The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier
by Bruce Barcott
List Price:
Our Price: $10.13
You Save: $6.82 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.65 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Bruce BarcottEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-09
ISBN: 1570615217
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Book Reviews of The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier
Book Review: It's about The Mountain
Summary: 5 Stars
The Measure of a Mountain is a mountain climber's book in the same way that Edward Abbey's books are for the desert explorer, it is about the relationship with The Mountain not the climb. Bruce Barcott writes in a way that captures howy we in the Northwest engage with Mt. Rainier. There is something about it that draws us back, renews us, and then pushes us away. The Measure of a Mountain captures this like no other book, video, or film I have ever seen or read does.
I often say that a climb of Mt. Rainier starts when you decide to make the ascent and includes the training, preparation, and psychological fitness that precedes a climb. This is the story of his preparation. Part of this time before the climb is getting to know yourself and understanding the challenge you have taken on. Mr. Barcott does this by analyzing, studying, presenting, and hiking around Mt. Rainier. The Mountain is none to kind to him in the process, anyone who has been to its flanks more than a time or two will truly understand. I love the end of the fourth chapter where he says "At Mowich Lake, four days into the journey, I quit the mountain. The inexorable moist had crept into the cells of my sleeping bag.....I retired for the winter, beaten." I had been there too.
This is the book to read when preparing for Mt. Rainier, not so you can self-arrest or tie a good figure-8 but so you can understand what you are doing. A must-read for anyone who approaches the grand lady of the Northwest.
Summary of The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier is the largest and most dangerous volcano in the country. Looming massively above the rugged Cascade Range in Washington State, it is visited by millions, climbed by thousands, and romanticized as the most potent icon of the region. Yet it is a mountain that few truly know.
InThe Measure of a Mountain,Seattle writer Bruce Barcott sets out to know Rainier. His method is exploratory, meandering, personal. In a masterful work of narrative journalism, Barcott adroitly explores not only the natural place of Rainier, but also the psychology and meaning of all mountains.
InThe Measure of a Mountain,Seattle writer Bruce Barcott sets out to know Rainier. His method is exploratory, meandering, personal. In a masterful work of narrative journalism, Barcott adroitly explores not only the natural place of Rainier, but also the psychology and meaning of all mountains.
Mount Rainier, North America's biggest volcano, looms over Seattle like an invitation to... adventure? Disaster? Discovery? It's all of the above for Bruce Barcott, a Seattle writer who captures the mountain from multiple angles in this luminous biography that defines Rainier's landscape to be like none other on the continent. By turns witty and introspective, Barcott's trip to the top of the glacier-clad peak is filled with history, scientific observation, and a divided personal attachment that struggles to make sense of the mountain and its effect on the surrounding land and people. The Measure of a Mountain is a literate, entertaining view of a totemic Northwest landmark.
State & Local Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in State & Local Books
Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Storyby Timothy B. Tyson
Crown; Published: 2004-05-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.94
Price in other shops:
Downtown: My Manhattanby Pete Hamill
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2004-12-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Shallow Grave in Trinity Countyby Harry Farrell
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 1999-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $42.89
Shadow of the Hunterby Richard K. Nelson
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1983-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
Movie Anecdotesby Peter Hay
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1991-12-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops:
Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polkby William Dusinberre
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2007-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
Oh the Glory of It Allby Sean Wilsey
Penguin Audio; Published: 2005-05-19; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Editionby Marc Reisner
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Great Plainsby Ian Frazier
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1990-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Disaster! The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906by Dan Kurzman
William Morrow & Company; Published: 2001-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.93
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--the World's Deadliest Peakby Ed Viesturs, David Roberts
Crown; Published: 2011-10-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.91
Price in other shops:
Olympic National Park, WA - Trails Illustrated Map # 216 (Trails Illustrated Maps)by National Geographic Maps
National Geographic; Natl Geographic Society Maps; Published: 2001-01-01; Map; Book
Best price: $6.82
Price in other shops:
The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainierby Jim Davidson, Kevin Vaughan
Ballantine Books; Published: 2011-07-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.84
Price in other shops:
No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaksby Ed Viesturs, David Roberts
Random; Broadway; Published: 2007-11-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
![Rainier the Mountain (PBS) [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Rainier-the-Mountain-PBS-Blu-ray-B002I2PI3M-X.jpg)
Rainier the Mountain (PBS) [Blu-ray]Topics Entertainment; Release date: 2009-09-08; Blu-ray
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Train To Climb Mt RainierRelease date: 2003-11-01; DVD
Best price: $22.95
Price in other shops:
On Mount Hood: A Biography of Oregon's Perilous Peakby Jon Bell
Sasquatch Books; Published: 2011-05-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.84
Price in other shops:
Challenge of Rainier 40th Anniversary: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies on the Northwest's Greatest Mountainby Dee Molenar
Mountaineers Books; Published: 2011-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.28
Price in other shops:
The Challenge of Rainier: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies, on the Northwest's Greatest Mountaby Dee Molenaar
Mountaineers Books; Published: 1979-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops:
Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide (A Climbing Guide) 2nd Editionby Mike Gauthier
Gauthier; Mountaineers Books; Published: 2005-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.98
Price in other shops: