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Three Climbing Books to Read for Fall 2021

One of Canada's most prolific big wall climbers, an industry-changing mountain guide and imaginary peaks that lure us in

Some climbers love climbing books as much as they love getting outside. There’s nothing better than turning off the screen to get lost in the pages of a crisp new book on a cool autumn rest day.

Classic books most climbers have read include The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer, Touching the Void by Joe Simpson, Starlight and Storm by Gaston Rebufatt and Conquistadors of the Useless by Lionel Terray, but there are great new books that hit the shelves every year.

Here are three new climbing books that you should read this fall, all published in 2021.

Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams: Autor Katie Ives has been a leading voice in the climbing community as the editor-in-chief of Alpinist for over a decade. Her new book Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams is the fascinating story of hoax that inspired a quest for a North American Shangri-La.

Vivid recounting of fabled mountains from across the world Using an infamous deception about a fake mountain range in British Columbia as her jumping-off point, Katie Ives, the well-known editor of Alpinist, explores the lure of blank spaces on the map and the value of the imagination. In Imaginary Peaks she details the cartographical mystery of the Riesenstein Hoax within the larger context of climbing history and the seemingly endless quest for newly discovered peaks and claims of first ascents. Imaginary Peaks is an evocative, thought-provoking tale, immersed in the literature of exploration, study of maps, and basic human desire. (less)

Robert Moor, the best-selling author of On Trails: An Exploration, said, “A cat-footed exploration of the vaporous fantasies, deceptions, and obsessions of the climbing world, this book is a noble successor to Macfarlane’s Mountains of the Mind, but also, in a way, to Calvino’s Invisible Cities. It is, in every sense of the word, dreamy.”

To Be A Warrior: The Adventurous Life and Mysterious Death of Billy Davidson: Author Brandon Pullan spent years piecing the life of the late Billy Davidson together, from his historical ascents of El Capitan, first ascents in the Canadian Rockies, his enigmatic lifestyle as a hermit artist and as one of the west coast’s most legendary sea kayakers.

Billy Davidson (1947–2003) was born in Calgary, Alberta, and grew up in an orphanage in the 1950s. Living close to the Rockies, he was introduced to mountaineering at an early age and climbed his first mountain at 12 years old, eventually becoming one of Canada’s most prolific big wall climbers, with historic ascents in the Rockies and Squamish, along with an early ascent of the North America Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite. After suffering a nearly fatal fall in the late 1970s, he abandoned the climbing scene and moved to BC’s Pacific Northwest, where he spent most of his time kayaking and painting, living alone on various remote islands in the Inside Passage for over 30 years. A sometimes meticulous journal writer, Davidson made what would be his last entry, on December 7, 2003. Three months after Billy’s final diary note, he was found dead near his camp in the remote Goose Islands group near Hakai, British Columbia. He died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Lynn Martel, author of Stories of Ice, Tales and Trails and Expedition to the Edge, said, “Bold, enigmatic and fiercely individual people make the most fascinating characters to read about. Even better when the author shares those traits of boldness and individuality in addition to the sensitivity and passion required to write a book worthy of their subject. With To Be a Warrior, Brandon Pullan has achieved a book that honestly and justly captures the spirit of Billy Davidson’s life.”

Edward Feuz Jr.: A Story of Enchantment: Author Dr. D. L. (Donnna) Stephen has written an intimate book that looks at the life and climbs of Swiss alpine guide Edward Feuz Jr., a patriarch of Canadian alpinism. Every summer, beginning at age three, Stephen travelled with her family to the Canadian Rockies to hike and climb, and is now based in the Bow Valley.

As a young Swiss boy, Edward Feuz Jr. (1884–1981) developed an insatiable passion for climbing. In time, he traded his Lausbub reputation for that of a responsible Swiss guide and was eventually drawn to Canada in the footsteps of his father, Edward Feuz Sr. (1859–1944), who was one of the first Swiss guides hired by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1898 to develop the alpinism in western Canada. Handsome and charismatic, Edward (while still in training for his trade) was instantly smitten with the Canadian landscape — and so were his guests. They raved about the young man who showed such exceptional skills. He guided them all — professors, women of independent means, students, newspaper people, a Hindu holy man, and even “Sherlock Holmes” — through untrailed forests, across roaring streams, up icy glaciers, and to the tops of rocky summits. Young and old, they were all enchanted, and so they returned time and again — to the mountains and to their friend Edward. Edward Feuz Jr.: A Story of Enchantment transports the modern reader back to a simpler time, when mountaineering in North America was less about pushing personal limits and more about the splendour of grand vistas, wide open spaces, and the opening of the West.

Pat Morrow, author of Beyond Everest: Quest for the Seven Summits and Searching For Tao Canyon, said, “Rich in immigrant Swiss guide history, this book paints a 3D picture of what the guides and their guests sought, equipped with the most basic of climbing aids, decades before the advent of bear spray and the lottery system required to visit these now crowded destinations.”

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