Beautiful, plain English explanations of often vailed mystical experiences. I previously read his memoir, this pairs nicely with that.

Beautifull. Was a ritual with morning coffee dragged out over the course of a few weeks. Had to restrict myself to just a couple of chapters every morning.

I found this book at a regular outing to used book store, it caught my attention because Conrad Anker always seemed like an interesting character. He’s a legend that appears many places and I most remembered him from The film Meru and Outside magazine course. Recommend to friends in adventure, athleticism, human endurance. The alternating chapters between historical account vs the current search party (Conrad Anker’s) kept me engaged and turning pages at a fairly quick pace.

Found this at REI, figured since I’ve enjoyed a few surf books maybe dirt bag climbing lifestyle. Enjoyed reading the history of a fringe sport developing. While now sport climbing is in the Olympics.

“I think that style matters in life” p237

The quote stuck and although I knew there were different definitions of climbing a route “free” vs “aided” etc. The stories here had a lot of arguing and debate over style. I’d recommend to pilot friends, or other folks into outdoor adventure.

Found a used signed copy “to Louisa…”. Came off of finishing two other books about climbing. [Hangdog Days] and was curious about Alex after watching El Cap and listening to a few appearances on Rich Roll. He’s friends with Tommy Caldwell who gets praise from every single person that mentions him (photography book and podcasts come to mind). Book was well written and good insight into Alex, I remember hearing some rumor about him not having an amydgyla or something? Maybe that was even in the movie or on a podcast? This book is written before the movie and there are several examples where he gets scared but the key thing is he doesn’t panic instead just problem solves. He trains and prepares a lot and downplays all his accomplishments. “No big deal Alex”.