Chessler’s 100 Best

From time to time for at least the last 12 years or so, I’ve had a simple catalog show up in the mail from a little company called Chessler Books. From a design perspective it’s purely functional, and I’ve honestly never ordered anything from them – every climbing book I own I’ve picked up from local Seattle and Portland booksellers – but there’s definitely money to be spent with these guys. From posters to autographed copies of historical narratives, antique maps (swoon) to vintage hardware, Chessler is easily the most recognizable resource for adventure, mountain, and polar literature.

The founder of the company, Michael Chessler, had a list that he shared of what he considers the 100 best mountaineering books out there. I can’t say I’ve read most of them, but I have read a handful and have my eyes on a few more. For the sake of posterity I’m sharing his list below with my own custom color key that I’ll update as I continue to work through them.

• Owned, but not read
• Not owned, but read and returned to the library
• Owned and read and enjoyed

Chessler’s 100 Best Mountaineering Books

(ordered by author)

1. The Last Blue Mountain by Barker
2. Seven Summits by Bass
3. Five Miles High by Bates
4. Himalayan Challenge by Bauer.
5. Challenge of the North Cascades by Beckey.
6. No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Benuzzi.
7. Annapurna: A Woman’s Place by Blum.
8. The Shining Mountain by Boardman.
9. On The Heights by Bonatti.
10. Annapurna South Face by Bonington
11. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by Bowman
12. The Hard Years by Brown
13. Twenty Years in the Himalaya by Bruce
14. Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage by Buhl
15. Men Against The Clouds by Burdsall
16. Climbing Ice by Chouinard
17. A Walk in the Sky by Clinch
18. Canadian Rockies, New and Old Trails by Coleman
19. Climbing on the Himalaya by Collie
20. The Pioneers of the Alps by Cunningham & Abney.
21. Minus 148 by Davidson.
22. Summits and Secrets by Diemberger.
23. The Conquest of Mount Cook by Du Faur.
24. The Shameless Diary of an Explorer by Dunn.
25. Karakoram and Kashmir by Eckenstein.
26. Aconcagua South Face by Ferlet.
27. Karakoram and Western Himalaya by Filippi.
28. The Highest Andes by Fitzgerald.
29. Travels Through the Alps of Savoy by Forbes.
30. The Exploration of the Caucasus by Freshfield.
31. Everest by Gillman.
32. Eiger Direct or Direttissima by Gillman.
33. Summit Fever by Greig.
34. Downward Bound by Warren Harding
35. Pioneer Work in the Alps of New Zealand by Harper.
36. The White Spider by Harrer.
37. White Mountain and Tawny Plain by Hauser.
38. Climbing in the Caucasus by Heckel.
39. The Throne of the Gods by Heim & Gansser.
40. Annapurna by Herzog.
41. From the Ocean to The Sky by Sir Edmund Hillary.
42. Everest The West Ridge by Hornbein.
43. K2 The Savage Mountain by Houston & Bates.
44. Climbing in North America by Jones.
45. Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada by King.
46. Cordillera Huayhuash by Kinzl & Schneider.
47. Cordillera Blanca by Kinzl & Schneider.
48. The Adventures of An Alpine Guide by Klucker.
49. Into Thin Air by John Krakauer.
50. Alpine Pilgrimage by Kugy.
51. To Kiss High Heaven by Languepin.
52. The Alps and Alpinism by Lukan.
53. Climb to the Lost World by Maclnnes.
54. Mountaineering, The Freedom of the Hills by Manning(ed)
55. Karakoram by Maraini.
56. In Monte Viso’s Horizon by McLewin.
57. All Fourteen Eight-Thousanders by Messner.
58. Solo Nanga Parbat by Messner.
59. The North Cascades by Miller & Manning.
60. The Big Book of Mountaineering by Moravec.
61. The Mountains of California by John Muir.
62. My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir.
63. My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus by Mummery.
64. Mountaineering in Scotland by Murray.
65. The Scottish Himalayan Expedition by Murray.
66. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Newby.
67. The Climbs of Norman-Neruda by Norman-Neruda.
68. The Fight For Everest 1924 by Norton.
69. Climbing the Fishes Tail by Noyce.
70. South Col by Noyce.
71. One Man’s Mountains by Patey.
72. Extreme Alpine Rock by Pause.
73. Climbing Days by Pilley.
74. Land of Mountains: New Zealand by Pilley.
75. Mont Blanc: The 100 Finest Routes by Rebuffat.
76. Starlight and Storm by Rebuffat.
77. The Last Step by Ridgeway.
78. The Mountain of My Fear by Roberts.
79. Fifty Classic Climbs of North America by Roper & Steck.
80. In The Throne Room of the Mountain Gods by Rowell.
81. The Vertical World of Yosemite by Rowell.
82. Solo Faces by Salter.
83. Four Against Everest by Sayre.
84. Big Wall Climbing by Scott.
85. Blank on the Map by Shipton.
86. Nanda Devi by Shipton.
87. Touching the Void by Simpson.
88. Camp Six by Smythe.
89. Climbs and Ski Runs by Smythe.
90. Der Alpinismus in Bildem by Steinitzer.
91. The Playground of Europe by Stephen.
92. The Ascent of Denali by Stuck.
93. The Savage Arena by Tasker.
94. Conquistadors of the Useless by Terray.
95. The Glittering Mountains of Canada by Thorington.
96. The Ascent of Nanda Devi by Tilman.
97. Snow on the Equator by Tilman.
98. The Everlasting Hills by Waller.
99. Scrambles Amongst The Alps by Whymper.
100. Travels Amongst the Great Andes of the Equator by Whymper.
101. Wanderings Among the High Alps by Wills.
102. Mountaineering Maps of the World. 2 Vols by Yoshizawa.
103. Mountaincraft by Young.
104. On High Hills by Young.

The observant among you will notice there’s more than 100 books in the list… I have no explanation other than the obvious – that this list was put together by someone who at some point in their life has strapped themselves into a harness and purposefully escaped the pull of gravity while wearing a helmet to discourage the exposure of brain matter to the elements, often during inclement weather while tied in via said harness to other persons of possibly dubious character.

On purpose.

Enough said.