The Spirit of the Mountains

This stunning collection of the best photos from the International Mountain Summit’s photography contests transports readers to some of the world’s most storied peaks and places of transcendent beauty. The International Mountain Summit (IMS), a festival/consortium of climbers, mountaineers, nature enthusiasts, and photographers, has held an annual photo contest since 2011, and the best of each year’s entries from 2011 to 2016 are collected here, offering readers “an understanding of the beauty and fascination, as well as the dangers, of the alpine world.” The book spans the globe in four chapters: Europe, Asia, Africa/Oceania/Antarctica, and America. A final chapter profiles the international roster of photographers. The Swiss Matterhorn, Tajikistan’s Safedorak Plateau, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, and the Canadian Rockies leap from the pages. From these heights and some vertigo-inducing aerial shots, readers can survey windswept valleys, treacherous icy crevices, star-filled evening skies, the Northern Lights, and other jaw-dropping views. There are also wonderful photos of alpine flora and fauna, and of people who live among the mountains, including herders, Sherpa, and monks. The text for each image is brief, but in this case, the images really do speak volumes. (Oct.)