Sport > Mountaineering / Climbing / Snow Sports

Chronicles the history of a sport that has exhilarated New Zealand skiers for over 60 years. Ralph Markby, a skier who first buckled up a pair of homemade wooden skis in 1944, traces the rise of ski culture in New Zealand along with the sport’s development – from the emergence of skiclubs after WWII to the expansion of commercial ski-fields, and the steady improvement and advances in equipment. First published August 2008, Dunedin, NZ

Don't forget your scroggin is a breath of fresh air. New Zealand's wilderness offers some of the most beautiful and diverse walking on Earth - from the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps to the enchanting forest of Waikaremoana. Exploring this wonderland on foot is one of the most rewarding and uplifting activities you can do. Want to get out here but don't know how? We've packed up all the basics for you, and rolled them up together with some expert advice and a few ripping yarns. Whether you're starting out or getting ready for th... read more

For more than 30 years award-winning nature photographer and environmental journalist, Claes Grundsten has been visiting the Earth's diverse habitats. "Trek!" is not only a visual record, but also a personal account from a walker's perspective of their rugged beauty, and diverse wildlife and plant species. This beautiful book spans the wild mountains, rainforests and deserts of our incredible planet, including not only recognized routes (such as the Inca Trail) and now-popular destinations (such as Mounts Everest and Kilimanjaro, t... read more

Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of the world's highest mountain, "Everest" takes readers into the exhilarating world of exploration and expedition from 1910 through today. 400+ photos.

This is the true story of a 24-hour period on Everest, when members of three separate expeditions were caught in a storm and faced a battle against hurricane-force winds, exposure, and the effects of altitude, which ended the worst single-season death toll in the peak's history.

On May 15, 2006, forty climbers walked past a young Briton named David Sharp as he lay dying on the side of Mount Everest. A week later, another death was reported around the world - that of seasoned Australian climber Lincoln Hall, but the next day Hall was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain without food, and exposed to the brutal elements. These two events tell the story of modern Everest. Eleven people died while attempting to summit the mountain in 2006. What lures an ever-increasing number of people to ... read more

In the 1960s an American named John Harlin II changed the face of Alpine climbing. Gutsy and gorgeous - he was known as 'the blond god' - Harlin successfully summitted some of the most treacherous mountains in Europe. But it was the North Face of the Eiger that became Harlin's obsession. Living with his wife and two children in Leysin, Switzerland, he spent countless hours planning to climb, waiting to climb, and attempting to climb the massive vertical face. It was the Eiger direct - the direttissima - with which John Harlin was p... read more

"Metro" magazine recently wrote that Andy Kirkpatrick makes Ray Mears look like Paris Hilton. Words like boldness, adventure and risk were surely coined especially for him. As one of the world's most accomplished mountaineers and big-wall climbers, he goes vertically where other climbers (to say nothing of the general public) fear to tread - and then tells of his adventures in hilarious quick-fire accounts which have had audiences in stitches, before leaving them with quite a few serious thoughts in mind.For the first time this cul... read more

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K2 is the world's second-highest mountain. 'The Savage Mountain', as it's often called, is regarded by climbers as far more challenging than Everest. When 11 men perished on the slopes of K2 in August 2008, it was one of the single deadliest events in Himalayan climbing. Yet none of the surviving Western climbers could explain precisely what happened. Their memories were admittedly fogged by exhaustion, hypoxia, and hallucinations. The truth of what occurred lies with four Sherpa guides who were largely ignored by the mainstream me... read more

Defines climbing terms and equipment, and identifies the great peaks and mountain ranges of the world.

There is an old joke among skiers, usually put to other fans of the sport as a question: what's better, sex or skiing? The answer is a given, but the hesitation in answering, that moment of serious consideration, is cause for humour. Extreme skiers get it. They know skiing isn't just a sport; it's a lifestyle, one inextricably bound up in the notion of adventure. This book is all about that adventure, that call to some of the world's best known, and unknown, slopes. Its about downhill racing, and the sophisticated, international cl... read more

Why do so many feel compelled to risk their lives climbing mountains? During the climbing season, one person a day dies in the Alps, and more people die climbing in this season in Scotland than they do on the roads. "Mountains of the Mind" pursues a fascinating investigation into our emotional and imaginative responses to mountains, and how these have changed over the last few centuries. It is rich with literary and historical references, and punctuated by beautifully written descriptions of the author's own climbing experiences. T... read more

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2006 was the second-deadliest year in the history of Everest ascents. Although the weather for climbing was perfect, the disaster was an indirect result of the industry that climbing Everest has become, with too many inexperienced climbers taking insufficient precautions with unscrupulous tour operators. Nick Heil's gripping account of that year takes us from the shameful fate of the British climber David Sharp, who lay dying by the mountain track as groups of climbers passed him by to Lincoln Heill's miraculous survival through a... read more

To adventure climbers, Mount Everest remains the pinnacle, the ultimate achievement. Sue Fear is one of only a handful of Australians, and only the second Australian woman, to achieve this elite level in one of the most challenging and fulfilling of all adventure sports. But how did a sheltered schoolgirl from Sydney

Don Whillans has an iconic significance for generations of climbers. His epoch-making first ascent of Annapurna's South Face, achieved with Dougal Haston in 1970, remains one of the most impressive climbs ever made - but behind this and all his other formidable achievements lies a tough, recalcitrant reality: the character of the man himself. Whillans carried within himself a sense of personal invincibility, forceful, direct and uncompromising. It gave him sporting superstar status - the flawed heroism of a Best, a McEnroe, an Ali.... read more

Why do so many feel compelled to risk their lives climbing mountains? During the climbing season, one person a day dies in the Alps, and more people die climbing in this season in Scotland than they do on the roads. Mountains of the Mind pursues a fascinating investigation into our emotional and imaginative responses to mountains, and how these have changed over the last few centuries. It is rich with literary and historical references, and punctuated by beautifully written descriptions of the author's own climbing experiences. ... read more

Here is narrative nonfiction at its most gripping. Journalist Jennifer Jordan chronicled the individual stories of the five courageous women who have climbed K2, the most fearsome mountain in the world. Climbers call K2 "The Savage Mountain." It is not quite as tall as Everest, but it is far more dangerous, located at the border of China and Pakistan, in the deadly Karakoram range, which has the harshest climbing conditions and weather of any place in the world. Ninety women have climbed Everest, but only five female climbers have ... read more

The book puts the first successful ascent into context