Where the silence rings : a literary companion to mountains / edited by Wayne Grady.

From Edward Whimper 's ascent of the Matterhorn in the 1860s to Jon Krakauer 's vivid profiles of modern mountaineers, this collection offers indelible impressions from writers who experienced the mystery and the grandeur of the mountains -- and who lived to tell about it. Highlights include John Muir 's "A Perilous Night on Mount Shasta" and Belmore Browne 's heart-stopping "Conquest of Mt. McKinley.

Introduction -- The first ascent of the Matterhorn / Edward Whymper -- Sunset on Mont Blanc / Sir Leslie Stephen -- Mount Shasta / John Muir -- The holiness of mountains / Carl Jung -- The mountains of the moon / John Buchan -- Up the Mörderberg / H.G. Wells -- The creation of the Northern Rocky Mountains / Dogrib Nation -- The conquest of Mount McKinley / Belmore Browne -- David / Earle Birney -- Thinking like a mountain / Aldo Leopold -- At Crystal Mountain / Peter Matthiessen -- Kilimanjaro / Michael Crichton -- Eiger dreams / Jon Krakauer -- Maoists and leeches / Jamaica Kincaid -- Acknowledgments.