Hayden Carruth's From Snow and Rock, from Chaos - his first book since For You (1970) - contains a selection of his best short poems written between 1965 and 1972.

For those who would like to climb mountains, and for those who merely like to contemplate the possibility, Ruth and John Mendenhall have written as entertaining and completely instructive a book as have ever been tucked into a rucksack. Since ascending a peak inevitably beings at the bottom, the Mendenhalls first advice neophytes on where to find proper instruction, how much will be expected of them as beginners, and what to bring on early climbs. Sorted out here is the gear and clothing really needed to get started, and safe ways to get the experience and learn techniques needed to confidently approach later climbs on rock, snow, glaciers, and peaks. Explicit, authoritative information on what climbers really do on diverse terrain introduced the proper use of rope, belaying the climber below and the leader above, learning to lead, and using pitons in rock or ice. In this step-by-step progression the beginner is introduced to rappels, how to choose sound rappel points, and how to set safe rappels. Details on the functions of ice axe and crampons, and the complex conditions encountered on glaciers, arm the progressing climber with further basic information that builds mountaineering skill. This uniquely complete coverage advanced from the beginning through intermediate climbing, and includes discussions of advanced and controversial techniques that the less experienced will be curious about. Through it all comes an awareness of what mountaineering really is…the high spirits, good humor, pleasures, and philosophies of those who climb.

Though not traditionally thought of as strategic natural resources, glaciers are a crucial part of our global ecosystem playing a fundamental role in the sustaining of life around the world. Comprising three quarters of the world's freshwater, they freeze in the winter and melt in the summer, supplying a steady flow of water for agriculture, livestock, industry and human consumption. The white of glacier surfaces reflect sunrays which otherwise warm our planet. Without them, many of the planet's rivers would run dry shortly after the winter snow-melt. A single mid-sized glacier in high mountain environments of places like California, Argentina, India, Kyrgyzstan, or Chile can provide an entire community with a sustained flow of drinking water for generations. On the other hand, when global temperatures rise, not only does glacier ice wither away into the oceans and cease to act as water reservoirs, but these massive ice bodies can become highly unstable and collapse into downstream environments, resulting in severe natural events like glacier tsunamis and other deadly environmental catastrophes. But despite their critical role in environmental sustainability, glaciers often exist well outside our environmental consciousness, and they are mostly unprotected from atmospheric impacts of global warming or from soot deriving from transportation emissions, or from certain types of industrial activity such as mining, which has been shown to have devastating consequences for glacier survival. Glaciers: The Politics of Ice is a scientific, cultural, and political examination of the cryosphere -- the earth's ice -- and the environmental policies that are slowly emerging to protect it. Jorge Daniel Taillant discusses the debates and negotiations behind the passage of the world's first glacier-protection law in the mid-2000s, and reveals the tension that quickly arose between industry, politicians, and environmentalists when an international mining company proposed dynamiting three glaciers to get at gold deposits underneath. The book is a quest to educate general society about the basic science behind glaciers, outlines current and future risks to their preservation, and reveals the intriguing politics behind glacier melting debates over policies and laws to protect the resource. Taillant also makes suggestions on what can be done to preserve these crucial sources of fresh water, from both a scientific and policymaking standpoint. Glaciers is a new window into one of the earth's most crucial and yet most ignored natural resources, and a call to reawaken our interest in the world's changing climate.

Comprehensive climbing approach, route guides to Washington's Cascades.