Yosemite

Yosemite Valley is Mecca of the climbing sports. Such legends of climbing as John Salathé, Royal Robbins, and Warren Harding have immortalized their names in the granite of the valley. The giant walls of El Capitan and Half Dome haven't lost their magic attraction to this day. Climbers from all over the world pilgrimage to Yosemite year-round to do a Big Wall, to attempt Midnight Lightning, the most famous boulder in the world, and to experience the flair of the past in legendary Camp 4. From the surveys of geologists in the 1860's to the "free speed" climbs of today, over 100 years of climbing history accompany a range of superb color landscape photos that echo the great traditions of the Ansel Adams and the Sierra Club large format books of the 1970s. Essays by well-known climbers Warren Harding, Royal Robbins, Jim Bridwell, Mark Chapman, Jerry Moffatt, John Long, Peter Croft, Lynn Hill, Thomas Huber, Dean Potter, and Leo Houlding illustrate the evolution in climbing equipment and varied techniques needed to ascend the rock peaks and amazing walls.