books and magazines – Page 32

November 14, 2007

Ed Viesturs – No Shortcuts to the Top

After seeing Ed speak at the Banff Mountain Festival, I immediately got his book.

He’s one of the few normal people in high altitude mountaineering. (The only other that jumps to mind is Chris Bonnington.)

I, probably wrongly, assume serious climbers are egocentric risk takers. And most often masochists.

Ed Viesturs is none of these. He’s known as a “nice guy”.

There are very few new insights into what happened in the disaster on Everest 1996. Ed was with the IMAX film Everest team.

I highly recommend it though it’s written for the general public, not the outdoors elite.

No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks

I did not enjoy my one and only true mountaineering adventure, guided to the top of 6000m (20,000ft) Huayna Potosi in Bolivia. Being connected by rope was tedious. Having no input into the speed of the climb, annoying.

Much better are trekking peaks. I scrambled independently 5822m (19,101ft) Misti in Peru. And trekked close to 6000m on the Rongphu glacier off Everest.

Kilimanjaro 5896m (19,344ft) appeals in the same way.

On the rare perfect day you can walk up Aconcagua 6962m (22,841ft), the highest peak outside Asia.

Serious mountaineering above that I’ll have to do vicariously.

November 10, 2007

More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies

Where I come from, the guidebook Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 3rd edition by Alan Kane is essential. Increasingly my hiking friends prefer hard, fun one day adventures over multi-day walk hauling a pack.

I love this book. And curse it, alternately. Needless to say, route finding on scrambles are not without their challenges. (We’re still arguing about the actual summit of Storm Mountain.)

I’m happy to announce the sequel, by a new author: Andrew Nagura.

Looks great. New routes for those of us who like to climb high, but don’t want to gear up for climbing.

More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies

November 8, 2007

hiking Tasmania with Peter Potterfield

The author of Classic Hikes of the World: 23 Breathtaking Treks (and many other books) is at it again.

This time he’s down under hiking a new coastal route:

… Iâ€™ve warmed up for this long backcountry journey on two of Tasmania’s other famous East Coast routes, the Bay of Fires and the Freycinet Peninsula. What’s most amazing is how wildly different in character all three hikes have been. Now, nearing the end of my two week sojourn down here, Iâ€™m a little panicked about the prospect of having to leave. Tasmania is a phenomenal place to hike, uncrowded and aggressively scenic. Just as winter sets in for North America and Europe, hiking season is just beginning here. And even after a full couple of weeks on the trail, I feel Iâ€™ve only gotten my feet wet. …

Peter is editor of GreatOutdoors.com, and gives advice on how to hike Tasmania in his trip report:

Hiking Tasmania’s East Coast | GreatOutdoors.com

We’ve got information pages on other great Tassie hikes, Overland and South Coast Tracks on our list of the best hikes in Australasia.

And Peter is already in New Zealand.

(via The Adventure Blog … who beat me to the punch posting a link to this trip report. Perhaps I’ll NOT link to Kraig this time. That’ll teach ‘im.)

November 8, 2007

10-year-old treks 2650 miles

Tom Mangan recommends a new book on the Pacific Crest Trail in his Mercury News review.

I’m intrigued by the 10-year-old Scrambler, Mary, youngest yet to complete the PCT.

… you may want to pick up “Zero Days” just to marvel at how a mom, dad and daughter avoid driving themselves batty after week upon week in the outdoors.

Among the book’s parenting lessons: Never forget your child is a child, but never let her think you’re treating her like one. Don’t hand her more than she can handle, but let her prove she can handle even more. …

Mother and father took extra care to keep her safe, but they also insisted Mary was a full partner in the team, pulling her weight with camp chores and even carrying extra weight when Barbara needed to lighten her load because of foot and leg pain.

By the time they got to Washington state, Mary was a seasoned trail veteran, joining the debates over which trail to take and which water supply to avoid. And, finally, her stern determination to finish the hike propelled her dad to find a safe route to the Canadian border when the high trails were snowed in.

“Zero Days” is a straightforward account full of outdoorsy details most relevant to those captivated by the idea of trekking the PCT, but there is a moral for the non-hiking masses: If you give your kids the opportunity to amaze you, generally they will.

Read the entire review: San Jose Mercury News – A family trek of 2,650 miles

Zero Days: The Real Life Adventure of Captain Bligh, Nellie Bly, and 10-year-old Scrambler on the Pacific Crest Trail

(via Two-Heel Drive)

November 3, 2007

Banff Mountain Book Festival WINNERS

How would you like to be responsible to read all 113 festival entries?

Major winners were announced:

Higher Than the Eagle Soars: A Path to Everest, by Stephen Venables.

Yosemite in the Sixties, by Glen Denny.

Deep Water (Rockfax Climbing Guide), by Mike Robertson.

Wild Places, Wild Hearts: Nomads of the Himalaya, by Allen Smutylo.

The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father, by John Harlin III.

Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest, by Lincoln Hall

Glen Boles: My Mountain Album; Art and Photography of the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains, by Glen Boles.

Read more on the Awards; Banff Mountain Book Festival Award Winners

All of these books are great and recommended. But I have a gut feeling this was not one of the best years ever for outdoor adventure books. Most of the winners are predictable.

The best bet at being a new “classic” is this extensively researched investigation into the 1967 Mt. McKinley expedition. Only five of the 12-man team survived.

Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering’s Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters

November 1, 2007

Ed Viesturs – No Shortcuts to the Top

Just walked out of Ed’s presentation. His is the first book (of many) from the Banff Mountain Book Festival I’ll be buying. (As an audio book, actually, on Audible.com)

Viesturs decided to write his autobiography after finishing the 14 8000m peaks, on Annapurna.

Growing up in the flatlands of Rockford, Illinois, where the highest objects on the horizon were water towers, Viesturs became interested in climbing only after reading and being captivated by Annapurna, French climber Maurice Herzogâ€™s famous account of the 1950 first ascent of an 8,000-meter peak. â€œWhat I liked was that these guys had a goal and they just wouldnâ€™t give up. They spent months and months finding the mountain; then they climbed it. So simple, so basic. Iâ€™m a very goal-oriented person, and I like things that take a tremendous effort and time to accomplish,â€ explains Viesturs.

When taking on these remarkable feats, Viesturs prefers to experience the mountain without reducing it to his level â€” climbing without the aid of supplemental oxygen. On May 12, 2005, he realized an 18-year goal to climb all 14 of the worldâ€™s 8000-metre peaks under these conditions. He is one of only a handful of international climbers to complete this goal, and the only American in history to climb the worldâ€™s six highest peaks without supplemental oxygen.

Viestursâ€™s success can be directly linked to his technique. He is known for his sensible approach to dangerous undertakings, and remains true to his motto, â€œGetting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.â€ With the belief that the mountain determines his success, Viesturs will turn around if the conditions do not meet his exacting standards, as he did in 1988, 180 metres from the top of Everest.

Viesturs has documented his journeys in Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants, co-written with Peter Potterfield, and in his autobiography No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks, co-written with David Roberts and released in 2006.

Banff Mountain Festivals 2007

No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks

November 1, 2007

Ian McAllister – wildlife photographer

At the Banff Mountain Book Festival we were treated to one of the most amazing slideshows I’ve ever seen.

Ian McAllister gave an overview of his life story vis-a-vis bears and wolves.

He’s very angry about big game trophy hunting. (And Ian’s a hunter who kills deer to feed his family.) There’s no reason to tag bear or wolf.

Ian McAllister is a nature photographer, writer, and conservationist who has dedicated his life to exploring the remote wilds of the British Columbia coast. Born in Vancouver, his exploration and adventures in the provinceâ€™s rugged West Coast began at a young age, and inspired in him a passion for conservation which led him to become one of Canadaâ€™s leading advocates for rainforest protection.

With a keen interest in wildlife behaviour, ecology, and sailing, McAllister has spent much of the last 20 years travelling along the north coastline of British Columbia, observing the behaviour of coastal wolves and grizzly bears. For the last 17 years, McAllister has lived in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the last places on earth where wolves live relatively undisturbed by humans. In his latest book, The Last Wild Wolves, he documents the behaviour of two packs, one in the extreme outer coastal islands and another farther inland.

McAllisterâ€™s first book, The Great Bear Rainforest (1997), was instrumental in helping Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Ian and Karen McAllisterâ€™s Raincoast Preservation Society, and other environmental groups to successfully lobby British Columbiaâ€™s provincial government to impose a moratorium on grizzly bear hunting and to designate a large portion of the provinceâ€™s mainland coast as parkland in 2001.

McAllister is a founding member of the Raincoast Conservation Society, and his images have appeared in numerous publications including International Wildlife, BBC Wildlife, Audubon, Sierra, and Beautiful British Columbia. Also a filmmaker, his footage has been used by National Geographic TV, Discovery Channel, and the BBC.

Mountain Festivals at The Banff Centre

His two books:

The Great Bear Rainforest: Canada’s Forgotten Coast

The Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the Rain Forest

October 31, 2007

John Harlin III – Eiger Obsession

At the 2007 Banff Mountain Book Festival John Harlin III (the son) gave us the background for his new book, The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father.

It’s a moving story. John was very emotional while telling it.

In 1966, when John Harlin II set out to climb a new route straight up the North Face of the Eiger, he was 30 years old, with a wife and two young children. Six hundred metres from the top, Harlinâ€™s rope broke and he fell 1200 metres to his death. His son, John Harlin III, who was only nine years old at the time, and who had completed his first alpine climb at the age of seven, vowed to his mother that he would never climb another mountain. However, his passion for the mountains led him to break that vow.

Throughout his life John Harlin has honed his skills as an adventurer, editor, and writer. He has made first telemark and ski descents, has climbed new routes and made first river descents in Peru, Bolivia, Tibet, Alaska, Canada, the U.S. and the Alps. He is the author of a series of guidebooks, The Climberâ€™s Guide to North America, and has worked as the editor of Backpacker and Summit magazines.

In 2005, Harlin decided to return to the Alps and face the Eiger. Like his father, he left behind a nine-year old child when he went to climb the 1800-metre wall. His book, The The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father, is a memoir of his family and his lifelong obsession with the Eiger, culminating with the thrilling account of his ascent.

Harlin is now editor of the prestigious American Alpine Journal, a frequent contributor to numerous publications including Outside magazine, and appears as the main character in the latest IMAX film, The Alps: Large Format, a film about his emotional quest to climb the mountain where his father died. Harlin lives in Oregon with his wife Adele and daughter Siena.

This is an unforgettable story about fathers and sons, climbers and mountains, and dreamers who dare to challenge the earth. The Eiger Obsession is more than just the story of one manâ€™s climb, itâ€™s a memoir of loss, survival and choosing to face your biggest fears head-on.

â€” Simon & Schuster

Banff Mountain Festivals 2007

The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father

October 31, 2007

Banff Mountain Festival – events

Just picked up my tickets. Here are my major events, so far:

WED – Book Festival – David de Rothschild and John Harlin III

THUR – Book Festival

THUR – Book Festival – Ed Viesturs, Steph Davis, and Book Festival Awards

FRI – Film Festival – Krzysztof Wielicki and The Alps

SAT – Film Festival

SAT – Film Festival – Lincoln Hall and Remnants of Everest

SUN – Film Festival

Of course there’s much more happening in Banff this weekend …

The official website is quite confusing. An easier way to follow the action is on their events calendar.

October 27, 2007

trekking in Afghanistan?

I’d love to get to Afghanistan for hiking.

This article from the Time’s Online says it’s only for the very adventurous at this point:

Afghanistan is bursting with potential as a future tourist destination. Its mountains could rival Nepal as a trekking destination, while Silk Road cities like Herat with their brightly tiled mosques are the match of more celebrated rivals like Samarkand or Isfahan. The jewelled lakes of Band-e Amir are itching to have feet dipped in them. Nomads lead their camel caravans past the broken remains of tanks. The promise is there, and Afghans and travellers alike are just waiting for the right moment to finally return.

…

How to holiday in Afghanistan | Asia – Times Online

Of course the late, great Eric Newby went in dangerous times. One of my favourite hiking books: