Berkeley, 1974, 1st edition. 207 pp, 130 color and b/w photos. Large format hardcover with unchipped dust jacket. Book is Fine condition. There are no names, writing or previous book plates in the book, the binding is tight, there are no flaws in the book, plus the dust jacket is also without flaws. The Dust Jacket is now protected by a removable high quality clear polyester Brodart dust jacket cover with a paper liner. The acid-free clear polyester will not yellow or crack with age. The Dust Jacket and the Book are both in Fine condition.
This book is larger and heavier than usual. Extra postage will be requested for Media Mail, Priority Mail and International Mail.
The is the first major book on climbing in Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevada of California. This was Galen Rowell's first book, and is now a classic in the literature of mountaineering. It's a large format hardcover full of many photos from the first ascent climbs of the classic routes. It covers the earliest climbs up through the early 1970s. The chapters are written about the famous climbs by the climbers who pioneered the routes.
Chapters by Royal Robbins (4 chapters: The Salathé Wall El Capitan, The North American Wall, Tis-sa-ack, interview), Yvon Chouinard (2 chapters: Muir Wall El Capitan, Modern Yosemite Climbing), Bestor Robinson (The First Ascent of the Higher Cathedral Spire), A. Phimister Proctor (An Ascent of Half Dome in 1884 [one of the earliest 'technical' climbs in the Sierras]), Anton Nelson (Five Days and Nights on the Lost Arrow), Allen Steck (2 chapters: Ordeal by Piton, Robbins interview), Michael Sherrick (The Northwest Face of Half Dome), Warren Harding (2 chapters: El Capitan [the first ascent of the Nose], Reflections of a Broken-down Climber), Allen Macdonald (Realm of the Overhang), Doug Robinson (Camp 4), Galen Rowell (3 chapters: Rescue on the South Face of Half Dome, Introduction, Robbins interview), Ken Wilson (Robbins interview).
GALEN ROWELL and his photographs won many awards including the Ansel Adams Award. His photographs have been exhibited at the International Center of Photography, the California Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian, the Ansel Adams Gallery, etc. Rowell wrote several excellent books and his work has been published in many prominent magazines.
Sadly, Galen and his wife Barbara, were killed in a small plane crash in 2002 approaching Bishop, California. Rowell had an amazing record of climbing and exploration: Over 100 first ascents of routes in Yosemite Valley and High Sierra Nevada. First one-day ascent of Mt McKinley, aka Denali, in Alaska. First ascent of Great Trango Tower in the Karakoram. First ski ascent-descent of Mustagh Ata First ascent of NE Ridge of Amne Machin (second ascent of the mountain by few days). First ski circuit of Denali About 40 expeditions to remote peaks including Nun Kun, K2, Mount Everest, various Karakoram peaks & spires, Patagonia, Kilimanjaro, Gasherbrum II, Alaska, Yukon, Canadian Rockies, etc.
