The author's awesome attainments in mountaineering: the only living man with two first ascents of 8,000-meter mountains, are matched by his boundless curiosity and his enthusiasm for every new experience. He is a man of high good humor, tenacity, and independence with remarkable communication skills.

The autobiography is three books "Summits and Secrets" written as a young man, "The Endless Knot" takes up his ascent and harrowing descent of K2 in 1986 and the loss of his beloved partner, Julie Tullis who died there; and "Spirits of the Air" written in middle age.

Though "Summits and Secrets" covers interesting material about Diemberger's childhood and early manhood, I found the translation to be stiff. I fault the translator because the other two books are so free flowing and at times lyrical. In these autobiographies, you get a sense of the complete man, not just his genius on the mountains. He loves to sing (he claims it helps him breathe better on the mountain), can and does swear thunderously in German when thwarted, has small vanities, and a never failing appreciation of the charms of the ladies. Unlike many of the climbing fraternity, he doesn't appear to have a double standard where women climbers are involved. He judges everyone on his or her merits. I became so attuned to his storytelling, I felt as if it was all directed to me personally, that he wanted me to be entertained and share his wonder and delight at all he had seen. I am glad to report that as of this date, Kurt is still going strong lecturing, climbing and doing camera work. The story ends at 1991, and I had to follow up to see how he has fared this last decade.

The much-traveled Mr. Diemberger for some reason had never been in the United States until his 40th year. (Maybe because we cannot boast of any 8,000 meter peaks!) He was an enthusiastic tourist as is shown in the following excerpt from "Spirits of the Air." His awe and amazement during his helicopter flight through Grand Canyon is infectious:

"I am staggered! Overwhelmed is no word for it! And anyway, there's no time to be overwhelmed when new sensations are continually bombarding you, shaking you, grabbing your attention, whetting your appetite for even more unexpected thrills. You are looking ahead, back, down, as gigantic buttresses sweep past, pillars and palaces of red rock, side valleys opening and closing, the terrific gorge agape below you--- You are flying through the biggest trough on earth. All the pictures I have ever seen of the Grand Canyon are forgotten. They are tiny facets, mosaic pieces, nothing more - I see that now. No human brain can comprehend this intricate labyrinth that is the Grand Canyon. It is a world!"

Let Kurt take you on his journey. You will never regret it.

Of this omnibus I have read only The Endless Knot but am so impressed with it that I wanted to lodge a review. This account of climbing K2 during one of its hungriest years is rendered luminous by the simple, unaffected, honest and straightforward affection between Kurt and his working partner Julie. Kurt's "married to the mountain" prose and his personal honesty make this a genuine monument in the literature.

As a retiree from the Reader's Digest I thought I had my life in very good balance. Financially secure, sound relationships, and Spiritually aware.

Wow, did I learn about myself! The personal mapping, evaluating of long held views, and making the time to see where I really stood, was profound. I cannot recommend more highly that you read and participate in this "adventure." I can only dream how sucessful I might have been had I discovered this in my primary working years.

In the past 17 months since I purchased and devoured "A Life Plan," I have read more books than I totaled in my previous 56 years. My relationship with my wife has never been so complete. I look at my fellow man differently and in spite of the downturn in the stock market, I am more financially sound.

The best part is that I have now learned ways to widen my path and I am just now starting to really live life. Through "Living at the Summit," I have found my bliss.

Living at the Summit is a wonderful book for people who genuinely want to commit themselves to improving their life.

This book provides the necessary tools that are essential in creating a fulfilling life. Goal setting, map making, overcoming resistance, affirmations, are a few of the treasures that one uses in discovering riches that are waiting to be in their life.

You are gently challenged and rewarded while working at your own pace. Reap the benefits and those around you will also be recipients of your success.

As owner of Time Of Your Life, Inc. ... I continually come in contact with people looking for new ways to enjoy life. Creativity, passion, purpose, relationships are the integral parts of everyones life that need nurturing.

What might you be? Your possibilities await. Your answers are easy when you work through Living at the Summit: A Life Plan!

Excellent book for hikers not really familiar with the Summit County area. I am from Ohio, and my family found the book most helpful in ranking the difficulty of hikes, estimating the time of our trips and how strenuous a hike we were looking at. Also the maps & directions were right on the money. Without this book we would have missed out on some fantastic hiking in the Breckenridge & Frisco areas!!

My husband and I have chosen several of the hikes included by Ms. Gilliland and, as neophyte hikers, have found them very enjoyable. Most importantly, we have come to depend on both the times given for the hikes as well as the difficulty ratings. I would not hesitate to take a hike from this book if it sounded attractive to me -- I'd know I could count on it being just as described

Mr. Mee is a fantastic writer. As another reviewer remarked, Mr. Mee definitely brings history to life. The meetings described in this book make for great, enticing reading material for junior high school on up.

Mr. Mee is an excellent writer and truely brings history to life. I recommend this book to anybody that wants more than "light reading", has an interest in human-kind and is not a real history buff.

The 7summits have become a modern queste to escape the fast world. But it's not just wealthy business men 'buying' themselves to the summit, all kinds of people from many countries are on the infamous list.

Steve Bell has doen a thorough job of compiling the different viewpoints about 'what is the 7th summit', Carstensz Pyramid in Irian Jaya or Kosciuszko in Australia.
The book is filled with useful general info about the mountains, route sketches but most of all inspiring stories from the climbers themselves, coupled with breathtaking and unique pictures.
At the end is also a list with all the details of the first 60+ climbers and other statistics, but the problem is ofcourse that these are outdated right away (the current 23-april-02 list is 91 persons long and can be found online.

Whether you are a climber yourself and aspire to summit these great peaks or you are an armchair mountaineer who likes to have something wonderful too look at on the coffetable, this book is not to be missed.

This review is based on the Mitchell Beazley, UK edition.

Seven Summits is a fantastic book by Steve Bell (a superb British mountaineer) all about the highest mountains on each continent. For each mountain there's detailed explanation about the various climbing routes, the best climbing season, flora and fauna, weather, statistical information, etc. The mountains of focus, if you didn't know them already, are Everest, Asia, 8848m; Aconcagua, South America, 6960m; McKinley, North America, 6194; Kilimanjaro, Africa, 5895m; Elbrus, Europe, 5642m; Vinson, Antarctica, 4897m; and Kosciusko, Australia, 2228m/Carstenz, Oceania, 4884m. Most of the book is comprised of touching personal accounts from climbers who have reached the summit of a particular mountain; even diary entries, such as Jasuko Namba's whilst she was on Everest on the 10th May, 1996: her last diary entry before a freak storm killed her and 7 other climbers in one of Everest's worst disasters. The back of the book includes diary contributions with short bios of the contributors, as well as a table of all of the successful 'seven summiteers'. Seven Summits is a very classy and professional book, as you would expect from this specialist non-fiction genre. Photos are plentiful, and always outstanding. The writing style (presumably Steve Bell's) is superb, and captures the emotions that these mountains evoke wonderfully. It is worth noting that the Editor, Steve Bell, is the director of a superb mountaineering expeditions company called Jagged Globe, based in Sheffield, UK; so if this book inspires you enough (and it probably will), head for www.jagged-globe.com.

Whether you're a elite mountaineer or just simply interested in mountains, this book is well worth buying. A similar highly recommended book is 'On Top of The World' by Richard Sale & John Cleare, which documents the world's 14 highest mountains, all in the Himalayas. It's similar to Seven Summits but a little bigger; but of course it doesn't capture the delights of other mountain ranges around the world like what Seven Summits does. Go on, buy it; buy both! You won't be disappointed!

I really enjoyed this book. My friends kept urging me to read Palisades, but I just wasn't interested in reading them until I read the back of Summit. I promptly read it and really enjoyed it. I am now working my way through the other twenty or so Palisades that they have.

I really loved this book. Julie loves rock climbing but thinks that she'd have to give it up and become a "normal" wife if she ever married. So, she's prepared to be an old maid until she meets David. Eventually, David shows her that she can serve God even while pursuing her love of the outdoors.

I have done 5 of the 50 state summits. I can't imagine the logistics of knocking off all 50. What I liked about this book is that you can skip around and read about different climbs or just flip through and look at the photos (which are awesome). Something to throw out on the coffee table. And the stories are pretty darn funny.

A must read for anyone with an adventurous spirit and a good sense of humor. The photos and humorous dialogue bring you right into this story. Anyone who has struck upon a "bright idea" over beers with a friend will to relate to this book. To The Top is a mix of adventure, misadventure, light-hearted humor and awesome photographs of two guys who get alot more than they bargained for. The photos alone are worth the price of the book -- the story is an excellent bonus. Great photos, great story, and great banter between Joe and Nels. Check it out.

Since the last events, my clients came to me seeking for advice on Prevent these attacks.
I came across the Proceedings, read it and concluded that this should be the primary source for everyone intending to get involved in the subject.
The Proceeding is the best place to start for those inexperienced like me and an obligated piece in the expert's shelves.
Tons of knowledge.

This is a must-have for anyone involved in the operation, maintenance, and engineering of water supply systems. I highly recommend it.

For anyone who enjoys hiking in the high peaks of the Adirondaks this is a must have companion. Informative with wonderful photographs enables even the novice to learn a great deal about the flora of the high peaks

This little book covers the history, geology, weather and climate of the New England mountain summits. It takes you upward through the northern hardwood forest, transition zone, spruce-fir zone, balsam fir zone and the alpine zone. It is an identification guide to the plants, their habitats and communities. Animals -- birds, amphibians, mammals and insects -- are described. The book design and layout are clear and attractive. I give the photos A, the reproduction A-. There is an index to the illustrated species, scientific and common names. Altogether it is an exquisite, small book to carry on the trail and to enjoy by the fireside. 96 pages.

Alison Robb