The High Mountains of the Alps

Rating:
Summary: Stupendous!
Review: Even though I'm a mountaineer, climber and photographer, I didn't feel like I knew very much about the high Alps until I got this book. Most of what you might see on this side of the globe about the Alps is directed at the casual tourist who hardly leaves the valleys and the pavement. This book is quite different in that it's aimed primarily at the mountaineer, adventurer and lover of high alpine wilderness.

Each of the several dozen high peaks gets generally 4-8 pages which have basic info about the peak, the story (brief) of its first ascent(s), as well as the later climbing history of its other routes and walls, plus a condensed box with route gradings and descriptions, needed maps, nearby avenues of approach from civilization, available huts and the like -- all the vital info you'd seem to need if you were going in to tackle one of these beauties.

The whole thing is illustrated profusely with photos which are both very informative and stunning in their beauty. Even if you have no interest in climbing, the book is worth the price just for its photos alone. Yes, this technically makes it a coffee table book, but unlike any other I've seen. Each turn of the page makes you think *this* peak is *the* most beautiful -- until you get to the next one. I especially liked the way many of the photos (at least one for each peak, usually two) are presented in an annotated, line-sketch form so you can see exactly where the routes which are described in the text lie on the various hi-res photos (many taken from the air or adjacent high routes).

This book has so much going for it that it's few flaws don't pull it down out of the 5-star category: 1) I believe the english edition is a translation from the german original; it's a very good translation, but the book assumes a certain familiarity with the subject matter and the region which would have benefited from a glossary and an extra sentence here and there. 2) Each geographical section of the Alps is only allowed one (pretty decent) map, so for a given peak you may be flipping back and forth 50+ pages alot. 3) There's nothing explaining the climb gradings. It wasn't until I compared some of the photos showing climbers (roped) on the actual routes with the descriptions in the text and the gradings (in the condensed box) that I realized a class III climb in the Alps is not the same as one here in the Rockies; I believe the book uses the UIAA system (where a III is the same as a 5.3 or 5.4 on the Yosemite Decimal System); this is an important oversight since someone could seriously underestimate the difficulty and think they were headed for a walk-up when in fact a technical climb lay ahead. I've never seen a climbing guide (though this is so much more) where the difficulty grades were not explained with at least a paragraph or two. I'm still confused about what the "AD+" type ratings included along with the roman numerals are meant to signify. In other words, the book's abundant climbing info is less accessible here in the US than one might have wished.

Rating:
Summary: Stupendous!
Review: Even though I'm a mountaineer, climber and photographer, I didn't feel like I knew very much about the high Alps until I got this book. Most of what you might see on this side of the globe about the Alps is directed at the casual tourist who hardly leaves the valleys and the pavement. This book is quite different in that it's aimed primarily at the mountaineer, adventurer and lover of high alpine wilderness.

Each of the several dozen high peaks gets generally 4-8 pages which have basic info about the peak, the story (brief) of its first ascent(s), as well as the later climbing history of its other routes and walls, plus a condensed box with route gradings and descriptions, needed maps, nearby avenues of approach from civilization, available huts and the like -- all the vital info you'd seem to need if you were going in to tackle one of these beauties.

The whole thing is illustrated profusely with photos which are both very informative and stunning in their beauty. Even if you have no interest in climbing, the book is worth the price just for its photos alone. Yes, this technically makes it a coffee table book, but unlike any other I've seen. Each turn of the page makes you think *this* peak is *the* most beautiful -- until you get to the next one. I especially liked the way many of the photos (at least one for each peak, usually two) are presented in an annotated, line-sketch form so you can see exactly where the routes which are described in the text lie on the various hi-res photos (many taken from the air or adjacent high routes).

This book has so much going for it that it's few flaws don't pull it down out of the 5-star category: 1) I believe the english edition is a translation from the german original; it's a very good translation, but the book assumes a certain familiarity with the subject matter and the region which would have benefited from a glossary and an extra sentence here and there. 2) Each geographical section of the Alps is only allowed one (pretty decent) map, so for a given peak you may be flipping back and forth 50+ pages alot. 3) There's nothing explaining the climb gradings. It wasn't until I compared some of the photos showing climbers (roped) on the actual routes with the descriptions in the text and the gradings (in the condensed box) that I realized a class III climb in the Alps is not the same as one here in the Rockies; I believe the book uses the UIAA system (where a III is the same as a 5.3 or 5.4 on the Yosemite Decimal System); this is an important oversight since someone could seriously underestimate the difficulty and think they were headed for a walk-up when in fact a technical climb lay ahead. I've never seen a climbing guide (though this is so much more) where the difficulty grades were not explained with at least a paragraph or two. I'm still confused about what the "AD+" type ratings included along with the roman numerals are meant to signify. In other words, the book's abundant climbing info is less accessible here in the US than one might have wished.