I think it's called vertical fronteir,or vertical reality.it's about the history of climbing in yosemite
Here are a few of my favorites that would be good for teens:
1. It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini
2. Flipped- Wendelin Van Draanen
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime- Mark Haddon
4. Crooked- Laura and Tom McNeal
5. Tuesdays with Morrie- Mitch Albom
I like Carl Hiaassen, Full of off the wall characters. Some of which you could find on the trail anyday.
Some of my favorite outdoors books include:
North into the Night by Alvah Simon
Encounters With the Archdruid by John McPhee
As far as fiction goes, tough to nail down.
Including both high- and lowbrow:
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut
Anything by Neal Stephenson
Anything by Haruki Murakami
Anything by Tom Robbins
(You can see where this is going...)
I'm hoping that while hiking the AT I'll finally be able to finish Finnegan's Wake (James Joyce) and Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace), two beastly books that mock me from my nightstand.
Couldn't agree more. Krakauer seems like the high altitude mountaineering version of Bryson. Entertaining, yes, but not necessarily the most accurate portrayal. He also seems to be trying to make a living trying to ruining reputations: The Mormon Church in Under the Banner of Heaven, Boukreev in Into Thin Air, Greg Mortenson in Three Cups of Deciept......
Outside Magazine just removed him from being listed as a contributing editor for his story on Mortenson....they should have done it with his story on Boukreev.
The cliff notes version of the story:
http://classic.mountainzone.com/clim...r/letters.html
Best Boukreev quote: "I understand you were faced with a problem: your opinion as a journalist vs my statement of fact".
Viestur's just released a new book on Annapurna called The Will To Climb. It's a great read if you're curious about the history of climbing on Anapurna. More relevant though is that he spends a whole chapter discussing Anatoli's efforts on that day and what he thinks about it. Which I initially found odd since the book didn't really have anything to do with Everest but since Anatoli died on Annapurna I guess a little history of the man himself was fitting.
The climbing community was quite pissed over him recieving this award.......and also about his solo summit of Lhotse a few days later after the tragedy....they viewed it as selfish and irresponsible.
Other great books on big mountains:
The Other Side of the Mountain by Matt Dickenson - What happened on the north side of Everest in 1996.
Beyond the Mountain by Steve House - he's a bad ass....nuff said.
No Shortcuts to the Top - Ed Viesturs - about him climbing the 14 8,000ers.
K2: Life and Death on the Worlds Most Dangerous Mountain - Ed Viesturs
Left for Dead - Beck Weathers - The man was left to die TWICE on Everst in the tragedy of 1996.
Annapurna - Maurice Herzog - The account of the first summit of Annapurna.
Memoirs of a Mountain Guide - Lou Whittaker - The man is more or less responsible for Viestur's being the mountaineer he is.
Die Trying - Bo Parfet - Climbing the 7 summits.
Freedom of the Hills - Can't climb them if you don't have the skills.....
Not as big mountains:
Halfway to Heaven - Mark Obmascik - Climbing the 54-58 (depends on the list you use) 14,000+ peaks in CO.
Not all about mountains:
The Last Season - Eric Blehm - Mentioned already but a good read.
A walk across America - Peter Jenkins - I'll give you a guess what this one's about.
for one of the best(maybe the best) mountaineering books out there, walter bonatti's autobiography" Mountains of my Life"blows away anything by viesturs or krakauer.this guy soloed climbs in the alps that are still nothing short of miraculous.
one last one would be "second Ascent" the story of prodigy rock climber hugh herr, who at age 16 lost his legs on a winter hike up mt washington, how he recovered and continued to climb, earned him the nickname"the mechanical boy"
great American Historical fiction- the "Titus Bass"series by Terry C. Johnston.its a seies of historical novels about the mountain men of the early 19th C.
Dang there is some great reads in here!
-Jason
Been into Simon Winchester as of late. Kinda gives me a new view of the lay of the land.
Here is my list;
The Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan
The secret circle series by L.J. Smith
Fallen series by Lauren Kate
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin
The Layer Cake by J.J. Connely
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Emergence by David Palmer
Larry McMurtry starting with All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers, The Last Picture Show, all of The Berrybender Chronicles. The guy never wrote anything that was not good.
Elmore Leanord.
Just bought the paperback of All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers off of Amazon. I like to keep everything in Kindle Format but the Kindle edition was 11.99 and the paperback was only 6.00. (I have Amazon Prime so I get free two day shipping).
First time I have ever seen a paperback go for cheaper than the kindle edition.
-Jason
^^^^ Thanks to xokie for recommending that book. it was a fun read.
-Jason
I am currently reading AWOL ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL by David Miller. In the last two weeks I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, SKYWALKER: Close Encounters On The Appalachian Trail by Bill Walker, and SKYWALKER: Highs And Lows On The Pacific Crest Trail.
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On. - Jimmy Buffett
A ship at harbor is safe, yet that is not what ships are for. - J.A. Shedd
Wow great collection of books. I love to read inspirational novels. Robin Sharma is my favourite author and I'm currently reading in The Monk who sold his Ferrari.
Before there was a TV mini-series there was a book, a great book - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
To capture a time and place perfectly read From Here to Eternity by James Jones
For a sci-fi novel that invaded society IRL read Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
A great coming of age novel is The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark
And of course the book that gave me my trail name, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (calm down, it's a joke)