Mountainfilm Reading List: Who Are Your Favorites?
As attendees of Mountainfilm in Telluride know, the festival is not just about film. It also celebrates artists and authors, and we usually hand over the main stage to someone with a knack for words on paper. Some recent literary luminaries from that stage include Terry Tempest Williams, John Valliant and Pico Iyer.
With the holidays on tap, we put a call out to list of some of the best Mountainfilm books. We were inspired by our friends at Banff, who presented a panel called The Best Mountain Book Ever Written at their 2012 festival. Banff’s programming mission hews more closely to alpinism, so their choices reflect that focus, while Mountainfilm in Telluride’s interests are broader.
Of course,that only makes this assignment that much more foolhardy. As it was, one judge in Banff said that their task was “a utopian and elusive project,” while another — Bernadette MacDonald, an author herself (and a guest/judge at our 2012 festival) argued that “it is irresponsible for us to do this.”
So foolishness and irresponsibility be damned, let’s do this. But to do it right, it can’t be our recommended reading list. We need your suggestions for what you think is the best Mountainfilm book, and we hope you’ll consider several factors: literary achievement, adventure factor and how much this book inspired you.
To get rolling, the list of the top books from the Banff panel is below (note the preponderance of Canadian authors). It includes everything from frequent Mountainfilm guest Wade Davis’s masterwork on George Mallory to Into Great Silence to Purgatorio by Dante (who always has some sort of lame excuse for not being able to come to Mountainfilm).
Surprisingly, one of the best-selling mountaineering books, Into Thin Air, did not make the Banff honor roll, but is in the top ten of National Geographic Adventure’s list of the 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time. Many of the authors on the Nat Geo list are also major historical figures: Teddy Roosevelt, Charles Darwin, Henry Stanley, Beryl Markham and Marco Polo.
So get to work and let us know what books best embody Mountainfilm. And if you think someone on your holiday shopping list might enjoy one of these tomes, get on down to your local bookstore.
From Jon Popowich?
Starlight and Storm by Gaston Rébuffat?
Conquistadors of the Uselessby Lionel Terray?
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer?
Beyond the Mountainby Steve House?
The Seventh Gradeby Reinhold Messner?
A Hunter of Peace/Old Indian Trails of the Canadian Rockiesby Mary T.S. Schäffer-Warren?
Song of the Mountainby Gustavo Brillembourg
From Stephen Venables?
The Ascent of NandaDevi by Bill Tilman?
That Untravelled Worldby Eric Shipton?
One Man's Mountainsby Tom Patey?
Summits and Secretsby Kurt Diemberger?
Sacred Summitsby Peter Boardman?
Thin Airby Greg Child
From Bernadette McDonald?
Conquistadors of the Uselessby Lionel Terray?
Deep Play by Paul Pritchard?
The Mountain of My Fearby David Roberts?
Postcards from the Ledge by Greg Child?
The Ascent of Nanda Deviby Bill Tilman?
Kiss or Killby Mark Twight?
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson?
Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow by Maria Coffey?
K2: The Story of the Savage Mountainby Jim Curran?
Solo Faces by James Salter?
Learning to Breatheby Andy Cave
From Geoff Powter?
Kiss or Kill by Mark Twight?
And One for the Crow by John Redhead?
Mountain of My Fearby David Roberts?
The Totem Poleby Paul Pritchard?
A Slender Threadby Stephen Venables?
In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods by Galen Rowell?
Touching the Voidby Joe Simpson
From Harry Vandervlist?
Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everestby Wade Davis
The Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek by Sid Marty?
Freedom Climbers by Bernadette McDonald?
The Hidden Mountain / La Montagne Secrète by Gabrielle Roy?
The Mountain of My Fearby David Roberts?
Purgatorioby Dante
