Beckey’s Bible.

A staple of probably most PNW climbing bookshelves or dashboards in one form or another since the late 40′s. Fred’s still out there, writing and climbing and doing his thing, and thanks to his exhaustive work on the Cascades, so are a lot of folks. Malcolm Bates did a nice little personal article about the guide in Volume 5 of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal.

It is impossible of course to provide an entirely satisfactory explanation for any recreation. The predominant motive in any human activity varies according to the temperament of the individual. Mountaineering provides good exercise in pleasant surroundings, a sense of satsfaction in overcoming difficulties, the joy, akin to dancing, of controlled rhythmic movement, a stimulating contact with danger, a wealth of beautiful scenery and a release from the tiresome restrictions of modern life. The expert likes to practice or display his skill. Some confess to having been drawn to climbing by a physical inferiority complex engendered by their failure at school to hit a ball straight and far. These motives are probably sufficient in themselves, and they certainly form the basis of many other sports. But in the deep devotion to any form of active endeavor there is generally something else we seek. In the case of mountaineering it is a kind of personal identification with the hills themselves, which comes of intimate understanding and strenuous contest and which brings with it a wealth of philosophical content. Above all, in my view, the attraction lies in the memory of those rare moments of intellectual ecstasy which occur perhaps on a mountain summit, perhaps on a glacier at dawn or in a lovely moonlit bivouac, and which appear to be the result of a happy coincidence in the rhythm of mind and scene.

From Upon That Mountain.

Pretty much sums it up.

Winter has pretty much arrived in Wyoming, and it’s going to be around for a while. Best thing you can do is learn to deal with it, and I can’t think of too many better ways of dealing with the white stuff than piling it up into habitable structures. It’s just one of those skills every man should know, and the boys and I are looking forward to the opportunity to build a few of these in the backyard.

Off Belay was a mountain-centric periodical out of Renton, Washington back in the 70′s and 80′s, and covered a wide variety of alpine topics. You can pick up back issues at Chessler’s, and the Mountaineers in Seattle have a complete library of issues. I have an issue or two yet to scan, but these special editions they put out are pretty entertaining – and useful.

This last Thursday morning I drove up to Jackson to catch the sunrise on the Grand and do a quick hike before work. Eventually I’ll do a trip report with photos and all that over at Altitude Slickness, but I wanted to drop a post in here regarding some of the treasures I picked up and found at the Teton County Library where I worked the rest of the day. They have a really nice Western Americana collection, as well as a large number of climbing books on loan from the American Alpine Club, and both sections kept me pretty busy trying to figure out how many books I could check out and carry back to the car.

I made it out with a few titles worth sharing:

1. Alpine Glaciers – A study of glaciers and their history in the Alps
2. The Romance of Mountaineering – A hefty tome regarding why climbers do what they do – some classic favorite passages will be featured in future posts
3. Tetoniana – History of the Exploration of Grand Teton National Park – When in Rome…

I also picked up a few books in town to add to my own library:

1. Glenn Exum: Never a Bad Word or a Twisted Rope
2. Mountaineering Essays, by John Muir

With winter fast approaching and birds already starting to leave the valley, I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough reading material to keep me occupied for at least a few weeks of snow…

Guide books, biographies, historic narratives, trip reports, magazines, movies, maps – it’s all downstairs. Summit registers are archived downstairs as well, with records going back to the first ascents of northwest peaks in the 1800′s. The cool part is that they still have so much stuff that isn’t even shown, but stashed away because there’s just no room. They also archive and display gear of historic or other interest, which is displayed upstairs in a rotating exhibit. There’s still a bit of sadness when I think of all the good stuff in there, and me down here. I did manage to find a lot of bits and pieces that will appear in future posts here though, so I am grateful for the short time I did have to root around downstairs. I also introduced myself to one of the Library Committee archivists, Jeff Thomas, and had offered my help in preserving some of the older format videos and films. I didn’t get a chance to really jump into things with the whole Wyoming move happening, but I did manage to digitize some of their old VHS tapes. I also have a few of the Spring brothers films they didn’t yet have in the collection, so there’s still some communication that will have to happen.

In the meantime, I’ll share some cool maps scanned from a small book that was not in super-good shape, but worth hanging on to, for both its content and visual interest. The Olympic peninsula is a pretty unique place, and one that I wish I’d been able to spend more time in. Living on the east side of the Sound for so many years and seeing the summits of Mt. Constance and The Brothers made them a permanent part of my mountain memory. Spending actual time up there has only happened in the form of a Mt. Olympus trip last year, a Boy Scout 50-miler up the north fork of the Quinault River and out the Elwha, and a handful of trips out to the Ozette area up on the western-most tip of the peninsula, but I hope to get back up there from time to time and kick around some more. These maps are not super detailed, but I really liked the minimalist approach and the colors, as well as just being able to connect the maps with locations and photos and memories from past trips. Enjoy.

See the entire set @ flickr »

Totally loving this mash-up of camping equipment and information design. This is from a book from National Geographic (Camping Adventure) I grew up with and these images have been part of my outdoor memories for a long time. The subject matter of now vintage gear makes this an instant favorite, as it’s both useful as a checklist and entertaining (loving that fishnet action) at the same time. It’s also a testament to the timelessness of camping and spending time outdoors.

Today’s gear may be lighter, faster, and stronger, but most outdoor-experienced baby boomers and their kids grew up with the same kind of gear pictured, which in its day was better than the equipment used by generations past. This shot is from just after the peak of the backpacking boom in 1975, where there were enough enthusiasts to foster the development of lighter weight gear and to support an industry of outdoor gear innovation and manufacturing. As more and more people have picked up on the benefits and enjoyment of being outside, the gear has kept up a pretty good pace as well.

My gear lust issues are no less fervent today than they were 15 years ago, and the bigger problem now is how to hide the receipts…

Over these seemingly changeless mountains, in endless succession, move the ephemeral colors of dawn and sunset and of noon and night, the shadows and sunlight, the garlands of clouds with which storms adorn the peaks, the misty rain-curtains of afternoon showers.

– Fritiof Fryxell, The Tetons: Interpretations of a Mountain Landscape

My first year of college back at Ricks I started out as a Geology major. I think it had something to do with the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do and that I enjoyed spending time in the mountains, so it seemed at the time to be a logical choice. I only recall taking one or two courses actually related to geology, but also recall taking an Art History class. One of those classes was obviously more interesting and inspiring than the others, which is evidenced by the fact that I work as a designer and not for an oil company.

This book I picked up a few months ago is a perfect summation of my year at Ricks. A little geology, a little information design and cartography – a good mix. Fritiof Fryxell was a geologist and the first naturalist of the Grand Teton National Park and put this little beauty together. Not too over the head of the non-geologist, and an insightful look into the make-up and geologic history of a beautiful place.

View the Set

After having spent all day in a company meeting I was pretty much forced to stop by the Seattle Patagonia store to get my mind wrapped around something other than web strategy, design, development, UX, analytics, optimization, and social networking. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but I just needed a bit of a distraction tonight instead of thinking about work all weekend. They usually have a pretty interesting book section at Patagonia, and tonight I found a couple of keepers.

1. Northern Oregon Wilderness Areas – Donna Ikenberry Aitkenhead
2. Early Hiking in the Olympics 1922-1942 – Paul Crews

The guide book is a bit old, but just seemed like a book that would be good to have given my current location, and ever since last summer’s Mt. Olympus trip, I’ve become a sucker for anything about the Olympic range. Should be a good read.

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.