Above All

California’s "Fourteeners”--Mount Whitney, Mount Shasta, and the loftiest peaks of the High Sierra--have long teased the imaginations and challenged the fortitude of mountaineers. Photographer and mountaineer David Stark Wilson captures the treacherous beauty of these summits and the surrounding panorama, evoking a broad range of emotion--from excitement and allure to a quieter sense of peace, respect, and awe. Steve Roper, a well-known climber and historian, provides accompanying text. Together Wilson and Roper weave an unforgettable tapestry of windswept splendor, historical data, personal anecdote, climbing mythology, and the natural history of California’s highest peaks.