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Although climate change is a global problem, there is growing recognition of the need to look at its regional manifestations and management. This book takes such an approach to the Alpine region. The result of the ongoing Swiss research program Climate and Environment in the Alpine Region [Clear], it incorporates the work of an independent network of approximately fifty researchers from a variety of disciplines.

Though the Alps may appear to be a peaceful place, the famed mountains once provided the backdrop for a political, environmental, and cultural battle as Germany and Austria struggled to modernize. Tait Keller examines the mountains' threefold role in transforming the two countries, as people sought respite in the mountains, transformed and shaped them according to their needs, and over time began to view them as national symbols and icons of individualism. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Alps were regarded as a place of solace from industrial development and the stresses of urban life. Soon, however, mountaineers, or the so-called apostles of the Alps, began carving the crags to suit their whims, altering the natural landscape with trails and lodges, and seeking to modernize and nationalize the high frontier. Disagreements over the meaning of modernization opened the mountains to competing agendas and hostile ambitions. Keller examines the ways in which these opposing approaches corresponded to the political battles, social conflicts, culture wars, and environmental crusades that shaped modern Germany and Austria, placing the Alpine borderlands at the heart of the German question of nationhood.

The second edition of this classic guidebook by Kev Reynolds on walking and trekking in the Alps. This book is a definitive guide to the many thousands of possible routes, with a geographical span that ranges from the Maritime Alps of southern France to the Julians of Slovenia, from Italy's Gran Paradiso to the little-known Türnitzer Alps of eastern Austria, and from the ice-bound giants of the Bernese Oberland to the green rolling Kitzbüheler Alps and the bizarre towers of the Dolomites of South Tirol, showing the amazing diversity of this wonderful mountain chain. There are walks to suit every taste: gentle and undemanding, long and tough, and everything in between. Written by Britain's most respected authority on the Alps, this is a fully updated edition of this important book.

The North Cascades Highway, an illustrated natural history guide, helps travelers and readers to appreciate the deeper beauty behind the landscape. Organized as a series of stops at eye-catching sites along eighty miles of the highway, The North Cascades Highway reveals the geological story of each location.

Many people feel that the impact of technology and the pressure of the market economy on alpine communities leads to a loss of biodiversity, authenticity and cultural diversity, affecting animal husbandry, local food production, social networks and traditions. It is undeniable that "progress," "development" and "integration" are transforming working routines, recipes for dairy production and patterns of communication in rural communities. This book explores the many tensions at the core of present local practices and debates in the Italian Alps, highlighting the many transformations undergone within skilled practice and cultural heritage as a result of commoditization, professionalization and technification, with a special focus on the ways in which this also means, quite literally, changing one's vision of locality: of the landscape, of local products and of local animals.

This comprehensive book is an excellent planning resource for those who wish to venture into the Swiss Alps. Whether you are planning a walk, scramble, climb or ski tour this larger format guide describes each mountain area throughout Switzerland - the peaks, passes, valleys and bases - to help readers identify the best destinations for their chosen mountain activity. Dozens of individual valleys are described, together with the mountains that wall them, with recommendations given for their finest walks, treks and climbs. Working eastwards across the country, this guide is divided into seven chapters: Chablais Alps, Pennine Alp, Lepontine and Adula Alps, Bernina, Bregaglia and Albula Alps, Bernese Alps, Central Swiss Alps and the Silvretta and Ratikon Alps, each devoted to a specific range or group of connecting ranges. However, this is not a route guide and detailed descriptions are not provided. The aim of the book is to inspire as well as inform; to show first-time visitors just what the Swiss Alps have to offer and provide a new perspective for those who have been before.