Vertical Ethiopia is not your typical Africa story—it is about an all-female team coming to know another country via climbing cracks that fade into red and orange summit blocks of solidified sand.  Add to this the allure of Ethiopia itself, one of the oldest Christian nations at the brink of becoming either the new adventure playground or yet another country eclipsed by Muslim/Christian tension.

Listed by Frommers as one of the “Top 12 Travel Destinations for 2007,” Ethiopia is trying to excavate itself from a legacy of famine, drought, and communism. Vertical Ethiopia reveals the country at a turning point in its embrace of its natural heritage. Using climbing as a magnifying glass, Majka Burhardt comes to understand a land brimming with striking geological and cultural beauty. Gabe Rogel captures this process, and contextualizes it, through his photographs. Burhardt’s narrative reveals the challenges of climbing and of Ethiopia, and her and her team’s exploration become your own, as the red sandstone opens onto the endless African horizon.

Majka Burhardt is a writer, climber, and guide living in Boulder, Colorado. Her non-fiction work has appeared in various magazines, including Men’s Health, Climbing, Women’s Adventure, and Patagonia. She has an BA in anthropology from Princeton University and a MFA in creative writing from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers, and is currently completing her first novel.