Book Review: Ways to the Sky

Ways to the Sky: A Historical Guide to North American Mountaineering, by Andy Selters, The Mountaineers Books, 2004. Hardcover $24.95. 300 pp.

Historical mountaineering books risk descending into mind-numbing recitations of thin ice, rotten rock, and freezing bivouacs, with one climb blending anonymously into another. In Ways to the Sky, however, the first update to North American Mountaineering history in 25 years, Andy Selters guides us from ancient native ascents to the cutting edge, without dropping into crevasses of ennui.

Selters, a mountaineer, photographer, and mapmaker, imbues each account with excitement and individuality, expertly playing detail, personality, and anecdote for all they’re worth. Climbers are rendered human through their motivations, and mistakes, while his tales are peppered with gems like this: “Canadian Pacific saw a publicity opportunity and pronounced Assiniboine ‘North America’s Matterhorn.’ The railroad recruited Edward Whymper, the celebrity of the Matterhorn first ascent…But Whymper was in his 60s, quite taken with liquor, and uninterested in a challenging climb.”

Although the real estate covered ranges from Canada to Mexico, most of the action quite naturally occurs in Canada and Alaska and the book is rife with familiar names and places.

Perhaps what’s most remarkable about this history is that in addition to the usual narrative, maps, and photos, Selters provides route descriptions at the end of each chapter for those who want to repeat climbs that have been discussed.