The world's most comprehensive and respected source of information about each year's long new climbs and expeditions.* In-depth reports on major climbs, written by the climbers and carefully edited by a team of experts * Our Recon section covers the history, recent climbing activity, and new-route potential of a wild area. This year: the ice climbs of Newfoundland's western fjords * The 2021 edition includes a special report on climbs during the year of COVIDPublished annually since 1929, the American Alpine Journal is renowned as the world's journal of record for long new climbs of all kinds. The AAJ publishes each year's most compelling stories, told by the climbers themselves and carefully edited by a team of experts. Each year we reveal many newly discovered climbing destinations and unclimbed summits, from Alaska to the Karakoram.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • This gripping and triumphant memoir from the author of The Mountain follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time. “From the drama of the peaks, to the struggle of making a living as a professional climber, to the basic how-tos of life at 26,000 feet, No Shortcuts to the Top is fascinating reading.”—Aron Ralston, author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place and subject of the film 127 Hours For eighteen years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing’s holy grail: to stand atop the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go. A preternaturally cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest but who would not shrink from a peak (Annapurna) known to claim the life of one climber for every two who reached its summit, Viesturs lives by an unyielding motto, “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” It is with this philosophy that he vividly describes fatal errors in judgment made by his fellow climbers as well as a few of his own close calls and gallant rescues. And, for the first time, he details his own pivotal and heroic role in the 1996 Everest disaster made famous in Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. In addition to the raw excitement of Viesturs’s odyssey, No Shortcuts to the Top is leavened with many funny moments revealing the camaraderie between climbers. It is more than the first full account of one of the staggering accomplishments of our time; it is a portrait of a brave and devoted family man and his beliefs that shaped this most perilous and magnificent pursuit.

Detailed accounts and in-depth analysis of rock climbing, mountaineering, and ski mountaineering accidents and rescues. * Beginners and expert climbers alike rely on these stories and analysis to become safer climbers * Articles written by certified guides and rescue professionals offer focused how-to advice throughout the book. This year, Know the Ropes describes the best practices for cleaning singlepitch climbs.Since 1948, the American Alpine Club has documented the year's most teachable climbing accidents, providing invaluable lessons to climbers. In Accidents in North American Climbing, each incident is thoroughly analyzed to help climbers avoid similar mistakes in the future. In our Know the Ropes and Essentials sections, professional guides and other experts offer in-depth instruction and copious illustration to help prevent avoidable accidents.

THE CLIFFS AND MOUNTAINS WE LOVE CAN BE UNFORGIVING. READ ACCIDENTS IN NORTH AMERICAN CLIMBING TO LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS, SO YOU CAN CLIMB AGAIN TOMORROW. Published annually by the American Alpine Club, Accidents in North American Climbing reports on each year’s most significant and educational climbing accidents. In each case, rangers, rescuers, and other experts analyze what went wrong, helping climbers prevent or survive similar situations in the future. In-depth articles cover more topics, including avalanche safety for mountaineers and ice climbers.

Describes recommended mountain climbing routes, lists equipment requirements, and rates mountains for difficulty. Includes chapters on mountaineering in Alaska and Yukon, and in western Canada.

"The year 2000 is the fiftieth anniversary of the ascent of Annapurna, the first of the 8000-meter peaks to be climbed. In the decade following that first ascent in 1950, all but one of the world's fourteen highest mountains were climbed; the period from 1950 to 1960 can be considered the Golden Age for high altitude climbing. Only Shisha Pangma remained unclimbed until 1964 when a Chinese party led by Hsu Ching reached the summit." "This book brings together the stories behind the discovery, exploration and first successful ascents of each of the fourteen highest peaks, as well as accounts of the most important attempts and ascents that followed. Many of these stories illustrate how modern technology has enabled mountaineers to climb the previously unscaled peaks, while still demonstrating the importance of the human element."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved