Yosemite - 'the Valley' - is the centre of big wall climbing. The huge, towering walls of El Capitan and Half Dome inspire climbers from across the globe. The giant cliffs of perfect granite have seen historic ascents from the world's best climbers, and draw visitors to test themselves on Yosemite's cliffs and routes. Some come for the great free routes, like Astroman, Nabisco Wall or Separate Reality, or the scores of easier routes. Others will visit the domes of Tuolumne, make expeditions to the peaks of the High Sierra or even spend a sojourn tackling the boulders, perhaps attempting Midnight Lightning, the most famous boulder problem in the world. This combination of peerless rock, fabulous sculptural cliffs, and hundreds of magnificent climbs is reverently described in Yosemite, a stunning coffee table book by world-renowned climber, Alex Huber, a leading player in Yosemite events. Huber provides a scintillating and exciting commentary that Heinz Zak illustrates with fabulous photographs that are both architecturally powerful and aesthetically superb.
The book is enhanced by accompanying essays from past and present activists: Royal Robbins, Warren Harding, Jim Bridwell, Peter Croft, Lynn Hill, John Long, Mark Chapman, Thomas Huber, Jerry Moffatt, Dean Potter and Leo Holding. Yosemite is one of the most exciting rock climbing books ever published. Its gripping accounts are embellished by outstanding photographs that emphasis the splendor of the valley's scenery which has made it a world renowned destination for climbers, trekkers and tourists alike.
Author Biography
Alexander Huber, born in 1968 in Trostberg, is one of the most successful German rock climbers and mountaineers of all time. His redpoint ascent of the Salathe Wall in 1995, coming two years after Lynn Hill's Nose ascent, signaled the renewed international interest in Yosemite. He subsequently completed four more free ascents of El Capitan: El Nino (1998), Freerider and Golden Gate (2000) and El Corazon (2001) In the Karakoram he took part in the first ascent of the West Face of Latok II (1997) and attempted the Ogre in 1999. In Europe his biggest climb is Bellavista (F8c/5.14) a free climb through Cima Ovest's North Face overhang. He has also free soloed the notorious Brandler/Hasse route on the Cima Grande. Heinz Zak, born in 1958 in Worgl, near Salzburg, is a leading Austrian climber, he is also one of the world's top climbing photographers who has chronicled the rise of sport climbing and its leading figures in his book, Rock Stars, and in other publications. In the traditional sphere he has climbed the Laliderer and Wetterstein classics as well as the Eigerwand. He first visited Yosemite Valley in 1979, and his free ascents there include the challenging Bachar/Yerian in Tuolumne, and The Phoenix. In partnership with Peter Janschek, he climbed Freerider and made a one-day speed ascent of The Nose and Half Dome's Regular Route. In Patagonia he has climbed (with Janschek) The Compressor Route on Cerro Torre and Royal Flush on FitzRoy.
