NCW Libraries

"Whether in the name of conquest, science, or the divine, humans across the centuries have had myriad reasons to climb mountains. From the smoking volcanoes of South America to the great snowy ranges of the Himalaya, The White Ladder follows a cast of extraordinary characters--conquistadors and captains, scientists and surveyors, alpinists and adventurers--up the slopes of the world's highest peaks. [The book] describes the epic rise of mountaineering's...

From the earth's bowels to its highest point, he's chasing danger...What chases him home is even more terrifying. Simon Newman thinks he's ready to leave his mountain-climbing and caving days behind him. But to get his new website venture off the ground, he needs video. Thrilling video. Exclusive video. He chooses to tackle the Cwm Pot caves in Wales, a notorious site long since closed to the public following a tragic event. Unfortunately for Si,...

The dramatic and inspiring account of the very first attempt to climb Mount Everest, published to coincide with the centenary of the expedition of 1922. The first attempt on Everest in 1922 by George Leigh Mallory and a British team is an extraordinary story full of controversy, drama, and incident, populated by a set of larger-than-life characters straight out of an adventure novel. The expedition ended in tragedy when, on their third bid for the...

"Four kids are prepared to go into thin air. Each one of them could break a record if they reach the top. And each one of them knows that standing at the summit is only half the battle-- they'll still have to come back down to earth. None of them is prepared for the challenges that await them as they get closer to the summit. Conditions are extreme. Supplies are low. The temperature is far below zero. And one of the kids is trying to sabotage the...

"Reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion, Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996. He hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds ..." "This is the terrifying story of...

"In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their last campsite, searchers found a bizarre scene: something had appeared at the door of their tent so terrifying that it impelled them to slash their way out and flee barefoot to certain death in a blizzard. Despite a diligent search, only six bodies were found, three violently crushed and missing eyes and tongues. The case, given the code...

"Veteran climber Mark Synnott never planned on climbing Mount Everest, but a hundred-year mystery lured him into an expedition--and an awesome history of passionate adventure, chilling tragedy, and human aspiration unfolded"--

Three renowned climbers navigate nature's harshest elements and their own complicated inner demons to ascend Mount Meru, the most technically complicated and dangerous peak in the Himalayas.