Download or read book First Descents written by Richard Bangs and published by Menasha Ridge Press. This book was released on 2009-12-29 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dropping into the unknown on a rubber raft, hurled against rocks and cliff walls, only to round a blind bend, go vertical on a 10-foot standing wave, and flip over backwards into a deafening vat of near-freezing whitewater. Such is life for the brave souls who commit themselves to exploring the world’s untried rivers. First Descents collects the most enthralling tales from the world’s most respected river explorers. Vivid portrayals in the adventurers’ own words and original photographs tell of solitary efforts and major expeditions on rivers both famous and unknown, including the Yangtze River in China, the Colorado River in Arizona, Ethiopa’s Baro River, and the Braldu River in Pakistan. With stories from Royal Robbins, Tao Berman, Yvonne Chouinard, and others, this newly revised and expanded edition of the 1989 classic captures the excitement, fear, and elation of over four decades of river exploration.
Download or read book First Descent written by Pam Withers and published by Tundra Books. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Montana-born Rex dreams of following in his grandfather's footsteps and making a first descent down one of the world's last unconquered wild rivers. When he finally gets enough sponsors, Rex heads to South America to tackle the well-named El Furioso. And while he anticipates the river's challenges, he finds himself in a situation where the real danger is human. In Colombia, he hires a guide: seventeen year-old Myriam Calambás, an indígena who has lived along El Furioso all her life. Though she loves its rushing waters, Myriam longs to go to university, become a reporter, and tell the world what is happening to her people. Her dreams, and her very survival, are in the balance when she and Rex become caught up in the clash between the paramilitaries, who work for the rich landowners, and the guerillas, who are supposed to protect the poor. Pam Withers' skill at writing about extreme sports is reflected in this compelling novel about an endangered world and a people struggling for their very right to exist.
Download or read book Life Interrupted written by Suleika Jaouad and published by . This book was released on 2014-07-11 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compilation of articles written by and about Suleika Jaouad and a journey through cancer from age 22."My life was interrupted overnight. But guess what? That interruption was the best thing that's ever happened to me. I would never go so far as to say "cancer is a gift." It's not. And I've seen it take way too many lives, way too soon. But when I found out I had cancer, I also began to find my voice."
Download or read book The River of Doubt written by Candice Millard and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2009-12-16 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait—the bestselling author of River of the Gods brings us the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. “A rich, dramatic tale that ranges from the personal to the literally earth-shaking.” —The New York Times The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever. Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived. From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut. Look for Candice Millard’s latest book, River of the Gods.
Download or read book First Descent written by Pam Withers and published by Tundra Books. This book was released on 2011-09-13 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Montana-born Rex loves nothing more than to take his kayak out on a river, the faster and more powerful the better. When he gets the opportunity to tackle the well-named El Furioso in southwest Colombia, he is thrilled. He anticipates the river’s challenges, but finds himself in a situation where the real danger is human. In Colombia, he meets Myriam Calambás, an indígena, who has lived along the El Furioso all her life. Though she loves its rushing waters, she dreams of leaving to get an education so that she can help her people. Her dreams, and her very survival, are in the balance when she and Rex are caught up in the clash between paramilitaries, working for rich landowners, and guerillas, who are supposed to be protecting the poor. Pam Withers’ skill at writing about extreme adventures combines with a compelling story about an endangered world and a people struggling for their very right to exist.
Download or read book Higher Love written by Kit DesLauriers and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2021-04-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2006 Kit DesLauriers made history by becoming the first person to climb--and then ski--from the summit of each continent’s highest mountain, the famed Seven Summits. Centered on this quest, her book Higher Love represents a hero’s journey, rich with personal insights, life-threatening consequences, and a thrilling crescendo. Spanning seven continents in just two years, this deeply personal memoir recounts Kit’s initially secret journey that would change her life forever. From braving Antarctica’s bone-chilling temperatures to trudging through an African rainforest, from corn snow on the slopes of Australia to blue ice on Everest, Kit leads you up each mountain and gives you a heart-racing ride back down. This candid, fast-paced story shows how in¬spiration, teamwork, and honoring our true nature blazes the trail to every summit, on or off the mountain.
Download or read book Tracking the Wild Coomba written by Robert Cocuzzo and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Doug Coombs had a huge impact on my life; much of my overall approach to mountains comes from his example. I am so grateful that, thanks to author Rob Cocuzzo, I now have the complete story of what influenced one of my biggest heroes." – Jeremy Jones, snowboarding legend “In the 1980s, I was lucky enough to be part of the Bozeman gang of ex-ski racers in one of the crucibles of the American steep skiing scene. Robert Cocuzzo accurately captures the amazing Doug and Emily Coombs that I knew then and the myriad of Coombs ski stories.” – Bruce Tremper, avalanche expert and author of Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain "Doug Coombs was an inspiration to me and so many others on and off the mountain. Now, here is an insightful look at the life of a legend." Jimmy Chin, climber-photographer • A thrilling biography of renowned extreme skiing pioneer Doug Coombs Arguably the greatest extreme skier to ever live, Doug Coombs pioneered hundreds of first descents down the biggest, steepest, most dangerous mountains in the world—from the Grand Teton “Otter Body” in Jackson Hole, to Mount Vinson, the highest point in Antarctica, to far-flung drops such as Wyatt Peak in Kyrgyzstan. He graced magazine covers, wowed moviegoers, became the face of top ski companies, and ascended as the king of big mountain extreme skiing.
Download or read book The Alaska Factor written by Joe Stock and published by . This book was released on 2022-11 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Alaska Factor is a guidebook for backcountry skiing in the Anchorage, Alaska area. It includes the popular areas including Turnagain Pass, Hatcher Pass, Chugach Mountains, Thompson Pass and the central Alaska Range.
Download or read book Wild Snow written by Louis W. Dawson and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents historical background on ski mountaineering, which is climbing a mountain on skis and then skiing down the slopes, and offers tips on climbing and skiing specific mountains.
Download or read book Do the KIND Thing written by Daniel Lubetzky and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the socially conscious, the intellectually curious, or the creative soul comes an inspiring, New York Times bestselling handbook for success in business, life, and the all-important task of building a more compassionate world—by the visionary founder and CEO of KIND Healthy Snacks. When Daniel Lubetzky started KIND Healthy Snacks in 2004, he aimed to defy the conventional wisdom that snack bars could never be both tasty and healthy, convenient and wholesome. A decade later, the transformative power of the company’s “AND” philosophy has resulted in an astonishing record of achievement. KIND has become the fastest-growing purveyor of healthy snacks in the country. Meanwhile, the KIND Movement—the company’s social mission to make the world a little kinder—has sparked more than a million good deeds worldwide. In Do the KIND Thing, Lubetzky shares the revolutionary principles that have shaped KIND’s business model and led to its success, while offering an unfiltered and intensely personal look into the mind of a pioneering social entrepreneur. Inspired by his father, who survived the Holocaust thanks to the courageous kindness of strangers, Lubetzky began his career handselling a sun-dried tomato spread made collaboratively by Arabs and Jews in the war-torn Middle East. Despite early setbacks, he never lost his faith in his vision of a “not-only-for-profit” business—one that sold great products and helped to make the world a better place. While other companies let circumstances force them into choosing between two seemingly incompatible options, people at KIND say “AND.” At its core, this idea is about challenging assumptions and false compromises. It is about not settling for less and being willing to take greater risks, often financial. It is about learning to think boundlessly and critically, and choosing what at first may be the tougher path for later, greater rewards. By using illuminating anecdotes from his own career, and celebrating some past failures through the lessons learned from them, Lubetzky outlines his core tenets for building a successful business and a thriving social enterprise. He explores the value of staying true to your brand, highlights the importance of transparency and communication in the workplace, and explains why good intentions alone won’t sell products. Engaging and inspirational, Do the KIND Thing shows how the power of AND worked wonders for one company—and could empower the next generation of social entrepreneurs to improve their bottom line and change the world. Advance praise for Do the KIND Thing “An enjoyable read . . . wise advice about matters from product development to people management.”—Financial Times “By sharing the ten tenets that helped KIND grow, Daniel Lubetzky has given entrepreneurs a road map to success that includes both passion and purpose.”—Arianna Huffington, president and editor in chief, Huffington Post Media Group “Lubetzky uses the power of kindness to build purpose into his business and his community. He’s a role model for future leaders.”—Mehmet Oz, M.D., professor of surgery, Columbia University “I’ve always been a fan of the KIND brand. This engaging and inspirational book shows how coupling a social mission with creativity can spark change and empower a generation.”—Bobbi Brown, founder and CCO, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
Download or read book Why Govern written by Amitav Acharya and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-09 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timely and authoritative assessment of the crisis in global cooperation and prospects for its reform and transformation.
Download or read book The Descent written by Jeff Long and published by Crown. This book was released on 1999-11-12 with total page 639 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are not alone. Some call them devils or demons. But they are real. They are down there. And they are waiting for us to find them. In a cave in the Himalayas, a guide discovers a self-mutilated body with a warning: Satan exists. In the Kalahari Desert, a nun unearths evidence of a proto-human species and a deity called Older-than-Old. In Bosnia, something has been feeding upon the dead in a mass grave. So begins mankind’s most shocking realization: the underworld is a vast geological labyrinth populated by another race of beings. With all of Hell's precious resources and territories to be won, a global race ensues. Nations, armies, religions, and industries rush to colonize and exploit the subterranean frontier. A scientific expedition is launched westward to explore beneath the Pacific Ocean floor, both to catalog the riches there and to learn how life could develop in the sunless abyss. But in the dark underground, as humanity falls away from them, the scientists and mercenaries find themselves prey not only to the savage creatures, but also to their own treachery, mutiny, and greed. One thing is certain: Miles inside the earth, evil is very much alive.
Download or read book Counting Descent written by Clint Smith and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2020-01-06 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America * Winner, 2017 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award * Finalist, 2017 NAACP Image Awards * "One Book One New Orleans" 2017 Book Selection * Published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, New Republic, Boston Review, The Guardian, The Rumpus, and The Academy of American Poets "So many of these poems just blow me away. Incredibly beautiful and powerful." -- Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow "Counting Descent is a tightly-woven collection of poems whose pages act like an invitation. The invitation is intimate and generous and also a challenge; are you up to asking what is blackness? What is black joy? How is black life loved and lived? To whom do we look to for answers? This invitation is not to a narrow street, or a shallow lake, but to a vast exploration of life. And you’re invited. -- Elizabeth Acevedo, Author of Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths "These poems shimmer with revelatory intensity, approaching us from all sides to immerse us in the America that America so often forgets." -- Gregory Pardlo "Counting Descent is more than brilliant. More than lyrical. More than bluesy. More than courageous. It is terrifying in its ability to at once not hide and show readers why it wants to hide so badly. These poems mend, meld and imagine with weighted details, pauses, idiosyncrasies and word patterns I've never seen before." -- Kiese Laymon, Author of Long Division Clint Smith's debut poetry collection, Counting Descent, is a coming of age story that seeks to complicate our conception of lineage and tradition. "Do you know what it means for your existence to be defined by someone else’s intentions?" Smith explores the cognitive dissonance that results from belonging to a community that unapologetically celebrates black humanity while living in a world that often renders blackness a caricature of fear. His poems move fluidly across personal and political histories, all the while reflecting on the social construction of our lived experiences. Smith brings the reader on a powerful journey forcing us to reflect on all that we learn growing up, and all that we seek to unlearn moving forward.
Download or read book The Tao of Raven written by Ernestine Hayes and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2016-10-03 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her first book, Blonde Indian, Ernestine Hayes powerfully recounted the story of returning to Juneau and to her Tlingit home after many years of wandering. The Tao of Raven takes up the next and, in some ways, less explored question: once the exile returns, then what? Using the story of Raven and the Box of Daylight (and relating it to Sun Tzu’s equally timeless Art of War) to deepen her narration and reflection, Hayes expresses an ongoing frustration and anger at the obstacles and prejudices still facing Alaska Natives in their own land, but also recounts her own story of attending and completing college in her fifties and becoming a professor and a writer. Hayes lyrically weaves together strands of memoir, contemplation, and fiction to articulate an Indigenous worldview in which all things are connected, in which intergenerational trauma creates many hardships but transformation is still possible. Now a grandmother and thinking very much of the generations who will come after her, Hayes speaks for herself but also has powerful things to say about the resilience and complications of her Native community.
Download or read book Ski written by and published by . This book was released on 1995-12 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Beyond the Deep written by William Stone and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2010-05-30 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Huautla in Mexico is the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere, possibly the world. Shafts reach skyscraper-depths, caverns are stadium-sized, and sudden floods can drown divers in an instant. With a two-decade obsession, William Stone and his 44-member team entered the sinkhole at Sotano de San Augustin. The first camp settled 2,328 feet below ground in a cavern where headlamps couldn't even illuminate the walls and ceiling. The second camp teetered precariously above an underground canyon where two subterranean rivers collided. But beyond that lay the unknown territory -- a flooded corridor that had blocked all previous comers, claimed a diver's life, and drove the rest of the team back. Except for William Stone and Barbara am Ende, who forged on for 18 more days, with no hope of rescue, to set the record for the deepest cave dive in the Western Hemisphere.
Download or read book Comrades on the Colca written by Eugene Buchanan and published by Conundrum Press. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern-day, real life adventure, this book will take readers along for a rollicking ride through South America on a race to the bottom of the Earth. When the author first met Polish explorer, Yurek Majcherczyk on a commercial feasibility expedition down Ecuador's Quijos River in 1989, he did not know it would lead to taking part in a Polish race, stumbling upon a mummy-filled cave and even getting wrapped up in a legend linking long-lost Incan riches to a riverfront castle in Poland. As the adventurers plunge deeper and deeper into unknown territory, they discover a rival Polish team trying to usurp their goal. The author seamlessly weaves these tales with his own exploits and adventures—climaxing with a tumultuous hike out of the canyon with both teams returning to complete their race the following year.