''Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains'' is a

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

collection of

article Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article(s) may also refer to: ...

s and

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s by

Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling nonfiction books—'' Into the Wild''; '' Into Thin Air''; '' Under the Banner of Heaven''; and '' Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pa ...

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

and

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

. Eleven out of twelve of the chapters were initially published between 1982 and 1989 in the magazines ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...

'', '' Smithsonian'', and ''

New Age Journal ''Whole Living'' was a Health#Maintaining health, health and lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle magazine geared towards "natural health, personal growth, and well-being," a concept the publishers refer to as "whole living." The magazine became a p ...

''.

Overview

It concerns a variety of topics, from ascending the Eiger ''Nordwand'' in the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

or K2 in the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

, to the well-known

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

s Jon Krakauer has met on his trips, such as John Gill,

Adrian Popovich Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

or the Burgess brothers.

Chapters of the book

* "Eiger Dreams" * "Gill" * "Valdez Ice" * "On Being Tentbound" * "The Flyboys of Talkeetna" * "Club Denali" * "Chamonix" * "Canyoneering" * "A Mountain Higher Than Everest?" * "The Burgess Boys" * "A Bad Summer on K2" * "The Devils Thumb"

Reviews

Recommending it for adventure collections for young adults, a 1990 review in ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'' said, "No one picking up this book will remain indifferent to the awesome splendor of the peaks or the sheer determination of the people who, with only tiny crampon points and small ice axes, tackle climbing them in spite of blizzards, frostbite, terror of glacial crevasses, and avalanches." The review also noted that women played a very peripheral role in the expeditions and at base camp.

Bibliography

* ''Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains'' (1990)

References

Climbing and mountaineering books 1990 non-fiction books Eiger Essay collections Lyons Press books {{essay-stub