To The Summit

Eiger, Kilimanjaro, Denali, Everest: historic mountains steeped in climbing legend, not only for mountaineers, but for anyone attuned to the siren song of adventure. Here, in a coffee-table-ready collection of gorgeous photos, inspiring text, and factual data, author-climber Joseph Poindexter describes these legendary mountains and 46 more of the world's most magnificent climbs, "fifty places around the world, most of them cold, barren, starved of oxygen, subject to violent fits of weather--and beautiful--where human ambition collides with the glacial indifference of dangerous terrain." And Poindexter doesn't stop there--he also shares how you get to some of these peaks, when you would want to go, and, should you be so inclined, what route you might follow to get to the top. But, although each incredible page will make you want to quit your job and hitchhike to Timbuktu, Poindexter warns, "Do not attempt to embark on any of the routes described in this book without extensive physical training and formal instruction ... this is not a guidebook or manual of any kind." Maybe not, but it's a beautiful resource for mapping your daydreams. --George Laney