In this standout collection of the writings Guy Waterman and Laura Waterman readers will discover a rich blend of outdoor adventures great and small. Some fiction, some nonfiction, all these stories explore the basic impulse to climb, its roots, and the underlying drives of remarkable individual climbers. One story, a fictionalized letter exchange between two ambitious female climbers of the Victorian Era—Fanny Bullock Workman and Annie Peck—captures the competitive spirit between them. The true story A Night in Odell Gully demonstrates that serious climbers know, better than almost anyone else in our sheltered modern life, what death and dying means. This collection is certain to be a touchstone for all who are drawn to the mountains. Only the weak fear criticism.