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We are always looking for new books to read and new members so bring great ideas, great discussions and a friend to the December meeting. The meeting will be December 14, 2010 around 6:30 p.m . See you then.
Future Front Range Book club books are going to be:
This mountaineering book is very well-written in a unique style that belongs to Robert Roper. It was unique from other mountaineering books in the way he intermixed climbing scenes with Willi Unsoeld?s philosophies on life. He contrasts the sport climber versus the true mountaineers who find spiritual strength in high places. He shows the contrast between team climbers and soloists. It goes beyond…
One of the great classics of mountaineering literature.
Touching the Void is a phenomenal true story about Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. The two young men decide to try to climb the heart stopping West-face of Sirula Grande. Though it was extremely cold, and a very difficult few days to reach the mountain’s summit, they succeeded. Only a short while later did the unthinkable happen, Joe had fallen and broken his leg. Even though Simon was sure that Joe would…
(You can watch the movie if you want… )
For February 8: We were thinking about reading Fifty Classic Climbsby Steve Roper and Alan Steck.
Detailed narratives profile fifty challenging climbs in premier mountaineering areas, describing the physical features and surroundings of the Alaskan ranges, the Rockies, the Bugaboos, the Washington Cascade, and the Sierra Nevada.
However copies of that book are hard to find (outside of the library).
Climbing Mt. Everest, or any other big peak, is always fraught with perils. You have to deal with altitude and technical challenges. You’ll have to acclimatize and plan your ascent carefully, and spend months preparing for an opportunity to reach the top that may never come, often due to circumstances beyond your control. How a climber deals with those challenges and adversities varies with each individual. For climber, professional mountain guide, and author Eric Alexander, it is his religious faith that helps see him through those challenges.
That is the core premise behind Alexander’s new book The Summit, which hits bookstores soon. The book is his opportunity to share not only his adventures in the mountains, but also how his faith in God served him well on those expeditions. In fact, those journeys actually helped to strengthen that faith and give him further insights into his beliefs.
On its surface, Alexander’s story is a typical tale of adventure in the mountains. In the book he shares stories of his climbs on Ama Dablam, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Everest, and more. Those tales include near death experiences, crushing disappointments, spectacular triumphs. and moments of self discovery, aind in the author’s case, moments of clarity about his faith.
The book begins with Alexander meeting and befriending Erik Weihenmayer, an experienced climber who also happens to be blind. The two men discovered that they were kindred spirits and soon they were climbing together all over the world. Their friendship would lead to the two of them going up Everest together, with Alexander serving as guide as Weihemayer climbed into history, becoming the first blind man to reach the summit of the tallest mountain on the planet. But the two climbers would go on to have even more adventures together.
For most arm chair mountaineers, Weihenmayer’s story is well known, but in this case it is told from a different perspective, that of his guide, who helped him through some of his most challenging climbs. But Alexander also helped other physically challenged adventurers reach their goal, such as taking four blind teens to the top of Kilimanjaro and taking three “at risk” kids to the top of Mt. Pisco. Often times, Eric suffered and struggled himself to ensure that the people that he was guiding succeeded in their mission.
While The Summit does offer some interesting insights into the various climbs, I personally found little new in the book. If you’ve already read some of the more well known mountaineering books, you probably won’t feel that you’ve garnered much new out of this book. The most interesting story for me personally was the climb up Everest with blind mountaineer Weihenmayer, but you’ll likely find his own book, Touch the Top of the World, a better read. Don’t get me wrong, The Summit isn’t a terrible book, although I did find the writing to be a bit uneven at times.
Perhaps part of my issue with the book was Alexander’s focus on his faith. Now, admittedly, that is one of the central messages of the book and at the core of the story that the author is telling. While I am personally not a religious person, I do have a spiritual side, and a healthy respect for other people’s religious beliefs. That is why when Alexander refuses to take part in in certain cultural rituals in Nepal, such as spinning prayer wheels, on the basis that they are essentially pagan rituals, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of a disconnect. While I respect Eric’s religious views, I couldn’t relate to the way he saw some of the beliefs of others.
That aside, The Summit is a solid entry into the mountaineering book club. For armchair mountaineers who are looking for something new to read, the book will keep you entertained, and if you’re a Christian who takes their faith very seriously, the religious aspects will appeal as well. If you’re new to the genere however, there are plenty of other books I’d recommend ahead of this one.
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An insider’s account of one of the deadliest and most controversial tragedies in mountaineering history-the 2008 K2 disaster.
When eleven men perished on the slopes of K2 in August 2008, it was one of the deadliest single events in Himalayan climbing and made headlines around the world. Yet non of the surviving western climbers could explain precisely what happened. Their memories were self-admittedly fogged by exhaustion, hypoxia, and hallucinations. The truth of what happened lies with four Sherpa guides who were largely ignored by the mainstream media in the aftermath of the tragedy, who lost two of their own during the incident, and whose heroic efforts saved the lives of at least four climbers.
Based on his numerous trips to Nepal and in-depth interviews he conducted with these unacknowledged heroes, the other survivors, and the families of the lost climbers, alpinist and veteran climbing writer Freddie Wilkinson presents the true story of what actually occurred on the “savage” mountain. This work combines a criticism of the mainstream press’s less-than-complete coverage of the tragedy and an insightful portrait of the lives of 21st-century Sherpas into an intelligent, white-knuckled adventure narrative.”
Join Freddie Wilkinson September 13th 6:00pm in Foss Audtiorium, American Mountaineering Center, Golden, for a slideshow and discussion on his book One Mountain Thousand Summits.
As some of you might have heard, the AAC’s book club has plans for global domination. In response to your requests for more local activities, we are hoping to launch book clubs in each AAC Section that wants one, possibly by winter!
All we need is you. Each book club needs a leader who is willing to find a place and time to meet, help the group pick the book they want to discuss, and then show up to help keep the conversation on track. Encouraging beer and special guests would be an added bonus.
The Library will help you by providing a suggested reading list, making sure we’ve got copies of those books available for checkout, and, when possible, working to get discounts, special guests or other interesting related events.
We’ll also post your meeting times, book selections, photos and write-ups on the Library Blog, High Places, and on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, and we hope you will all post there too.
Contact Beth Heller to see how you can help get it going! library[@]americanalpineclub[dot]org
We already have a book club going in Golden, so those of you on the Front Range, come on in on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
Books for this fall in Golden are:
September 13: Freddie Wilkinson will do a slideshow and booksigning for One Mountain, Thousand Summits at 6pm
September 14: Book Club meets at 6:30 to discuss Mountain Madness, by Robert Birkby. This is the autobiography of Scott Fisher
October 12: Discussion of One Mountain, Thousand Summits (hopefully everyone will get a chance to meet Freddie in September)
November 9: Brotherhood of the Rope Bernadette McDonald Biography of Charles Houston (see K2, The Savage Mountain)
Mountaineering is my hobby and profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains. It is also sometimes known as alpinism, particularly in Europe.
January 11: Touching the Void by Joe Simpson.
For February 8: We were thinking about reading Fifty Classic Climbs by Steve Roper and Alan Steck.
However copies of that book are hard to find (outside of the library).
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