Climbing and mountaineering books
Climbing and mountaineering books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
Touching the Void
Joe SimpsonA first-person account of a near-fatal accident in the Peruvian Andes, written about a climb where the author was left injured and had to get down alone.
Into Thin Air
Jon KrakauerA journalist's account of the 1996 Everest season, in which several climbers died in a storm, and the commercial guiding that surrounded it. Open Library lists 1996; the US first edition is dated 1997.
The White Spider
Heinrich HarrerThe history of the 1936 ascent of the Eiger's north face, written by one of the climbers, and a standard account of Alpine climbing history.
Annapurna
Maurice HerzogThe first ascent of an 8,000-metre peak, the French expedition to Annapurna in 1950, and an early example of the expedition narrative, including the frostbite and rescue that followed.
Eiger Dreams
Jon KrakauerA collection of essays on climbing, guiding, and climbers, and an early look at the culture of expedition climbing.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
More climbing and mountaineering books
- Mountains of the Mind
Mountains of the MindRobert Macfarlane - No Picnic on Mount Kenya
No Picnic on Mount KenyaFelice Benuzzi - Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Between a Rock and a Hard PlaceAron Ralston - High Adventure
High AdventureEdmund Hillary - The Climb
The ClimbAnatoli Boukreev - Dead Mountain
Dead MountainDonnie Eichar - Ghosts of Everest
Ghosts of EverestJochen Hemmleb - High Exposure
High ExposureDavid Breashears - The self-coached climber
The self-coached climberDan Hague2006 - The Kid Who Climbed Everest
The Kid Who Climbed EverestBear Grylls2000 - Left for Dead
Left for DeadBeck Weathers1672 - Buried in the sky
Buried in the skyPeter Zuckerman2012