Few stories from the "greatest generation" are as unforgettable -- or as little known -- as that of the 10th Mountain Division. Today a versatile light infantry unit deployed around the world, the 10th began in 1941 as a crew of civilian athletes with a passion for mountains and snow. In this vivid history, adventure writer Peter Shelton follows the unique division from its conception on a Vermont ski hill, through its dramatic World War II coming-of-age, to the ultimate revolution it inspired in American outdoor life. In the late-1930s United States, rock climbing and downhill skiing were relatively new sports. But World War II brought a need for men who could handle extreme mountainous conditions -- and the elite 10th Mountain Division was born. Everything about it was unprecedented: It was the sole U.S. Army division trained on snow and rock, the only division ever to grow out of a sport. It had an un-matched number of professional athletes, college scholars, and potential officer candidates, and as the last U.S. division to enter the war in Europe, it suffered the highest number of casualties per combat day. This is the 10th's surprising, suspenseful, and often touching story. Drawing on years of interviews and research, Shelton re-creates the ski troops' lively, extensive, and sometimes experimental training and their journey from boot camp to the Italian Apennines. There, scaling a 1,500-foot "unclimbable" cliff face in the dead of night, they stunned their enemy and began the eventual rout of the German armies from northern Italy. It was a self-selecting elite, a brotherhood in sport and spirit. And those who survived (including the Sierra Club's David Brower, Aspen Skiing Corporation founder Friedl Pfeifer, and Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman, who developed the waffle-sole running shoe) turned their love of mountains into the thriving outdoor industry that has transformed the way Americans see (and play in) the natural world.

"Into Thin Air" meets "Band of Brothers": How an exceptional group of climbers and skiers formed America's first alpine division and helped spearhead the final victories of World War II.

The 10th was the only US mountain division to be raised in World War II, and still has a high profile, being involved in operations from Iraq to Somalia and from Haiti to Afghanistan. It did not arrive in Europe until winter 1944/45, but then fought hard in the harsh mountainous terrain of Northern Italy. The division was special in a number of ways. Its personnel were selected for physical fitness and experience in winter sports, mountaineering, and hunting, unlike the rest of the infantry. It was highly trained in mountain and winter warfare, including the use of skis and snowshoes, while its organization, field clothing, and some personal equipment also differed from that of the usual infantry division. The division made extensive use of pack-mules, and its reconnaissance unit was horse-mounted, conducting the last horse-mounted charge in US history in April 1945. Featuring full-color artwork and rare photographs, this is the gripping story of the US Army's only mountain division in action during the closing months of World War II.

In The Mountains We Climb, Ashley Sword-Surma takes the reader through a healing process, which empowers them to share their story and help others through their mountains. The book hones in on the ability to transform pain into purpose.

In a memoir by the first man to reach the peak of Everest, Hillary discusses the adventures that shaped his life, from the South Pole to the Ganges River.

As Tom Whittaker struggled to keep conscious the night of 27 November 1979, his thoughts focused on a singular plea: Please, don't let them take my legs. Earlier that evening, a drunk driver struck Tom's VW van on an isolated, snow-covered road in Idaho and shattered his legs -- and his dreams. When he awoke from emergency surgery, the 31-year-old mountaineer's right leg had been amputated at mid-shin and his right kneecap removed. Devastated, he pondered suicide. Finally it occurred to him: you don't need your lower leg to kayak. Seven months after the accident, Tom hobbled down to the south fork of the Payette River, and began paddling. In the years since then, Tom has not only taken his life back, he's taken his family, his fellow sportsmen, and hundreds of thousands of disabled and able-bodied people to the top of the world. In May 1998, Tom became the first amputee to summit Mount Everest. The climb and his inspirational story, as well as his work on behalf of disabled people around the world, have earned him the recognition as one of America's most courageous heroes.

Edge of Flight is the toughest rock-climbing route Vanisha has ever faced. She has one last chance to conquer it before she moves to Vermont to start university. University is a sore point for Vanisha, who yearns for a career in the outdoors but feels pressured by her mother to earn an academic degree. Trying to put school out of her mind, she heads to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas with her buddies Rusty and Jeb for a final weekend of climbing and camping. Deep in the woods, they stumble on an illegal marijuana plantation, and the gang of bikers who guard it. When Jeb is shot by the bikers, Vanisha alone must get help—and to do so, she must climb Edge of Flight. As she confronts her insecurities on the cliff face and in the woods, Vanisha gains a new resolve and the self-confidence to choose her own path in life.

A nail-biting tale of survival and brotherhood atop one of the world's most dangerous mountains. This fast-paced, three-part narrative takes readers on three expeditions over 15 years to K2, one of the deadliest mountains on Earth. Roped together, these teams of men face perilously high altitudes and battering storms in hopes of reaching the summit. As each expedition sets out, they carve new paths along icy slopes and unforgiving rock, creating camps on ledges so narrow they fear turning over in their sleep. But disaster strikes -- in 1939, four men never make it down the mountain. Fourteen years later, a man develops blood clots in his legs at 25,000 feet, leaving his team with no safe path off the mountain. Filled with displays of incredible strength and heart-stopping danger, Into the Clouds tells the incredible stories of the men whose quest to conquer a mountain became a battle to survive the descent.

The definitive story of the British adventurers who survived the trenches of World War I and went on to risk their lives climbing Mount Everest. On June 6, 1924, two men set out from a camp perched at 23,000 feet on an ice ledge just below the lip of Everest’s North Col. George Mallory, thirty-seven, was Britain’s finest climber. Sandy Irvine was a twenty-two-year-old Oxford scholar with little previous mountaineering experience. Neither of them returned. Drawing on more than a decade of prodigious research, bestselling author and explorer Wade Davis vividly re-creates the heroic efforts of Mallory and his fellow climbers, setting their significant achievements in sweeping historical context: from Britain’s nineteen-century imperial ambitions to the war that shaped Mallory’s generation. Theirs was a country broken, and the Everest expeditions emerged as a powerful symbol of national redemption and hope. In Davis’s rich exploration, he creates a timeless portrait of these remarkable men and their extraordinary times.