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The World Below: Body and Cosmos in Otomi Indian Ritual (Mesoamerican Worlds S.)
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History of the Great Civil War: 1642-44 Vol 1
History of the Great Civil War: 1644-45 Vol 2
History of the Great Civil War: 1645-47 Vol 3
The Domesday Book: Hertfordshire
City of Life, City of Death: Memories of Riga
Ghost Towns of Montana
Twilight Dwellers: Ghosts, Ghouls and Goblins of Colorado
Ghosts on the Range: Eerie True Tales of Wyoming
Big Sky Ghosts: Eerie True Tales of Montana: Vol 2
Stories and Stone: Writing the Anasazi Homeland
Arrowheads & Stone Artifacts: A Practical Guide for the Amateur Archaeologist
Twilight Dwellers 2nd Edn
A Traveller's History of Spain (The Traveller's Histories)
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea
America's Lost Treasure
The Life and Adventures (1776-1801) of John Nicol, Mariner
Joyful Noise

Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America

Average customer rating:

Very good
An essential climbing book by a legendary climber

Mount McKinley: Icy Crown of North America
Fred Beckey
Manufacturer: Mountaineers Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks

ASIN: 0898866464

Book Description

In this selective "biography" of Mount McKinley, considered a classic of mountaineering literature, renowned climber and mountain historian, Fred Beckey pays tribute to one of the world's great mountains.

Alaska's Mount McKinley, known as Denali by Native Americans, has captivated legions throughout the centuries. Beckey explores the rich history and almost spiritual power of this great mountain-from the natural forces that shaped it to the people who strove to conquer it.

Beginning with the geologic development of McKinley, Beckey moves on to another shaping force-the people who first lived in the shadows of the mountain: Native Americans, Russian fur traders, and the first American prospectors. From there Beckey offers an in-depth chronology of the mountaineering history and summit achievements, including his own. For those desiring a deeper understanding of the mountain, this book features chapters on serious mountaineering accidents, and the challenges and logistics of climbing McKinley.

Customer Reviews:

Very good.......2006-09-06

The book is very good. The history of the mountain makes it simple to write something interesting, but certainly Mr. Beckey has done an excellent and very comprehensive work, and he deserves the credit. The reading is fine too. I only missed some more detailed sketches of the routes, and at times I got a bit lost in the succession of climbing expeditions (though it is true that the book has a chronology at the end).

Also some of the final chapters perhaps do not belong in this book, but all in all I certainly recommend it.

An essential climbing book by a legendary climber.......2000-01-25

Commenting on a Fred Beckey climbing book is a little like critiquing a Mozart opera: who among us, really, has any standing to question him? It's remarkable that the man combines such complete mastery of two crafts, both climbing and writing. Compared to Reinhold Messner, another heroic climber and author, Beckey's writing is much better, more insightful, and ultimately far more useful. The book begins with a forward by Heinrich Harrer, famous for the first climb of the north face of the Eiger, as well as his books "The White Spider" and "Seven Years in Tibet." Much of the book is a history, detailing the early explorations and attempts, including Cook, the sourdough expedition, and the Reverend Stuck's successful climb, on through the pioneering climbs of other routes on the mountain. This is one more book that demonstrates that, in his areas of experience, Fred Beckey is unsurpassed. He is a climber's climber (not least because of his legendary guidebooks) and this is a climber's book on Denali. It's extensively footnoted and makes good use of historical photos, which is a nice professional touch, but the real value of the book is Beckey's total knowledge of climbing and of the mountain. One of the chapters details his participation on the first climb of the NW buttress (the first ascent of the Wickersham Wall) as well as his subsequent first ascent, with Harrer, of nearby Mt. Hunter. It's hard to imagine undertaking a climb of Denali without reading this book first; the last section includes complete route descriptions of the four most-climbed routes on the mountain, an extensive record of accidents and disasters, including analysis of what went wrong, and a chapter on logistics and equipment. Some things have changed; Talkitna is already more built-up than it was in '93 when the book was published (with a soberingly well-used cemetary) and the standard routes are more crowded than ever, but the same accidents happen for the same reasons. If everyone who attempted the mountain read this book, it would be a safer place.

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