Author: Peter Boardman
Publisher: Vertebrate Publishing
ISBN: 1906148775
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 388
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Book Description
Mountaintops have long been seen as sacred places, home to gods and dreams. In one climbing year Peter Boardman visited three very different sacred mountains. He began on the South Face of the Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea. This is the highest point between the Andes and the Himalaya, and one of the most inaccessible, rising above thick jungle inhabited by warring Stone Age tribes. During the spring Boardman made a four-man, oxygen-free attempt on the world's third highest peak, Kangchenjunga. Hurricane-force winds beat back their first two bids on the unclimbed North Ridge, but they eventually stood within feet of the summit – leaving the final few yards untrodden in deference to the inhabiting deity. In October, he climbed the mountain most sacred to the Sherpas: the twin-summited Gauri Sankar. Renowned for its technical difficulty and spectacular profile, it is aptly dubbed the Eiger of the Himalaya and Boardman's first ascent took a gruelling twenty-three days. Three sacred mountains, three very different expeditions, all superbly captured by Boardman in Sacred Summits , his second book, first published shortly after his death in 1982. Combining the excitement of extreme climbing with acute observation of life in the mountains, this is an amusing, dramatic, poignant and thought-provoking book. Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker died on Everest in 1982, whilst attempting a new and unclimbed line. Both men were superb mountaineers and talented writers. Their literary legacy lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, established by family and friends in 1983 and presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.
Author: Johan Reinhard
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
The Incas carried out some of the most dramatic ceremonies known to us from ancient times. Groups of people walked hundreds of miles across arid and mountainous terrain to perform them on mountains over 6,096 m (20,000 feet) high. The most important offerings made during these pilgrimages involved human sacrifices (capacochas). Although Spanish chroniclers wrote about these offerings and the state sponsored processions of which they were a part, their accounts were based on second-hand sources, and the only direct evidence we have of the capacocha sacrifices comes to us from archaeological excavations. Some of the most thoroughly documented of these were undertaken on high mountain summits, where the material evidence has been exceptionally well preserved. In this study we describe the results of research undertaken on Mount Llullaillaco (6,739 m/22,109 feet), which has the world's highest archaeological site. The types of ruins and artifact assemblages recovered are described and analyzed. By comparing the archaeological evidence with the chroniclers' accounts and with findings from other mountaintop sites, common patterns are demonstrated; while at the same time previously little known elements contribute to our understanding of key aspects of Inca religion. This study illustrates the importance of archaeological sites being placed within the broader context of physical and sacred features of the natural landscape.
Author: Jen Green
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 9781435828698
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36
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Book Description
Describes how mountains form, the animals that live there, and how to protect mountainous environments, and includes details on each continent's largest peaks.
Author: Elisée Reclus
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Physical geography
Languages : en
Pages : 652
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Book Description
Author: Thomas Besom
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292783043
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245
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Book Description
In perhaps as few as one hundred years, the Inka Empire became the largest state ever formed by a native people anywhere in the Americas, dominating the western coast of South America by the early sixteenth century. Because the Inkas had no system of writing, it was left to Spanish and semi-indigenous authors to record the details of the religious rituals that the Inkas believed were vital for consolidating their conquests. Synthesizing these arresting accounts that span three centuries, Thomas Besom presents a wealth of descriptive data on the Inka practices of human sacrifice and mountain worship, supplemented by archaeological evidence. Of Summits and Sacrifice offers insight into the symbolic connections between landscape and life that underlay Inka religious beliefs. In vivid prose, Besom links significant details, ranging from the reasons for cyclical sacrificial rites to the varieties of mountain deities, producing a uniquely powerful cultural history.
Author: John Muir
Publisher: Canongate Books Limited
ISBN: 9780862417857
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
Revered throughout America as 'Father of the National Parks', John Muir's reputation as a conservationist has overshadowed his record as a climber and mountaineer. In the 1870s Muir scaled dozens of remote peaks and achieved first ascents of Mt Ritter and Mt Whitney - years before mountaineering existed as a sport in Scotland or America. He climbed alone, without ropes, crampons or specialist clothing, discovering every technique for himself through trial and error. Sacred Summits celebrates Muir the climber and explorer, casting new light on this great Scottish-American. His epic climbs and summit experiences, recorded in these glowing accounts, stand comparison with those of any mountain writer.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English literature
Languages : en
Pages : 520
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Author: James Dziezynski
Publisher: Wilderness Press
ISBN: 0899977138
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 370
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Book Description
Colorado has 53 14ers, more than 600 13ers, and hundreds of other peaks that can be reached without special equipment or expertise. Numerous guides dryly catalog these trails, but Best Summit Hikes in Colorado stands out from them all. Author James Dziezynski has meticulously selected 80+ of the state's absolute best peaks in more than 50 superlative hikes, and his opinionated narrative brings each route to life. Each summit is included because of a notable feature--whether it's the site of a ghost mine or airplane wreckage, has thundering waterfalls or colorful floral meadows, is the best summit for spotting wildlife or bringing out-of-town friends, or is very accessible. Some peaks offer unique opportunities, such as a trailhead accessible only via a steam-powered railroad. Several summits are described in no other publication. Covering all Colorado's major mountain ranges, including the well-known Sangre De Cristo, Gore, Sawatch, Indian Peaks, and Maroon Bell wilderness areas to the lesser-known Grenadiers, Medicine Bow, and Outer San Juan peaks, this distinctive guide makes it easy to select exactly the right hike for the right day, the right mood, and the right companions.
Author: Leveson Venables Vernon-Harcourt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bible and geology
Languages : en
Pages : 660
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Book Description
Author: Leveson Vernon HARCOURT
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 654
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Book Description
