Mountaineers Books
It's that time of year when the mercury plummets, the rains arrive, and we want to wrap ourselves in a warm blanket and cozy up with a book. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop exploring! How does traveling Italy by bike, venturing into the Alaskan wilderness to photograph wildlife, or joining the thru-hiking community on the Appalachian Trail sound? How about making a ground-breaking ascent of Mount Everest via the West Ridge, becoming the first North American woman to do so? All this and more is available for your reading pleasure, so settle in, pour yourself a hot beverage, and enjoy our armchair adventure recommendations.
THE ROAD TO SAN DONATO: FATHERS, SONS, AND CYCLING ACROSS ITALY
BY ROBERT COCUZZO
An adventurous and nostalgic bicycling memoir of an American father and son tracing their Italian heritage, The Road to San Donato traverses Italy's breathtaking Tuscan landscape, delving into family legacies and the long historic reach of WWII. Riding rental bikes and carrying a bare minimum of supplies, Rob Cocuzzo and his 64-year-old father, Stephen, embark on a nearly 500-mile ride from Florence to San Donato Val di Comino, an ancient village in the mountains outside of Rome from which the Cocuzzo family emigrated a hundred years earlier.
"Dad’s dream was to pedal across the country. I was going to make sure that we did that—except we’d be pedaling across the Old Country."
Learn more about the inspiration behind Rob's trip in this excerpt from the book.
WILD SHOTS: A PHOTOGRAPHER'S LIFE IN ALASKA
By Tom Walker
A rich, authentic, and varied memoir from beloved photographer, author, and naturalist Tom Walker, Wild Shots shares Walker's more than five decades of experience photographing wildlife in the remote Alaskan wilderness.
Wilds Shots blends natural history with stories about Walker's wide-ranging forays into the wild, beginning as a clueless "cheechako" (newcomer) but ultimately becoming a seasoned old-timer revered by many. Collectively, the stories convey how, through all life's travails, nature remains a source of inspiration, joy, and solace.
"How long the wolf had been howling before I heard it, I couldn’t say. Old sourdoughs speak of hearing the aurora. Perhaps at that moment the song seemed part of the ethereal light and I missed it. Only when the second and third wolves added their voices did the hair on my neck prickle."
Learn more about Walker's encounters with wolves in this excerpt from the book.
HIKER TRASH: NOTES, SKETCHES, AND OTHER DETRITUS FROM THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
By Sarah Kaizar, Photography by Nicholas Reichard
Join the off-beat, diverse community that travels the nearly 2000 miles of the Appalachian Trail in the new book Hiker Trash, artist Sarah Kaizar's love letter to the AT. Through her intricate and arresting pen-and-ink illustrations, Kaizar captures the character of the trail and its community shelters, as well as the fascinating array of hikers who find respite under those those roofs.
Kaizar, who thru-hiked the trail in 2015, also interweaves photographs from fellow thru-hiker Nicholas Reichard and excerpts from the AT's famed shelter logbooks, crafting a lively collage of thru-hiking, trail, and community.
"A rare glimpse into the heart of the thru-hiking community." —REI Co-op Journal
RISING: BECOMING THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN WOMAN ON EVEREST
By Sharon Wood
On May 20, 1986, high on Mount Everest, Sharon Wood was ready to give up. Snow plumes swirled off the summit ridge and spilled down the North Face, engulfing her. A four-hundred-foot high rock wall, the crux of the Hornbein Couloir, loomed above. Then Wood's partner handed her the end of the rope and said, "Your lead."
Hours later, Wood became the first North American woman to reach the summit, and the first woman in the world to do so via the difficult West Ridge. Her ascent of the West Ridge by a new variation, without Sherpa assistance, is an accomplishment that has never been repeated.
In Rising, Wood reflects on the seventy days she spent on the mountain and on the pivotal experiences and influences that brought her to that staggeringly beautiful and austere corner of the world. Both a gripping, adrenaline-filled mountain story and a poignant memoir that reaches beyond the summit to explore a life lived in Everest's long shadow, Rising is a testament to the strength of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles—whether mountain peaks, social expectations, or self-imposed barriers.
