cover image Mountain Journeys

Mountain Journeys

. Overlook Press, $24.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-87951-357-3

Readers not familiar with mountaineering literature will find this anthology a splendid introduction to the genre; others will welcome rereading pieces long out of print. Vermeulen, a climber and teacher, captures the essence of the sport in his selections--from the agony of Maurice Herzon's descent of Annapurna, to John Muir on Mt. Shasta, to a frigid bivouac on Mt. McKinley (windchill, 148F). The material is arranged into five sections that illustrate climbers in action. One piece is an account of organizing a major expedition; other excerpts give details of tragedy on the high peaks, incredible feats of endurance, exhilaration and despair. Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit of Everest with Hillary, describes his experience with sudden celebrity; Galen Rowell goes on a solitary hike in Yosemite; Eric Newby takes us on a walk in the Hindu Kush. Each journey is superb adventure. (Aug.)