Call me old school, but nothing gets me more fired up than adding a new adventure, climbing or mountaineering book to the collection.  So I was excited last month, when Valley Of Giants: Stories From Women at The Heart of Yosemite Climbing, arrived at my doorstep.  This anthology, edited and curated by Lauren DeLaunay Miller, is a collection of 39 stories – written and told by the trailblazing, often-times under the radar, women who have been at the center of Yosemite climbing over the past century.

While the book of course features stories by well-known valley climbers such as Lynn Hill and Steph Davis, DeLauney Miller has gone to painstaking lengths to include older, more obscure – but equally important stories – as well.  The result is a rich and inspiring history of female climbing and adventure in Yosemite Valley.

I recently spoke with DeLaunay Miller, to talk about her process for putting this important anthology together.  What struck me was the amount of work, and dogged determination required – just to find the stories for the book:  Basically a combination of internet sleuthing, scouring the white pages of physical phone books, writing and sending hand-written letters, and cold-calling strangers across the country.  It’s an impressive feat, and left me feeling that DeLaunay Miller is equal parts climber, librarian, and investigative journalist.  

So i hope you enjoy my conversation with Lauren DeLaunay Miller – talking about her new anthology Valley Of Giants: Stories From Women at The Heart Of Yosemite Climbing.

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Notes

Special thanks to Lauren DeLaunay Miller 

Purchase Valley Of Giants

Produced by Evan Phillips
Editing & Sound Design by Pod Peak

Original Music by Evan Phillips

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The post Book Report: Valley Of Giants appeared first on The Firn Line.

Growing up in the suburbs of northern Virginia, Chris Kalman was exposed to academia and team sports from a young age.  But by the time he reached high school, he discovered rock climbing, and was instantly hooked.  Always a deep thinker, the solitary process of combining fitness with problem solving appealed to him.  

But it wasn’t until Kalman moved out west after college, to work trail crew at Rocky Mountain National Park, that a new world of adventure and self-discovery emerged.

Since that time, Kalman has forged an adventurous, almost Kerouac-style path thru life. This quest has taken him from the technical granite test pieces of Index, WA, to the sweeping big walls of Cochamo in southern Chile.  But Chris’s search isn’t just about climbing. Rather, it’s a pursuit of self-examination, meaningful relationships with others, and a journey toward a deeper understanding of life.

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Evan Phillips

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The post Wandering Writer: Chris Kalman appeared first on The Firn Line.

When I think back to my formative time as a young Alaskan climber, I’m often filled with memories and nostalgia that are overwhelming.  The wonder I felt when I first roped up to cross a boundless icefield, littered with crevasses, and dotted with sabre-like nunataks. My first uneasy solo climb up a 2,000 foot ice face in the western Chugach.  Seeing my life flash before my eyes when a river crossing went bad, sending me thru a turbulent cauldron of boulders and snags, only to walk away unscathed.  And the first time I felt the cold finality of death, when my 19 year old friend was buried under 15 feet of snow in Hatcher Pass.

Like many young alpinists, my early experiences in and out of the mountains were defined by a succession of monumental highs tempered with desperate lows.  Maybe that’s why Jonathan Waterman’s book, In The Shadow Of Denali – made such an indelible mark on me. The collection of short stories, which is a a mountaineering classic, followed Waterman’s years as an alpinist and mountaineering ranger on Denali in the 1970’s and 80’.  As a neophyte Alaskan climber, just out of high school – it affected me deeply.

Although I was fascinated with the climbing stories Waterman penned, I was equally entranced by the characters he described.  Tales of legendary figures like Mugs Stump and Ray Genet kept me turning the pages at a frantic pace. But it was the stories of the people living their lives in the shadow of the mountain, that hit me the hardest.  The descriptions of the hard drinking Herb Atwater, and the ill-fated journey of Gretta Berglund – painted a brutally honest picture of a darker side of Alaska.

Needless to say, the book left a lasting impression on me, and I can honestly say In The Shadow Of Denali is the most influential climbing-related book I’ve ever read.

That’s why I was excited to get a chance to interview Jon Waterman this last week.  We talked about everything – from his bitter 1982 winter ascent of The Cassin Ridge, to a 2,000 mile paddle trip across the northwest passage, as well as his new book ‘Chasing Denali’.  

Music

• Lonely Mountain / Evan Phillips / Silhouettes (2015)
• Augusta / Evan Phillips / Unreleased (2018)
• Fbx 1975 / Evan Phillips /  Unreleased (2017)
• Learning To Climb /Evan Phillips /  Unreleased (2017)
• Augusta / Evan Phillips / Unreleased (2018)
• Holding On / Evan Phillips / Unreleased (2018)
• Silhouettes / Evan Phillips /  Silhouettes (2015)
• {“type”:”block”,”srcIndex”:1,”srcClientId”:”fcca7cdd-2aab-4b41-b0a5-9b3ba5627be2″,”srcRootClientId”:””}Hard Times / Evan Phillips / Cabin Vibes (2018)

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Jon Waterman (Website)
Chasing Denali (2018)
In The Shadow Of Denali (1993)
High Alaska (1988)
Surviving Denali (1983)
Evan Phillips
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Alaska Rock Gym
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The post Full Circle: Jon Waterman appeared first on The Firn Line.