The Glittering Mountains of Canada: A Record of Exploration and Pioneer Ascents in the Canadian Rockies, 1914-1924 Paperback – June 15, 2012

This is a book I had been searching for over the past two or three decades. When, as a university student climbing in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, and from time to time getting further afield in the Canadian Rockies, I found excerpts from this book, and several fine quotes, appearing in other books or climbing guides. It made me want to read the original text of Thorington's many treks and climbs throughout the then relatively unexplored mountain regions of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Now, after all these years, this text has come back into print, illustrated with scores of wonderful old black and white photos and maps, and the prose is as fine as I'd imagined, almost poetic at times.Anyone who loves hiking, climbing, or trekking, and most of all, loves being in the beautiful mountains, will enjoy this book: it is no survival tale to make your hair stand on end like 'Touching the Void' or other such books, but within these pages the reader will find beauty, descriptions of discovery and difficulties, and humour. The world has changed since this was written, some ninety years ago, but one can read about how it was, and perhaps still at times find places in the mountains where one can feel, as the author did, that the trails we walk are not untrodden, but they are 'new to us', and as wonderful, so who is to tell the difference?

I have been searching for a copy of this book for a number of years. This copy was, unfortunately, heavily smoke impregnated, and I am having to carefully air it out in order to be able to read it without coughing and choking -- it would have been nice to know that this was a factor in this book. The seller's service was prompt and efficient, and I would certainly order from them again if they have a book I am looking for.

If your interested in the history of the Canadian Rockies than this is one book you should read, it fits in nicely with the classics of the Canadian Rockies. The type of stories that should not be forgotten