Contact: Mountain Climbing and Environmental Thinking »

Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy is chair of environmental studies and associate professor of English at Westminster College. He has climbed mountains in Asia, Africa, and Europe, and his work has been published in academic journals and climbing magazines.

Contact collects new and classic first-person climbing stories from North America’s best-known climbers and writers. Mountain climbers are important but overlooked commentators on the environment, and this collection of alpine adventures demonstrates the relationship between climbers and nature both for a popular audience and for academics working in the field of environmental literature.
Contributors include Gary Snyder, John Daniel, Chris McNamara, and Greg Child.

1: conquest

reverend george kinney | The Capture of Mount Robson
steve house | The Mind of the Observer
arlene blum | The Serac
jonathan waterman | Denali
chris mcnamara | El Cap Girdle Traverse
peter metcalf | Running on Empty
karen mcneil | Six Pounds of Lard
barry blanchard | A Day Alone

2: caretaking

mark jenkins | In Denial
conrad kain | The First Ascent of Mount Robson
gary snyder | Prose Poems
doug robinson | The Whole Natural Art of Protection
john daniel | Climbing Into a Life
cameron m. burns | Into Africa
mike libecki | Solo in Queen Maud Land

3: connection

henry david thoreau | Ktaadn
yvon chouinard | The Muir Wall
lynn hill | Freeing the Nose
barry blanchard | The Sorcerer
john muir | A Near View of the High Sierra
steph davis | House of Wind,
terry gifford | America in Spain
david stevenson | Untethered in Yosemite