This magesterial and thrilling history argues that the story of American mountaineering is the story of America itself. In Continental Divide, Maurice Isserman tells the history of American mountaineering through four centuries of landmark climbs and first ascents. Mountains were originally seen as obstacles to civilization; over time they came to be viewed as places of redemption and renewal. The White Mountains stirred the transcendentalists; the Rockies and Sierras pulled explorers westward toward Manifest Destiny; Yosemite inspired the early environmental conservationists. Climbing began in North America as a pursuit for lone eccentrics but grew to become a mass-participation sport. Beginning with Darby Field in 1642, the first person to climb a mountain in North America, Isserman describes the exploration and first ascents of the major American mountain ranges, from the Appalachians to Alaska. He also profiles the most important American mountaineers, including such figures as John C. Frémont, John Muir, Annie Peck, Bradford Washburn, Charlie Houston, and Bob Bates, relating their exploits both at home and abroad. Isserman traces the evolving social, cultural, and political roles mountains played in shaping the country. He describes how American mountaineers forged a "brotherhood of the rope," modeled on America’s unique democratic self-image that characterized climbing in the years leading up to and immediately following World War II. And he underscores the impact of the postwar "rucksack revolution," including the advances in technique and style made by pioneering "dirtbag" rock climbers. A magnificent, deeply researched history, Continental Divide tells a story of adventure and aspiration in the high peaks that makes a vivid case for the importance of mountains to American national identity.

-- Articles on all significant climbs of 2000-- Authors include some of the finest climbers of our time, such as Scott Backes, Marko Prezelj, Valeri Babanov, and Thomas Huber, as well as virtuoso newcomers Jonathon Copp and lan Parnell-- More than 150 photos, maps, and toposThis latest volume of climbing's journal of record offers the most complete picture available of who did what in 2000. Jonathon Copp relates the stunning accomplishments of his light and fast Karakoram expedition with Michael Pennings, while Steve House and Rolando Garibotti discuss the state of the art in Alaskan and Patagonian alpinism. If it happened in the world of climbing, it's in the AAJ.Founded in 1902, the American Alpine Club (AAC) is the leading national organization devoted to mountaineering and rock climbing, to the conservation and study of mountainous regions, and to representing the interests of the American climbing community. The AAC is based in Golden, Colorado.

Om ekspeditionen Everest 88, som blev arrangeret for at fejre 35-året for den første bestigning af bjerget

Winner! 2012 American Alpine Club Literary Prize (USA) Winner! 2011 Munday Award, Banff Mountain Festival (CANADA) Winner! 2011 Boardman Tasker Prize, Kendal Mountain Festival (UNITED KINGDOM) Freedom Climbers—the most honoured book of mountaineering literature published in Canada—tells the story of a group of extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression following the Second World War to become the world's leading Himalayan climbers. Although they lived in a dreary, war-ravaged landscape, with seemingly no hope of creating a meaningful life, these curious, motivated and skilled mountaineers created their own free-market economy under the very noses of their Communist bosses and climbed their way to liberation. At a time when Polish citizens were locked behind the Iron Curtain, these intrepid explorers found a way to travel the world in search of extreme adventure—to Alaska, South America and Europe, but mostly to the highest and most inspiring mountains of the world. To this end, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nepal became their second homes as they evolved into the toughest group of Himalayan climbers the world has ever known.