To the mountains : a collection of New Zealand alpine writing / selected by Laurence Fearnley & Paul Hersey.

Includes bibliographical references.

A writing climber: an introduction to New Zealand alpine literature / Laurence Fearnley -- Mountains with words / Paul Hersey -- Editor's note -- Part 1: Approach. Castle Hill, 2003 / Rangi Faith -- Young, short and loving it / Rebecca Smith -- Child explorer on the Milford Track (1889) / Eleanor Adams -- From: Journals, 1883-1873 / Rev Richard Taylor -- From: Peaks, packs and mountain tracks / W. Scott Gilkison -- From: The explorer / Philip Temple -- From: Mixed grill / Forrestina Ross -- Guiding memories at the Hermitage and Franz Josef 1929-1938 / Jack Cox -- From: Mountain midsummer: climbing in four continents / Michael Gill -- Climbing / Sara Knox -- From: Going up is easy / Lydia Bradley -- From: Mountain solitudes: solo journeys in the Southern Alps of New Zealand -- Aat Vervoorn -- The reconnaissance of Mt. Evans / John Pascoe -- Alpine reflections: a values-based approach to climbing / Steve Hart -- Tokens of the spirit: exploring objectivity, emotions and fate in the Southern Alps / Rob Kettels -- Ancestors / Brian Turner -- Fire and ice / Philip Temple -- Part 2: Climb. From: Hero stories of New Zealand / James Cowan -- The climb of the ancient mariners / Bill Whelen -- From: The naturalist / Thom Conroy -- Letter to W.J.P. Hodgkins describing an ascent of Mt Earnslaw, 1894 / Joseph O'Leary -- Account of expeditions up the Matukituki river, 1909 and 1911 / Bernard Head -- First to the summit: Mitre Peak, Milford Sound / J.R. Dennistoun -- Maori mountaineers of South Westland / Bob McKerrow -- From: Freda du Faur: Southern Alps 1909-1913 / Rhian Gallagher -- From: The conquest of Mount Cook and other climbs / Freda du Faur -- Letter describing a five-day camping trip from Fox Glacier to Franz Josef glacier, 1926 / Dorothy Theomin -- Karangarua-Landsborough / Doreen Pickens -- From: The hut builder / Laurence Fearnley -- Cushioning the blow / Rangi Faith -- From: Yunnan 1938: account of a journey in south-west China / Dora de Beer -- Letter to Jim Rose from Everest Base Camp, 2 June 1953 / Edmund Hillary -- The first Clyde ascent of Mount Everest / Derek Chinn -- Five feet from the gods: Kanchenjunga, 1955 / Norman Hardie -- A ridge too far: The first female ascent of Denali's Cassin ridge / Karen McNeill -- High hopes / Brian Turner -- From Mountain midsummer: Climbing in four continents / Michael Gill -- Ngauruhoe (1965) / Anonymous -- Plateaunic melodrama / Aat Vervoorn -- Economic man / Ross Cullen -- Oh where have you been my blue-eyed sons? / Nick Cradock -- Part 3: Epic. From: The high alps of New Zealand (1882) / William Spotswood Green -- Hongi's track / Kim Logan -- Letter to Mavis Davidson / Jill Tremain -- White as a sheet / Allan Uren -- Ruapehu, 23 September 1995 5.08pm / Carol Diamond Christie and David Baguley -- From: Expeditions / Andrew Lindblade -- Avalanche / Caoilinn Hughes -- A solitary climber (1906) / Anonymous -- A pioneer phase / J. Walton -- From: High misadventure: New Zealand mountaineering tragedies and survival stories / Paul Hersey -- From: Among secret beauties / Brian Wilkins -- Summit of dreams / Mark Whetu -- From: The heart of the bush (1910) / Edith Searle Grossman -- Climbs at the head of the Franz Josef (1933) / Ida Corry -- From: Two against the Alps / Graeme Dingle -- Under the mountain: an ascent of La Perouse from the Cook river / Penny Goddard -- Never let the facts... / Peter Gough -- Part 4: Reflection. From: Wind from a distant summit / Pat Deavoll -- From: Wall of shadows / Graeme Dingle -- Never / Rachel Bush -- From: Beyond the snowline / Aat Vervoorn -- Flight, with mountains / Fleur Adcock -- From: Harry's absence: looking for my father on the mountain / Jonathan Scott -- Gifford, Talbot and Grenfell / Sir Thomas Hunter -- A tribute from Ed Hillary / Edmund Hillary -- Letter to Jim Glasgow, 1954 / Peter Graham -- From: Great days in New Zealand mountaineering / John Pascoe -- Speech presented at 'Summits for Suffrage',1993 / Doreen Murie -- From: Going up is easy / Lydia Bradey with Laurence Fearnley -- From: Protection / Paul Hersey -- Incantation / Richard Thomson -- West on Sunset / Tom Riley -- Quail Flat, 1960 / Kerry Popplewell -- Passing generations in the Hopkins / Brin Williman -- From: Wind from a distant summit / Pat Deavoll -- Many happy returns / Sharron Came -- Letter from Nigeria, 1942 / Christopher Johnson -- Man in the landscape / Hone Tuwhare.

The air temperature was probably -35 degrees Celsius with wind chill. We couldn’t stand still for long. Our brains felt taxed and our bodies were running on empty. On the Football Field not far from the summit, Sue discovered a square of chocolate. We shared it, telling our bodies we didn’t need more. As we continued the descent, the air warmed and filled with oxygen. We began to encounter climbers heading up. Most knew who we were, incredulously asking: ‘are you the girls who slept on the summit’? – Karen McNeill, ‘A Ridge Too Far: The first female ascent of Denali’s Cassin Ridge’ A schoolgirl races from class to join a weekend trip to the hills. A mountaineering guide recalls his first weeks on the job during the 1920s. A young climber is shown the best route over the Main Divide by a big bull thar. A climbing party is bombarded by falling rock when Ruapehu suddenly erupts. A mountaineer pays tribute to the Māori guides from south Westland, while a fighter pilot tries to recapture an ascent of the Minarets from his tent in Nigeria during World War II. From the Darrans of Fiordland to Denali in Alaska, New Zealand climbers, both experienced and recreational, have captured their alpine experience in letters, journals, articles, memoirs, poems and novels. Drawing on 150 years of published and unpublished material, Laurence Fearnley and Paul Hersey, two top contemporary authors, have compiled a wide-ranging, fascinating and moving glimpse into New Zealand’s mountaineering culture and the people who write about it.