100 Best Mountaineering Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Jon Krakauer

5.0

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six h

Recommended by Richard Branson, Cristina Riesen, Fabrice Grinda, and 2 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Cristina Riesen

First, a word on career paths. In time, I realised that career paths are like one-way streets. Magic happens in unexplored territories. Plus life is how you choose to live every moment, every day. So today, rather than building a career, I prefer to make lateral moves in life, working with great people and being part of ambitious projects impacting the world. There are a few books that got me here: … Jon Krakauer "Into Thin Air". [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

2

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival

Joe Simpson

4.8

Touching the Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1985. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that that Joe was dead.

What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that res

Recommended by Penny Smith and Simon Cole.

Penny Smith

Why does anyone climb a mountain? Because it’s there, apparently ... the tremendous story of Joe Simpson is told in the play of his brilliant book Touching the Void at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Thrilling and moving. [source]

Simon Cole

Decide to turn a night in London into a chance to see @TheVoidPlay #TouchingTheVoid is a magnificent book, a good film and a fabulous, stage show Brilliant and bold staging, great soundtrack, evocative and moving @dukeofyorksLDN @NikolaiFoster https://t.co/6F455nVVgN [source]

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3

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills

Brand: Mountaineers Book

4.7

The latest edition of the classic guide to mountaineering describes fundamental climbing skills; discusses rock, snow, and ice climbing techniques; recommends clothing and equipment; gives advice on safety and first aid; and includes a new section on waterfall ice and mixed climbing. Simultaneous.

4

Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

Peter Zuckerman, Amanda Padoan

4.7

When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world’s most dangerous peak, two Sherpas survived. They had emerged from poverty and political turmoil to become two of the m

5

No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks

Ed Viesturs, David Roberts

4.6

This gripping and triumphant memoir follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time.

For eighteen years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing’s holy grail: to stand atop the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to ac

6

Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains

Jon Krakauer

4.6

No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant hardships and victories more brilliantly than critically acclaimed author Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest work from such magazines as Outside and Smithsonian, he explores the subject from the unique and memorable perspective of one who has battled peaks like K2, Denali, Everest, and, of course, the Eiger. Always with a keen eye, a

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7

The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest

Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston DeWalt

4.5

The Climb is Russian mountaineer Anatoli Boukreev's account of the harrowing May 1996 Mount Everest attempt, a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of eight people. The book is also Boukreev's rebuttal to accusations from fellow climber and author Jon Krakauer, who, in his bestselling memoir, Into Thin Air, suggests that Boukreev forfeited the safety of his clients to achieve his own climbing goals

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8

Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8,000-Meter Peak

Maurice Herzog

4.5

Before Everest, there was Annapurna. Maurice Herzog led an expedition of French climbers to the summit of this 26,000-foot Himalayan peak in 1950. At the time of the assault, it was the highest mountain ever climbed, a remarkable feat in itself made all the more remarkable by the fact that it had never previously been charted. Herzog and his team not only had to climb the darn thing, they had to f

9

K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain

Ed Viesturs

4.5

A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing K2, the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of No Shortcuts to the Top

At 28,251 feet, the world's second-tallest mountain, K2 thrusts skyward out of the Karakoram Range of northern Pakistan. Climbers regard it as the ultimate achievement in mountaineering, with good reason. Four times as deadl

10

Mountains of the Mind: Adventures in Reaching the Summit

Robert Macfarlane

4.5

Combining accounts of legendary mountain ascents with vivid descriptions of his own forays into wild, high landscapes, Robert McFarlane reveals how the mystery of the world’s highest places has came to grip the Western imagination—and perennially draws legions of adventurers up the most perilous slopes.
His story begins three centuries ago, when mountains were feared as the forbidding abodes of dra

Recommended by Sara Maitland.

11

No Way Down: Life and Death on K2

Graham Bowley

4.5

“No Way Down is both a gripping read and a clear-eyed investigation of the hubris, politics, and bad luck that brought on one of the worst disasters in modern mountaineering history.” — Michael Kodas, author of High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed

“Graham Bowley’s No Way Down does a great job of putting you on the mountain. It is a refreshingly unadorned account of the true brutalit

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12

Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

Nick Heil

4.4

The inside story of the deadly 2006 climbing season on Everest

On May 15, 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall's death was reported around the world, but the next day he was fou

13

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (Historical Nonfiction Bestseller, True Story Book of Survival)

Donnie Eichar

4.4

A New York Times and Wall Street Journal Nonfiction Bestseller! — What happened that night on Dead Mountain?The mystery of Dead Mountain: In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the mountain climbing incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent

14

Denali's Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America's Wildest Peak

Andy Hall

4.4

Denali’s Howl is the white-knuckle account of one of the most deadly climbing disasters of all time.

In 1967, twelve young men attempted to climb Alaska’s Mount McKinley—known to the locals as Denali—one of the most popular and deadly mountaineering destinations in the world. Only five survived.

Journalist Andy Hall, son of the park superintendent at the time, investigates the tragedy. He spent year

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15

The White Spider

Heinrich Harrer

4.4

The White Spider dramatically recreates not only the harrowing, successful ascent made by Harrer and his comrades in 1938, but also the previous, tragic attempts at a wall of rock that was recently enshrined in mountaineer Jon Krakauer's first work, Eiger Dreams. For a generation of American climbers, The White Spider has been a formative book--yet it has long been out-of-print in America. This ed

16

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest

Wade Davis

4.4

A magnificent work of history, biography and adventure.

If the quest for Mount Everest began as a grand imperial gesture, as redemption for an empire of explorers that had lost the race to the Poles, it ended as a mission of regeneration for a country and a people bled white by war. Of the twenty-six British climbers who, on three expedtions (1921-24), walked 400 miles off the map to find and assau

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17

Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer

Anatoli Boukreev, Linda Wylie, Galen Rowell

4.3

When Anatoli Boukreev died on the slopes of Annapurna on Christmas day, 1997, the world lost one of the greatest adventurers of our time.

In Above the Clouds, both the man and his incredible climbs on Mt. McKinley, K2, Makalu, Manaslu, and Everest-including his diary entries on the infamous 1996 disaster, written shortly after his return-are immortalized. There also are minute technical details abo

18

K2, The Savage Mountain: The Classic True Story of Disaster and Survival on the World's Second-Highest Mountain

Bates

4.3

The 1953 American expedition to the second highest peak in the world.

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19

The Beckoning Silence

Joe Simpson

4.3

“I had to stand there and watch while the rest of my life was determined by the shaky adhesion of a few millimetres of fractured ice and the dubious friction of a tiny point of metal in a hairline crack in a rock wall…”

Marking the climax of his climbing career, Joe Simpson confronts his fears and mountaineering history in an assault on the North Face of the Eiger. Since his epic battle for surviva

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20

The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--the World's Deadliest Peak

Ed Viesturs, David Roberts

4.3

The bestselling author of No Shortcuts to the Top and K2 chronicles his three attempts to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest peak, Annapurna in the Himalaya, while exploring the dramatic and tragic history of others who have made -- or attempted – the ascent, and what these exploits teach us about facing life's greatest challenges.
As a high school student in the flatlands

21

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time

Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

4.3

The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia.

In April 2011, the CBS documentary "60 Minutes" called into question Greg Mortenson's work. The program alleged several inaccuracies in Three Cups of Tea, and its sequel, Stones into Schools, as well as financial improprieties in the operation of Mortenson's Central Asia In

Recommended by Gretchen Peters, Jennifer Steil, and Nicholas Kristof.

Gretchen Peters

I went to a refugee camp after 9/11 where people were living in tents and boiling grass to make tea and at least one family offered to let me sleep in their tent. [source]

Jennifer Steil

Greg Mortenson has changed literally thousands and thousands of lives. [source]

Nicholas Kristof

I think Greg does a very good job of providing a more nuanced portrait of the Islamic world and what is possible in it. [source]

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22

Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest

Jamling T. Norgay

4.3

In a story of Everest unlike any told before, Jamling Tenzing Norgay gives us an insider's view of the Sherpa world. As Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 Everest IMAX expedition led by David Breashears, Jamling Norgay was able to follow in the footsteps of his legendary mountaineer father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1953. Jaml

23

High Crimes: the Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed

Michael Kodas

4.3

High Crimes is journalist Michael Kodas's gripping account of life on top of the world--where man is every bit as deadly as Mother Nature. In the years following the publication of Into Thin Air, much has changed on Mount Everest. Among all the books documenting the glorious adventures in mountains around the world, none details how the recent infusion of wealthy climbers is drawing crime to the h

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24

Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest

Beck Weathers, Stephen G. Michaud

4.3

As featured in the upcoming motion picture Everest, starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Jake Gyllenhaal

“I can tell you that some force within me rejected death at the last moment and then guided me, blind and stumbling—quite literally a dead man walking—into camp and the shaky start of my return to life.”

In 1996 Be

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25

Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2, the World's Most Feared Mountain

Jennifer Jordan

4.3

Though not as tall as Everest, the "Savage Mountain" is far more dangerous. Located on the border of China and Pakistan, K2 has some of the harshest climbing conditions in the world. Ninety women have scaled Everest but of the six women who reached the summit of K2, three lost their lives on the way back down the mountain and two have since died on other climbs.

In Savage Summit, Jennifer Jordan sh

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26

Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters

James M. Tabor

4.3

Ten days passed with no rescue attempt, while more than half an expedition was stranded and dying at 20,000 feet during a vicious Arctic storm. The bodies were never recovered. And, for reasons that have remained cloudy, there was no proper official investigation of the catastrophe.

This book begins as a classic tale of men against nature, gambling—and losing—on one of the world's starkest and stor

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27

Annapurna: A Woman's Place

Arlene Blum, Maurice Herzog

4.3

In August 1978, thirteen women left San Francisco for the Nepal Himalaya to make history as the first Americans—and the first women—to scale the treacherous slopes of Annapurna I, the world’s tenth highest peak. Expedition leader Arlene Blum here tells their dramatic story: the logistical problems, storms, and hazardous ice climbing; the conflicts and reconciliations within the team; the terror of

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28

High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places

David Breashears, Jon Krakauer

4.2

For generations of resolute adventurers, from George Mallory to Sir Edmund Hillary to Jon Krakauer, Mount Everest and the world's other greatest peaks have provided the ultimate testing ground. But the question remains: Why climb? In High Exposure, elite mountaineer and acclaimed Everest filmmaker David Breashears answers with an intimate and captivating look at his life.
For Breashears, climbing

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29

The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mt. Everest

Conrad Anker, David Roberts

4.2

On June 8, 1924, George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared somewhere near the summit of Mount Everest, leaving open the tantalizing question of whether they had reached the summit of Everest twenty-nine years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. In 1999, climber Conrad Anker discovered Mallory's body on Everest and helped solve one of the greatest mysteries in the history of adventur

30

Alone on the Wall

Alex Honnold, David Roberts

4.2

The life and death-defying feats of Alex Honnold, a visionary climber of the sort that comes along only once in a generation.

A thirty-year-old climbing phenomenon, Alex Honnold pushes the limits of free soloing beyond anything previously attempted, as he climbs without a rope, without a partner, and without any gear to attach himself to the wall. If he falls, he dies. In Alone on the Wall, Honnold

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31

Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine

Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A. Johnson, Eric R. Simonson, William E. Nothdurft

4.2

Did Mallory and Irvine reach Everest's summit 30 years before Hillary and Tenzing? Until now, clues about what happened to these two Everest pioneers had been scant and misleading. Until now, no one has known whether they reached the summit. Until now, no one has known where or how they perished.

This is a detective story of the first order. It is the story not just of Mallory and Irvine's last

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32

The Mountains of My Life (Modern Library Exploration)

Walter Bonatti, Robert Marshall

4.2

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33

Everest: The West Ridge

Thomas F. Hornbein

4.2

Details the author and his partner Willi Unsoeld's ascent of Everest's West Ridge in 1963.

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34

The Mountain: My Time on Everest

Ed Viestur

4.2

In national bestseller The Mountain, world-renowned climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs and cowriter David Roberts paint a vivid portrait of obsession, dedication, and human achievement in a true love letter to the world’s highest peak.

In The Mountain, veteran world-class climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs—the only American to have climbed all fourteen of the world’s 8,000-meter pea

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35

Conquistadors of the Useless

Lionel Terray, Geoffrey Sutton

4.2

An engagingly written portrait of the times and climbs of premier French mountainerer Lionel Terray by himself, including the Eigerwand, Fitzroy, Annapurna and other groundbreaking expeditions.

36

Beyond the Mountain

Steve House, Reinhold Messner

4.2

What does it take to be one of the world's best high-altitude mountain climbers? A lot of fundraising; traveling in some of the world's most dangerous countries; enduring cold bivouacs, searing lungs, and a cloudy mind when you can least afford one. It means learning the hard lessons the mountains teach.

Reinhold Messner calls Steve House the best high=altitude climber in the world today, an honor

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37

High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest

Edmund Hillary

4.2

Fear lives among Everest's mighty ice-fluted faces and howls across its razor-sharp crags. Gnawing at reason and enslaving minds, it has killed many and defeated countless others. But in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stared into its dark eye and did not waver. On May 29, they pushed spent bodies and aching lungs past the achievable to pursue the impossible. At a terminal altitude of 29,0

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38

Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest

Lincoln Hall

4.2

Lincoln Hall's breathtaking account of surviving a night in Everest's "death zone."

Lincoln Hall likes to say that on the evening of May 25, 2006, he died on Everest. Indeed, Hall attempted to climb the mountain during a deadly season in which eleven people perished. And he was, in fact, pronounced dead, after collapsing from altitude sickness. Two Sherpas spent hours trying to revive him, but as d

39

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

4.2

Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himse

Recommended by Holger Seim.

Holger Seim

When it comes to adventure stories, Into the Wild. [source]

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40

The Naked Mountain

Reinhold Messner

4.2

• Did Reinhold Messner sacrifice his brother to his ambition?
• Publication of this book in Germany stirred controversy across Europe
• The most personal book Messner has ever written
• More than 45,000 copies sold of the German edition
Reinhold Messner is famous for many firsts: First to climb all fourteen 8000-meter peaks; first to summit Everest (with Peter Habeler) without supplementary oxyg

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41

K2: Triumph and Tragedy

Jim Curran

4.2

K2 is the second highest mountain in the world, at 8611 metres only a couple of hundred metres lower than Everest and is one of the most unrelenting and testing of the worlds 8000-metre peaks.

Jim Curran came to K2 as a climbing cameraman with an unsuccessful British expedition, but stayed on through the climbing season. This is his account of the dramatic events of that summer, a story of ambition

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42

Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete

Steve House

4.2

In Training for the New Alpinism, Steve House, world-class climber and Patagonia ambassador, and Scott Johnston, coach of U.S. National Champions and World Cup Nordic Skiers, translate training theory into practice to allow you to coach yourself to any mountaineering goal. Applying training practices from other endurance sports, House and Johnston demonstrate that following a carefully designed re

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43

Minus 148 Degrees

Art Davidson

4.2

In 1967, eight men attempted North America's highest summit: Mount McKinley (now known as Denali) had been climbed before but never in winter. Plagued by doubts and cold, group tension and a crevasse tragedy, the expedition tackled McKinley in minimal hours of daylight and fierce storms. They were trapped at three different camps above 14,000 feet during a six-day blizzard and faced the ultimate l

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44

This Game of Ghosts

Joe Simpson

4.2

When mountain climber Simon Yates cut the rope and sent his friend and climbing partner Joe Simpson plummeting to an ordeal few mountaineers can have contemplated, the outcome was totally unpredictable. That Simpson survived his experience on Peru's Siula Grande is a revelation of the power of the human spirit to overcome fear, pain and deprivation of almost unimaginable intensity. He did not expe

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45

Mountain Madness: Scott Fischer, Mount Everest & a Life Lived on High

Robert Birkby

4.2

This is a homage to a man who ventured where most fear to tred. Before his tragic death in 1996, mountaineer Scott Fischer scaled the highest and most treacherous peaks on Earth and became, for many, an iconic symbol of hubris, audacity and the limits of endurance.

46

The Push: A Climber's Search for the Path

Tommy Caldwell

4.2

A New York Times Bestseller

A dramatic, inspiring memoir by legendary rock climber Tommy Caldwell, the first person to free climb the Dawn Wall of Yosemite's El Capitan

"The rarest of adventure reads: it thrills with colorful details of courage and perseverance but it enriches readers with an absolutely captivating glimpse into how a simple yet unwavering resolve can turn adversity into reward." --

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47

Starlight and Storm

Gaston Rebuffat, Jon Krakauer, John Hunt, Wilfrid Noyce, David Roberts

4.2

"One of the great climbers of all time . . . who has discovered through the medium of mountains the true perspective of living." --Sir John Hunt, author of The Conquest of Everest

Known for his lyrical writing and his ability to convey not only the dangers of mountaineering but the pure exaltation of the climb, Gaston Rebuffat is among the most well-known and revered Alpinists of all time. He r

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48

Crystal Horizon: Everest: The First Solo Ascent

Reinhold Messner

4.2

On August 20, 1980, Reinhold Mesner reached the summit of Everest alone and without the use of oxygem. His vivid account of this extraordinary achievement forms the core of "The Crystal Horizon." Messner describes with passion his journey through Tibet, a mysterious country of snow peaks, ruined monasteries, and yak caravans. He identifies with the legendary mountaineers who have gone before him:

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49

The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier

Jim Davidson, Kevin Vaughan

4.1

“My eyes travel up the frozen walls. I figure it is eighty feet up to the sunlight. The walls above me climb up at about eighty degrees, then they go dead vertical, and then, higher up, they overhang. It is as if I am looking out from the belly of a beast, its jagged white teeth interlocking above me.”

In June 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood triumphantly atop Washington’s Mount

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50

Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life

Arlene Blum

4.1

A legendary trailblazer, Arlene Blum defied the climbing establishment of the 1970s by leading the first all-female teams on successful ascents of Mount McKinley and Annapurna and by being the first American woman to attempt Mount Everest. At the same time, her groundbreaking scientific work challenged gender stereotypes in the academic community and led to important legislation banning carcinogen

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51

Freedom Climbers

Bernadette McDonald

4.1

Winner! 2012 American Alpine Club Literary Prize (USA)

Winner! 2011 Munday Award, Banff Mountain Festival (CANADA)

Winner! 2011 Boardman Tasker Prize, Kendal Mountain Festival (UNITED KINGDOM)

Freedom Climbers — the most honoured book of mountaineering literature published in Canada — tells the story of a group of extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression follo

52

Seven Years in Tibet

Heinrich Harrer, Richard Graves, Peter Fleming, His Holiness The Dalai Lama

4.1

Recounts how the author, an Austrian, escaped from an English internment camp in India in 1943 and spent the next seven years in Tibet, observing its social practices, religion, politics, and people.

53

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

Niall Ferguson

4.1

Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it’s the sinews of war. To revolutionarie

Recommended by Max Levchin, Muhtar Kent, and 1 others.

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?" [source]

Muhtar Kent

Former CEO/Coca-Cola

CEO considers it a great read. [source]

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54

All Fourteen 8,000ers

Reinhold Messner

4.1

55

Miracle in the Andes

Nando Parrado

4.1

In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence.

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying—among them his own mother and si

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56

Death Zone

MATT DICKINSON

4.1

It seemed like any other season on Mount Everest. Ten expeditions from around the world were preparing for their summit push, gathered together to try for mountaineering's ultimate prize. Twenty-four hours later, eight of those climbers were dead, victims of the most devastating storm ever to hit Everest. On the North face of the mountain, a British expedition found itself in the thick of the dram

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57

The Shining Mountain: Two Men On Changabang's West Wall

Peter Boardman

4.1

Describes the adventures of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker on their expedition to climb a mountain in the Himalayas.

58

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Aron Ralston

4.1

A brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life which will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.

One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told -- Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought hi

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59

Dark Shadows Falling

Joe Simpson

4.1

• Concise, objective account of the 1996 Everest debacle
• One of Simpson's most controversial and challenging books
• Short listed for the 1997 Boardman Tasker Award
In 1992, an Indian climber was left to die alone high on the South Col of Mount Everest by other climbers who watched his feebly waving hand from the security of their tent thirty yards away. Some film footage of his corpse was la

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60

The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2

Jennifer Jordan

4.1

In 1939 the Savage Mountain claimed its first victim. Born into vast wealth yet uneasy with a life of leisure, Dudley Wolfe, of Boston and Rockport, Maine, set out to become the first man to climb K2, the world’s second-highest mountain and, in the opinion of mountaineers, an even more formidable challenge than Mt. Everest. Although close to middle age and inexperienced at high altitude, Wolfe, wi

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61

The Ghosts of K2: The Epic Saga of the First Ascent

Mick Conefrey

4.1

“Downright thrilling; [Conefrey] really gives us a sense of what it must have been like, battling exhaustion and frigid temperatures to get to the top of the world…. A must-read.”
— Booklist

At 28,251 ft, K2 might be almost 800 ft shorter than Everest, but it’s a far harder climb. In this definitive account, Mick Conefrey grippingly describes the early attempts to reach the summit and provides a fa

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62

The Other Side of Everest: Climbing the North Face Through the Killer Storm

Matt Dickinson

4.1

This riveting account of Everest's most technically challenging face during the infamous 1996 killer storm has a new Introduction focusing the discovery of Andrew Irvine's frozen body.

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63

On the Ridge Between Life and Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined

David Roberts

4.1

By the time David Roberts turned twenty-two, he had been involved in three fatal mountain climbing accidents and had himself escaped death by the sheerest of luck.

At age eighteen, Roberts witnessed the death of his first climbing partner in Boulder, Colorado. A few years later, he was the first on the scene of a fatal accident on Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Months afterward, while pioneering

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64

Seven Summits

Dick Bass

4.1

Two Undaunted Men Frank Wells was the head of a major motion picture studio. Dick Bass had made his fortune as an energy and resort entrepreneur. In middle age, both men left behind home, family, and successful careers to share an impossible dream. Seven Unconquered Summits The challenge: be the first to climb the highest mountain on each of seven continents, from McKinley to Kilimanjaro to Everes

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65

Psychovertical

Andy Kirkpatrick

4.1

One of the world’s most accomplished mountaineers and big-wall climbers tells of his thirteen-day ascent of Reticent Wall on El Capitan in California. His account frames a challenging autobiography, by turns hilarious and gut-wrenching.

66

The Snow Leopard

Peter Matthiessen

4.1

When Matthiessen went to Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and, possibly, to glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard, he undertook his five-week trek as winter snows were sweeping into the high passes. This is a radiant and deeply moving account of a "true pilgrimage, a journey of the heart."

Recommended by Nick Pyenson.

Nick Pyenson

The book stands apart and it remains fresh because of the ways that Matthiessen weaves his exploration of the outer world with his own inner one. [source]

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67

The Last of His Kind: The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer

David Roberts

4.1

“Stunning and stirring.”

—Boston Globe

In The Last of His Kind, renowned adventure writer David Roberts gives readers a spellbinding history of mountain climbing in the twentieth century as told through the biography of Brad Washburn, legendary mountaineering pioneer and photographer. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, has praised David Roberts, saying, “Nobody alive writes better about mountai

68

Ascent into Hell

Fergus White

4.1

There is but one aim: the summit, the summit of Mount Everest.

What starts with a trouble-free trek into the Nepalese highlands explodes into a gripping tale of hardship, peril, and adversity. Pushed beyond their physical and mental limits, climbers drop by the wayside. Their primal instincts for survival battle with their dogged resolve to drag themselves to the top of the world. But the focus re

69

SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere

John 'Lofty' Wiseman

4.1

The ultimate guide to survival, this edition now includes the most essential urban survival tips for today, supplementing the fully updated original, bestselling handbook.

The original and best survival guide for any situation in every climate is back. Now with added techniques for handling Urban dangers, the SAS Survival Handbook is the complete companion for adventurers everywhere. From making ca

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70

True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent on Annapurna

David Roberts

4.1

In a startling look at the classic Annapurna -- the most famous book about mountaineering -- David Roberts discloses what really happened on the legendary expedition to the Himalayan peak. In June 1950, a team of mountaineers was the first to conquer an 8,000-meter peak. Maurice Herzog, the leader of the expedition, became a national hero in France, and Annapurna, his account of the historic ascen

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71

No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three POWs' Escape to Adventure

Felice Benuzzi

4.1

In the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the inmates of POW Camp 354, captured in Africa during World War II. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner realizes he can bear it no longer.
When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the first time, Felice Be

Recommended by Alastair Humphreys.

Alastair Humphreys

What I love about this book is that he’s just a normal guy, living a normal life who gets swept into a prisoner of war camp. [source]

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72

Paths of Glory

Jeffrey Archer

4.1

Some people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. People like Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison, Nancy Astor, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Edmund Hilary and Neil Armstrong—their unparalleled success has made their stories into legend.
But what if one man had such a dream, and once h

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73

The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation

Clint Willis

4.1

The Boys of Everest tells the story of a band of climbers who reinvented mountaineering during the three decades after Everest's first ascent. It is a story of tremendous courage, astonishing achievement and heart-breaking loss. Their leader was the boyish, fanatically driven Chris Bonington. His inner circle — which came to be know as Bonington's Boys — included a dozen who became climbing's grea

74

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Bill Bryson

4.1

The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America—majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhar

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75

Savage Arena

Joe Tasker

4.0

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76

Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-Meter Giants

Ed Viesturs, Peter Potterfield

4.0

Now updated to include the triumphant culmination of a monumental quest—to stand on the summits of all fourteen of the world’s highest mountains—Himalayan Quest offers an unforgettable glimpse into the remarkable world of Ed Viesturs, America’s best-known high altitude climber, and the breathtaking landscape in which he works. It is an unparalleled showcase of both the heartbreaking tragedy and th

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77

The Mountain of My Fear / Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative

David Roberts

4.0

Two of Roberts' most sought-after works collected into one volume.

78

View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest

Sir Edmund Hillary

4.0

THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE STORY OF
AN ORDINARY MAN WHO BECAME THE
CENTURY'S MOST IMPORTANT EXPLORER
Adventurers the world over have been inspired by the achievements of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man ever to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest. In this candid, wry, and vastly entertaining autobiography, Hillary looks back on that 1953 landmark expedition, as well as his remarkable explorations

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79

The Boardman Tasker Omnibus

Peter Boardman, Joe Tasker

4.0

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80

Addicted to Danger: A Memoir

Jim Wickwire, Dorothy Bullitt

4.0

Adventurist Jim Wickwire, an eyewitness to glory and terror above 20,000 feet, has braved bitter cold, blinding storms, and avalanches to become what the Los Angeles Times calls "one of America's most extraordinary and accomplished high-altitude mountaineers." Although his incredible exploits have inspired a feature on 60 Minutes and a full-length film, he hasn't told his remarkable story in his o

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81

The Conquest of Everest: Original Photographs from the Legendary First Ascent

George Lowe, Huw Lewis-Jones

4.0

Published to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest, this visually spectacular book features a trove of original photographs and other rare materials from the George Lowe collection, many unpublished, complemented by classic images from the final ascent. Stunning landscapes, candid portraits, and action shots describe the day-by-day moments of the historic expedition as nev

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82

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

Eric Newby

4.0

When Eric Newby, fashion industry worker and inexperienced hill walker, decided after 10 years in haute couture he needed a change he took 4 days training in Wales then walked the Hindu Kush. This is his account of an entertaining time in the hills!

Recommended by Sandy Gall.

Sandy Gall

Well, it’s terribly funny. I think Eric Newby is one of the best travel writers Britain has ever produced. I love reading this book. I’ve read it two or three times, and each time I fell about laughing. He writes terribly well. Evelyn Waugh actually wrote the preface to this book thinking it was by another Eric Newby, and ended up admiring this one. The book is about Newby and his young diplomat friend who went off on an expedition to Afghanistan in the 1950s with the intention of climbing Mir Samir – the highest mountain there – although neither had any experience of mountaineering or had even used a rope before. But they were young, fit and enthusiastic and they very nearly got to the top. [source]

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83

Facing Up: A Remarkable Journey to the Summit of Mount Everest

Bear Grylls

4.0

"No Western climber or even any Sherpas had been this high, so far this year. We were treading on virgin territory on the ever-changing surface of the glacier. The excitement welled up, and I felt strong. Here I was with those I knew so well, alone and isolated in the rawness and wonder of nature; and it made me feel good."

Facing Up tells the remarkable story of Bear Grylls' ascent of Everest, ma

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84

Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes

Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver

4.0

The story of the world’s highest peaks and the remarkable people who have sought to climb them

The first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa teammate Tenzing Norgay is a familiar saga, but less well known are the tales of many other adventurers who also came to test their skills and courage against the world’s highest and most dangerous mountains. In thi

85

Peak

Roland Smith

4.0

The only thing you’ll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below. – Peak Marcello

After fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his

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86

A Higher Calling: Pursuing Love, Faith, and Mount Everest for a Greater Purpose

Harold Earls IV

4.0

The husband and wife behind the popular Earls Family Vlogs share their inspiring love story of how an expedition to climb Mount Everest deepened their faith, strengthened their commitment, and sharpened their vision to make a difference in the world.

As a senior at West Point, Harold Earls dreamed of summiting Mount Everest after graduation and bringing awareness to the issue of PTSD in soldiers an

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87

Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure

Maria Coffey

4.0

Without risk, say mountaineers, there would be none of the self-knowledge that comes from pushing life to its extremes. For them, perhaps, it is worth the cost. But when tragedy strikes, what happens to the people left behind? Why would anyone choose to invest in a future with a high-altitude risk-taker? What is life like in the shadow of the mountain? Such questions have long been taboo in the wo

88

Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers

Steve House

4.0

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89

The Mountain of My Fear

David Roberts

4.0

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90

Summit

Joan Saslow and Allen Ascher

4.0

A summit is a summit, and the truth is the truth. But the view from 8,848 meters isn't always so clear. Two men, seventy years apart, push for the top of Mount Everest, driven by forces beyond their control and something inside that says climb.

After eight successful summits, Mount Everest guide Neil Quinn is confident he can handle anything the mountain throws his way. But then disaster strikes s

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91

The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre

Kelly Cordes

4.0

Patagonia’s Cerro Torre, considered by many the most beautiful peak in the world, draws the finest and most devoted technical alpinists to its climbing challenges. But controversy has swirled around this ice-capped peak since Cesare Maestri claimed first ascent in 1959. Since then a debate has raged, with world-class climbers attempting to retrace his route but finding only contradictions. This ch

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92

Tiger of the snows: The Autobiography of Tenzing of Everest

Tenzing of Everest and James Ramsey Ullman

4.0

The autobiography of Tenzing of Everest

93

Eye of the Needle

Ken Follett

4.0

One enemy spy knows the secret to the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin -- code name: "The Needle" -- who holds the key to ultimate Nazi victory.

Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life.

All will come to a terrifying conclusion in Ken Follett's unsu

Recommended by Louise Bagshawe and Tess Gerritsen.

Louise Bagshawe

This is another terrific chase story with a bit more characterisation, Ken Follett’s first really big success as an author. It’s interesting because the protagonist is a German spy who has to transmit important information to Germany and he goes on the run to try to do it. [source]

Tess Gerritsen

John le Carré is very cerebral. There is an intellectual puzzle of trying to figure out who the characters are. Eye of the Needle was an out-and-out chase thriller. [source]

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94

The Summit: How Triumph Turned to Tragedy on K2’s Deadliest Days

Pat Falvey, Pemba Gyalje Sherpa

4.0

On 1 August 2008, thirty-four climbers from across the world set out in their attempt to reach the summit of K2. Within twenty-eight hours, K2 had exacted a deadly toll: eleven lives were lost in a series of catastrophic accidents. A Nepalese Sherpa called Pemba Gyalje, along with five others, was at the centre of a series of attempts to rescue climbers who had become trapped in the Death Zone. Ba

95

Deep Survival: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death

Laurence Gonzales

4.0

In Deep Survival, Laurence Gonzales combines hard science and powerful storytelling to illustrate the mysteries of survival, whether in the wilderness or in meeting any of life's great challenges. This gripping narrative, the first book to describe the art and science of survival, will change the way you see the world. Everyone has a mountain to climb. Everyone has a wilderness inside.

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96

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

Jim Whittaker

4.0

Cover unavailable

97

Everest: Mountain Without Mercy

Broughton Coburn, Tim Cahill

4.0

David Breashears, the first American to scale Everest twice, was a veteran of nine previous Himalayan filmmaking expeditions when he agreed to lead what became his most challenging filmmaking experience. The expedition was organized by large-format motion picture producer MacGillivray Freeman Films and was comprised of an international team of climbers. Their goal was to carry a specially modified

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98

Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See

Erik Weihenmayer

4.0

Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would leave him blind by the age of thirteen. But Erik was determined to rise above this devastating disability and lead a fulfilling and exciting life.

In this poignant and inspiring memoir, he shares his struggle to push past the limits imposed on him by his visual impairment-and by a seeing world. He speaks movingly

99

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors

Piers Paul Read

4.0

On October 12, 1972, a plane carrying a team of young rugby players crashed into the remote, snow-peaked Andes. Out of the forty-five original passengers and crew, only sixteen made it off the mountain alive. For ten excruciating weeks they suffered deprivations beyond imagining, confronting nature head-on at its most furious and inhospitable. And to survive, they were forced to do what would have

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100

One Mountain Thousand Summits: The Untold Story Tragedy and True Heroism on K2

Freddie Wilkinson

4.0

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-admit