Vertebrate Digital imprint: 108 books
The Yosemite
John Muir's quest to preserve the wilderness
Language: English
Release Date: October 23, 2017
‘All these colours, from the blue sky to the yellow valley smoothly blending as they do in a rainbow, making a wall of light ineffably fine.’
Having spent significant time obsessively exploring and learning about the Sierra, John Muir’s passion for and belief in preserving the wilderness...
Steep Trails
A collection of wilderness essays and tales
Language: English
Release Date: September 10, 2018
‘When a man plants a tree, he plants himself. Every root is an anchor, over which he rests with grateful interest, and becomes sufficiently calm to feel the joy of living.’
Steep Trails encompasses a delightful mix of John Muir's essays and adventure narratives, spanning a period of twenty-nine...
The Mountains of California
An enthusiastic nature diary from the founder of national parks
Language: English
Release Date: September 1, 2018
‘How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! To behold this alone is worth the pains of any excursion a thousand times over.’
John Muir is known internationally for his dedication to protecting the environment and for founding The Sierra Club in 1892. His first book, as Muir authority...
Our National Parks
A campaign for the preservation of wilderness
Language: English
Release Date: September 1, 2018
‘Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away ... God has cared for these trees ... but he cannot save them from fools – only Uncle Sam can do that.’
First published in 1901, Our National Parks is possibly the bestselling book of Muir’s wilderness-discovery titles and was certainly...
Mountaineering Holiday
An Outstanding Alpine Climbing Season, 1939
Language: English
Release Date: February 14, 2014
There is no holiday like a mountaineering holiday. For eleven months the mountaineer has sighed for the mountain wind on his cheek, for the lilt of the mountain stream, for the feel of rock in his hand, for the crunch of frozen snow beneath his feet, for the smell of mist and the fragrance of alp...
The Mantis
A mountaineering novel
Language: English
Release Date: March 3, 2014
It is not the courage to go back up that we need. It's the courage to go down. Just to go on … ' In 1977 a British expedition led by Himalayan veteran Geoff Strickland, summiteer of K2 and Everest among others, set off to attempt the first ascent of unclimbed Puthemojar - the 'Mantis' - in the Karakoram....
Climb to the Lost World
Through dense Guyanian rainforest to the towering summit of Mount Roraima with Don Whillans and Joe Brown
Language: English
Release Date: December 21, 2017
Over 9,000 feet up on the top of Mount Roraima is a twenty-five mile square plateau, at the point where Guyana’s border meets Venezuela and Brazil. In 1973, Scottish mountaineering legend Hamish MacInnes alongside climbing notoriety Don Whillans, Mo Anthoine and Joe Brown trekked through dense rainforest...
The Climbing Chronicles
A young climber exploring the mountains of Wales, the Lake District and Scotland in the 1940s
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2014
The Climbing Chronicles record the 1940s climbing exploits of Harry Parker. Born in Blackburn on 29 February 1916, Harry started climbing before the war and continued to do so after its conclusion, exploring the Peak District, Wales, the Lake District and Scotland. Each night he noted down his adventures...
The Fight for Everest 1924
Mallory, Irvine and the quest for Everest
Language: English
Release Date: October 8, 2015
In 1924 Mount Everest remained unclimbed. Two British expeditions had already tackled what was known to be the highest mountain on Earth. The first, in 1921, found a route to the base. The second, in 1922, attempted the summit, reaching a record height of 27,320 feet before retreating. Two years later,...
Alps Mountain Biking
From Aosta to Zermatt: The Best Singletrack, Enduro and Downhill Trails in the Alps
Language: English
Release Date: July 1, 2015
Alps Mountain Biking is a guide to the western Alps. It reveals epic rocky descents, high-altitude blasts and hidden Alpine singletrack, all set against a backdrop of snowy peaks, pine forests and clear blue skies. This is some of the greatest singletrack, enduro and downhill riding the mountains...
by Frank Smythe
Language: English
Release Date: February 7, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: February 7, 2014
"Why do you climb?" The mountaineer has no answer to this question. The best things in the world cannot adequately be expressed in speech or print; they are part of the soul.' In Climbs and Ski Runs, Frank Smythe takes the reader on Alpine ski trips and Dolomite adventures, up first ascents...
John Gill: Master of Rock
The life of a bouldering legend
Language: English
Release Date: November 19, 2018
John Gill: Master of Rock is a captivating look into the life, achievements and ethos of boulderer John Gill. This new edition of the classic title is complete with photographs, personal impressions of Gill from climbers such as Yvon Chouinard, and an enlightening interview with Gill himself.
Hailed...
Camp Six
The 1933 Everest Expedition
Language: English
Release Date: November 15, 2013
Frank Smythe's Camp Six is one of the greatest Everest accounts ever written. It is the story of the 1933 Everest Expedition, in which Smythe, climbing alone after his partner Eric Shipton had turned back ill, reached a point perhaps higher than any man had done before - and some twenty years before...
No Easy Way
The challenging life of the climbing taxman
Language: English
Release Date: October 4, 2018
‘If we were guaranteed success in everything we tried then life would be pretty boring.’
Mainstream news reports about climbing are dominated by action from the world’s highest mountains, more often than not focusing on tragedy and controversy. Far removed from this high-altitude circus,...