan GOOD.

It was as balanced a portrayal of the situation as the film Seven Years in Tibet. Biased.

He keeps making the statement: “oxygen level is half what it is at sea level“.

Of course the percentage of oxygen in the air does not change significantly with altitude, but absolute O2 content decreases as air pressure decreases.

Is that investigative journalist clear on the difference?

I’m not sure he knows what he’s talking about.

One character in the book when questioned states that Annapurna is in Tibet. It’s entirely within Nepal.

Apparently Jonathan Green spent a lot of time the Himalaya.

It’s not apparent in this book.

This is a disappointing read.

September 20, 2013September 18, 2013

Les Stroud – Will to Live

Les Stroud is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, and survival expert …

Recommended.

In Will to Live, Les discusses the following stories of survival:

– Yossi Ghinsberg who survived in the Amazon jungle for 21 days
– Nando Parrado who survived 72 days in the Andes after a plane crash
– The Robertson families tale of survival on the open sea
– Chris McCandless whose survival story ends in the Alaskan wilderness with his death
– The Stolpa family whose winter driving trip almost turns deadly
– The Karluk, a 1913 arctic expedition
– Douglas Mawson who survived 3 brutal months in the Antarctic coast

Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival Paperback – 2011

August 31, 2013August 31, 2013

Wildflowers of Banff Park

By luck we ended up camping next to outdoors author / photographer Ian Wilson. He and wife Jacinthe Lavoie self-published Wildflowers of Banff Park in 2012.

Here’s a sample photo — a Western Wood Lily.

Click through to see a SAMPLE of the entire book online.

We bought 2 copies and some Scenic Wildflowers Cards.

Best trails near Banff for wildflowers:

Johnson Lake

Spray River

Sunshine Meadows

Healy Pass

Bourgeau Lake

Eiffel Lake

The Plain of Six Glaciers / Lake Agnes trail

Molar Pass

Helen Lake

Nigel Pass

details on WildflowersOfBanff.com

Actually, we met Ian near Waterton. They had been there for months researching their next book — Wildflowers of Waterton Park.

Looking forward to that one! 🙂

If you have any questions, comments, or would like information regarding book orders or special edition books, please email hyacinthpress@gmail.com

August 28, 2013August 28, 2013

new Overland Track guidebook

The Overland in Tasmania is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.

Warwick Sprawson walked it three times while putting together this volume.

Warwick cover

All the information you need to hike and enjoy Australia’s greatest walking track in one compact book:

• getting there and away
• geology and history of the area
• detailed track notes, simply laid out
• a comprehensive guide to flora and fauna, complemented by beautiful photos

• a tough waterproof map.

It is gorgeous.

For details or to purchase the hiking guide go to OverlandGuide.com.

August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

new Chilean trekking guidebook

Esteban Delgado via email:

Dear friends

I send you this information for your consideration about hiking and trekking at Chile. This Guide is edited by Chilean trail foundation (www.senderodechile.cl) and contain nearly 120 opportunities for practice hiking and trekking in our country. The guide was edited in this year and have almost 300 pages with information about trails, services and tips for the practice of hiking and trekking (equipment, first aid, leave no trace, etc.). It can be obtain in the Chilean trail foundation. Our website is in this moment being update. We wait end this process in the next weeks and to offer in this platform, many information for the hikers, educators and general public with interest in the natural and cultural heritage of Chile.

guidebook

July 30, 2013July 30, 2013

Ladahk trekking research …

I bought two books:

Cicerone Trekking in Ladakh

Lonely Planet Trekking in the Indian Himalaya

Looks fantastic.

Mid-October I’ll fly Delhi Leh 3524 metres (11,562 ft) in Ladahk. Spend some days acclimatizing to altitude.

Most likely start with the Markha Valley Trek, carrying my own food, tent and pack.

Any advice for me?

… Leave a comment.

*****

Now the BAD news … 😦

The end of guide books? Lonely Planet lays off one-third of editorial staff

Venerable travel guide brand Lonely Planet, which has bounced from owner to owner in recent years, just announced some bad news: They’re slashing staff on three continents and getting rid of much of their content staff. Almost 100 jobs were slashed in Melbourne, Australia alone, and additional layoffs were made at Lonely Planet’s London and Oakland offices. …

Update: According to an email from a Lonely Planet publicist, “Print will continue to be part of the mix” for the company.

END OF AN ERA: LONELY PLANET SLASHES CONTENT JOBS

July 16, 2013July 12, 2013

Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail

Here’s ANOTHER (fairly) new long distance trail.

The Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT), now designated as the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, is a 1200 mile hiking trail running from the Continental Divide in Montana (connecting it with the Continental Divide Trail), through the northern panhandle of Idaho, to the Pacific coast of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. It traverses the Rocky Mountains, Selkirk Mountains, Pasayten Wilderness, North Cascades, Olympic Mountains, and Wilderness Coast. The trail crosses three National Parks and seven National Forests. The trail was designated a national scenic trail in 2009. …

The trails route was first conceived and explored by Ron Strickland in 1970. …

Ron Strickland – The Pacific Northwest Trail, a National Scenic Trail

Pacific Northwest Trail Strip Maps

Ron Strickland’s book: Pathfinder – Blazing a New Wilderness Trail in Modern America

July 2, 2013July 1, 2013

Clever Hiker – video tutorials

Our 10 episode video series – Lightweight & Ultralight Backpacking Foundations – and our Gear Recommendations eBook are the complete learning package for any backpacker interested in lightweight backpacking, thru-hiking, or simply carrying a more comfortable pack.

$24.95
details

Click PLAY or watch an introduction YouTube.

June 24, 2013June 23, 2013

Everest or Annapurna?

ramblin’ boy did both in 2006.

I did Annapurna in the late 1990s, Everest in 2009.

Recently we removed Annapurna on our list of the top 10 hikes in the world, replacing it with Everest.

If you are considering one or the other — or both — check ramblin’s 2013 comparison:

… the big question these days is – Is the Annapurna Circuit still worth doing?

The short answer is – Absolutely!

… While there is no going back to the past, what is still there waiting to be experienced makes the journey worth your while.

Even better is the work being done by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) and people like Andrees de Ruiter, a Belgian trekker whose visits to the Annapurna region over the past thirty years make him very familiar with the situation …

The answer he has worked on along with a Nepali trekking guide Prem Rai and members of the ACAP during the past few years is the New Annapurna Trekking Trail (NATT for short). Their commitment to establishing a viable new Annapurna Circuit resulted in this 2011 first edition of the guide-book Trekking The Annapurna Circuit (Including NATT – Trails Which Avoid The Road), which is available for free on line in pdf form. Click here.

There is a more detailed second edition in the works and it should be available by September 2013. ….

Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit: Is It Still Worth Doing?

May 20, 2013May 12, 2013

new guidebook – Trekking in Ladakh

I’m pondering a trip to the Indian Himalaya, Oct/Nov 2013.

Happily, there’s a great new Cicerone guide published Dec 2012.

Known as “Little Tibet” for both its landscape and culture, Ladakh lies at the northern tip of India.

The region is bisected by the great River Indus and neighbours Tibet and Kashmir.

This quiet corner of the Himalayas has developed a strong trekking culture over recent years for adventurous trekkers. Trekking in this remote, high-altitude region is extremely challenging, as paths are not signed and there are only a limited number of villages. However, its magnificent landscape (a huge area full of limitless trekking possibilities), hospitable people, rich heritage and limited number of tourists make Ladakh an amazing destination.

The guide includes background information on local culture, history and religion, as well as all the planning detail you need on crucial aspects such as environmental responsibility, health and safety in the mountains, trekking practicalities and preparation for altitude.

Amazon