The Naked Mountaineer: Misadventures of an Alpine Traveler

by Steve Sieberson, Lou Whittaker (Foreword by)

Overview

The Naked Mountaineer recounts a series of solo journeys to some of the world's most exotic peaks in places such as Switzerland, Japan, and Borneo. However, it is far from the typical heroic mountain-expedition book. Although Steve Sieberson did reach many summits, in most cases his travels were more memorable for what he encountered along the way than for the actual climbing. His real adventures involved peculiar people, strange foods, and tropical diseases, rather than pitons, ice axes, and carabiners. On the Matterhorn he met an English alpinist who reveled in naked selfies, he stumbled into a cockfight in a Balinese village, and on a volcano in Italy he was mistaken for a famous singer by an insistent fan.

The Naked Mountaineer offers mountain-themed travel stories with a wide-eyed view of the world, while presenting irreverent commentary on climbers and their peculiar sport. These are rollicking tales, filled with the unexpected.

Steve Sieberson began his mountaineering career in the late 1970s in Washington State and eventually became a climb leader for one of the country's premier outdoor organizations, the Mountaineers. He spent sixteen years as a member of Seattle Mountain Rescue, practiced international law in Seattle for twenty-five years, and is now a professor of law at Creighton University in Omaha.

Lou Whittaker is the dean of American mountaineering and the country's foremost professional mountaineering guide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803248793
Publisher:	Nebraska
Publication date:	10/01/2014
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Steve Sieberson began his mountaineering career in the late 1970s in Washington State and eventually became a climb leader for one of the country’s premier outdoor organizations, the Mountaineers. He spent sixteen years as a member of Seattle Mountain Rescue, practiced international law in Seattle for twenty-five years, and is now a professor of law at Creighton University in Omaha.

Lou Whittaker is the dean of American mountaineering and the country’s foremost professional mountaineering guide.

 

Table of Contents

Foreword Lou Whittaker xi

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvii

Prologue: Where Climbers Are Made xix

1 The Naked Mountaineer: Matterhorn, Switzerland, 14,692' 1

2 Pitching the Horseshoe: Snowdon, Wales, 3,560' 30

3 The Unorthodox Climber: Mount Athos, Greece, 6,670' 55

4 Climbing Backward: Gorge of Samaria, Greece 75

5 No Gods but Me: Mount Olympus, Greece, 9,570', and Mount Olympus, Washington, 7,965' 100

6 Crawling for Sushi: Mount Fuji, Japan, 12,388' 123

7 Knickers in a Twist: Mount Vesuvius, Italy, 4,200' 151

8 Twin Peaks in Paradise: Gunung Agung, Bali, Indonesia, 10,308' 162

9 Expedition to Nowhere: Carstensz Pyramid, Papua, Indonesia, 16,024' 178

10 The Mountaineer Unplugged: Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 13,435' 186

11 Northern Exposure: Galdhøpiggen, Norway, 8,100' 212

12 So the Last Shall Be First: Mount St. Helens, Washington, 9,677' and 8,363' 233

Epilogue: The Sirens' Call 247

Editorial Reviews

"The Naked Mountaineer is a delightful commentary on Sieberson's global travels and opportunities to climb many of the world's highest and most challenging mountains."—Rod Wagner, NCB News

NCB News - Rod Wagner

"Take a walk on the weirder side of mountain life with Sieberson, whose alpine misadventures include bizarre local cuisine, insistent music fans, and oh yes, the Englishman who revels in taking naked selfies. . . . This delightfully anecdotal memoir hops from Norway to Japan to Greece, among other high altitude locales."—Backpacker.com

Backpacker.com

“From Western Washington to Italy to Indonesia this is a fun and delightful book. For anyone who has traveled or wished to travel to remote places Steve Sieberson’s The Naked Mountaineer gives an entertaining and humorous account of his mountain adventures and the characters he met along the way.”—Mike Mahanay, president of the Washington Alpine Club

Mike Mahanay

“It is Sieberson’s unabashed enthusiasm for climbing that is exposed here, and his bare appraisal of it all is engagingly straightforward. The Naked Mountaineer guides us up mountains—including his beloved Matterhorn—and offers an insightful travelogue. The observations are fresh and yet familiar, as welcome as clean socks from a well-worn rucksack at the end of a long day’s hike.”—Kyle Wagner, travel and fitness editor for the the Denver Post 
 

Kyle Wagner

"For climbing and travel enthusiasts, this will be a treasured read."—Jay Freeman, Booklist starred review

Booklist - Jay Freeman