Mountaineers Books Blog

I was dumbfounded and could not quite comprehend what was happening. I crouched down on my knees and put my hands over my head. Otherwise I did not even try to defend myself; if I had done so, they would all have attacked me. Another Sherpa, standing above me, was aiming at my head with a brick-sized rock when Melissa got between us. Attacking a woman would have been against the Sherpas’ mores. Read more…

As Tom Hornbein stood in the shadow of Everest, he knew getting to the top wasn’t enough. He wanted more.

In 1963, Tom was a member of a sponsored expedition designed to send the first Americans to the summit of the highest peak in the world. The strategy was clear: climb the South Col route first established by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. While summiting via the South Col was far from a guarantee, the proven route was their best chance.  Read more…

Author Andy Kirkpatrick, who also happens to be a renouned big wall and alpine climber, recently wrote  1001 Climbing Tips, published by Mountaineers Books. That's a lot of tips! Since Andy is known for big, cold, scary climbs around the world, we thought we'd give him a challenge: Out of the 1001 tips in your book, what are your top five and why? Read more…

Joe Riis is a wildlife biologist turned photojournalist and filmmaker on the cutting edge of explorations of heretofore unknown animal migrations in Yellowstone’s expansive landscapes—within, and outside, the protection of the park. His first book Yellowstone Migrationswas recently published by Braided River, the conservation imprint of Mountaineers Books. Read more…

The Mountaineers are proud to present the BeWild Speaker Series, putting passion and adventure on the stage! Come to these talks to unlock inspiration to seek adventure, connect with nature, and work to protect the wild places we cherish. This March we welcome photographer Joe Riis. Read more…

It was an absolutely breathtaking Northwest late fall afternoon. I was doing field research (translation=hiking) for my upcoming Urban Trails Eastside Mountaineers Books guidebook. My task was to check out a patch of urban greenery on Lake Washington’s eastern shore. As I walked down this park’s trails and across its boardwalks, I was mesmerized by the surrounding natural beauty and by the moment itself. The sun was low, the sky deep blue. Rays of sunlight kissed my face and danced across the shimmering waters of a quiet bay. They illuminated the resident waterfowl and intensified the brilliant colors of the autumn foliage. The sun continued to sink in the sky and my surroundings became more surrealistic. I was in pure hiking heaven — utterly elated — senses completely stimulated.  Read more…

The National Trails System (NTS) Act was passed in 1968, making 2018 its fiftieth anniversary. Among all of the trails stewarded by this Act, the 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is one of just 11 designated National Scenic Trails. The anniversary coincides with publication of Mountaineers Books' final volume in its four-book Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail set. Released in February, Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California joins the Southern California, Oregon, and Washington volumes to finish the most up-to-date and comprehensive guidebooks to this long-distance challenge. Read more…

We're crazy for stories -- campfire stories, stories in books, stories told at organized events, podcast stories and . . . well you get the idea. Recently we heard an inspirational podcast from She-Explores about how women over 50 are participating in the outdoors. We thought we'd share it with you. Read more…

"I just got back from a quick trip to the land of a thousand roads and zero caribou: New York City. It messed up my head. I've spent too much time on the land — a lot of it alone, talking only to myself — to adjust overnight to that blizzard of people and traffic, sirens and signs and stink and noise. My inability to live life through my iPhone made it worse. Apparently, half a century of learning not to get lost on the tundra has little value. What matters now is not to be virtually lost." Read more…

We are excited to launch an integrated Mountaineers Programs and Mountaineers Books website in an update we're calling mountaineers.org 3.0 in mid-February! This newest set of updates is focused on bringing Mountaineers Books and Mountaineers Programs together under one roof.  Read more…

Join Mountaineers Books for an evening with renowned photographer Jim Herrington as he presents The Climbers, the culmination of his two-decades-long project to capture the mountaineering icons roughly the 1930s to 1970s who used primitive gear, along with their considerable wits, talent, and fortitude, to tackle unscaled peaks around the world. His book includes 60 intimate, black & white portraits of greats Reinhold Messner, Royal Robbins, Gwen Moffat, Tom Hornbein, Yvon Chouinard, and Pertemba Sherpa, among others. Published in October, 2017 by Mountaineers Books, The Climbers received both the Grand Prize and the Mountaineering History Award at the 2017 Banff Mountain Book Festival. Read more…

A significant goal of The Mountaineers and its publishing division, Mountaineers Books, is to recognize and encourage diversity in our community and in the books we publish. A recent article in Alpinist Magazine reviewed four climbing instructional texts in regard to gender diversity and gave Mountaineers Books positive marks. Read more…

Fred Beckey, a legend among Northwest Mountaineers, and a climber, environmentalist, historian, and Mountaineers Books author, passed away on October 30, 2017. On December 3 we will gather to celebrate his amazing life. Please join us to honor his enduring impact. Read more…

The Wild Lines of Jeremy Collins, a 2018 wall calendar, features 12 of the artist's amazingly detailed, hand-drawn works. Each month offers stunning original art and a mindful Action Prompt from Jeremy to encourage community engagement, as well as mini-essays about the artwork and notable dates in environmental activism. *We are sorry to inform you that the calendars are SOLD OUT* Read more…

Mountaineers Books, in partnership with  Seward Park Audubon Center and  The Trail Posse, presents J.R. Harris' Way Out There: Adventurers of a Wilderness Trekker talk and book signing at Third Place Books - Seward Park in Seattle on Wednesday, November 29 from 7-8pm.  The talk is free and open to the public.  Read more…

Among the most exciting travel destinations in South America, Peru boasts a wealth of trekking opportunities from the Amazonian jungle to glaciated mountain ranges, from remote villages to ancient ruins, and much more. Join Mountaineers Books’ on November 16 for a live webisode exploring this "Last Inca Bridge". Featuring Robert & Daisy Kunstaetter, travel writers and adventurous ex-pats who co-authored the new book, "Trekking Peru: A Traveler’s Guide", learn about the wealth of trekking opportunities in Peru. Read more…

Emily Erickson, Mountaineers Books sales representative, is constantly advising her bookstore, outdoor retail, and parks store customers about the titles in our library that are both great reads and will be strong sellers in their stores. Here she shares five books that are always on her “Recommended List.” Read more…

I think what has made this book even more meaningful for all of us here is the subject itself—birds. When the project first came to us, photographer Gerrit Vyn used the title “Why Birds?” It’s a good question. Why do we care about them? What makes them so interesting and draws our attention? How is it that so many birds are iconic and for so many different reasons? Read more…

Fred Beckey, a legend among Northwest Mountaineers, and a climber, environmentalist, historian, and Mountaineers Books author, passed away on October 30, 2017. He was 94. Read more…

Bill Thorness's new book, Cycling the Pacific Coast: The Complete Guide from Canada to Mexico, is an epic accomplishment both for the  effort it takes to research and write a nearly 2000-mile route, and because Bill's book replaces one of the longest running and most popular guidebooks  in Mountaineers Books library. The old title, in its fourth edition, had a great run (er, ride) but needed a complete rewrite. Here we talk with Bill about the route. Read more…

Join us October 24, at 7pm for the next Mountaineers Books Web Series event with Molly Hashimoto, author of the new book Colors of the West: An Artist’s Guide to Nature’s Palette. Molly is an award-winning artist and art teacher. In her book, Molly explains techniques for creating successful watercolor paintings en plein air, a French term meaning literally “in the open air.” Read more…

I sell Mountaineers Books for a living—not a tough assignment for someone who loves reading and outdoor sports. Our library is deep and strong, but since I had to keep my recommendations here to five, I've included some lesser known titles as well as popular selections. You won’t be disappointed with any of these. Read more…

It was one of the rare late winter weeknights with a full moon and a clear sky, but I missed a turn. Our Seattle Stairway Walks hiking group was passing several back doors (or were they front doors?) going up many unintended Magnolia steps. This was not the Gaia route I had planned and followed the prior week. Nor was it the highlighted route on the map tucked in my trouser pocket, or the same Gaia route on my iPhone.  Read more…

Join us on September 21 for the next Mountaineers Books Web Series episode with author Maria Mudd Ruth. Maria calls herself an accidental naturalist and has written more than a dozen books about natural wonders that have, one, fascinated her and, two, she became obsessed with learning about.  Maria’s new book, A Sideways Look at Clouds, shares her curiosity about clouds and what she’s learned about them—why there are so many variations, what they tell us, how far away they are, and why they are even there, among much more. Read more…

Although my bookshelf overflows with well-thumbed copies of our where-to hiking guides, these stories and how-to titles have each offered me a different way of seeing the world. Read more…

Mary Metz, current title Senior Editor, is well into her thirty-first year at Mountaineers Books. She found picking only five books to be quite a challenge, so she’s glad that her predecessors already covered two of her all-time faves, Stehekin and A Field Guide to the Cascades and Olympics. And she cheats a little.* Read more…

In 2007, I was working for The Washington Post and Slate magazine in New York City. My role was to support the sales team in developing media plans and executing digital media campaigns across our publishing platforms: The Washington Post, Slate, Newsweek and Budget Travel. I worked for The Washington Post for about six years, during which time I watched the decline of print newspaper subscriptions as the ascendancy of online media, tablets and smartphones took hold. I experienced first-hand how digital devices altered the world of print publishing. Read more…

Mountaineers and friends are invited to join a free webinar, Tuesday, June 20, 7pm. Get tips for starting what for many is a bucket list item: hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) across your state. The presenter for this online event is Eli Boschetto, author of the new book, Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Oregon. Eli will talk about how to plan to section hike the Oregon length of the PCT, but his tips will be relevant to anyone planning  to hike the Washington PCT, too. Read more…

After climbing for over 20 years in the Cascades, I have lived through a few incidents and near-misses. This is the story of how I almost died glissading down Aasgard Pass in the Enchantments. Read more…

Mountaineers Books has about 700 titles in print, and many of them are wonderful. This month Art Freeman, the publisher’s Chief Financial Officer, recommends five of his all-time favorite titles. Art is an avid skier, hiker, sailor, and climber, who has completed the Washington Bulger List of 100 highest mountains in the state. When he’s not playing outside, he has a book in his hands. Read more…