This anthology collects the most riveting, real-life adventure stories from America’s oldest mountaineering and conservation journal, Appalachia. Each of these essays, published from 1877 to the present, chronicles a tale of explorers who push the limits—of endurance, weather, altitude, or personal achievement. Some of these explorers make history, such as the first American climber to ascend Kilimanjaro in 1932; others, such as the leader of an 1895 team attempting the first ascent of Canada’s Mount Lefroy, never return.

Freak accidents, legendary perseverance, singularly colorful personalities, and climbing luminaries such as Bradford Washburn, Elizabeth Knowlton, and Fritz Wiessner all figure into this fascinating, illustrated collection.