Maria Coffey's Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow is a powerful, affecting and important book that exposes the far reaching personal costs of extreme adventure. Without risk, say mountaineers, there would be none of the self-knowledge that comes from pushing life to its extremes. For them, perhaps, it is worth the cost. But when tragedy strikes, what happens to the people left behind? Why would anyone choose to invest in a future with a high-altitude...

"Defiance had provoked Thompson to enter the male-dominated world of high-altitude mountaineering, but defiance could only take her so far. After a harrowing battle with cancer, Lisa realized she needed to understand what motivated her to take greater and greater risks in the mountains. Finding Elevation chronicles Thompson's path from novice climber to world-class mountaineer, as she becomes the second American woman to summit K2, which is considered...

The amount of oxygen available at the highest place on Earth is just under 7 percent. Explorers risk their lives and test their lungs traveling to these great heights atop mountains. Who are these adventurers and why do they do it?

Follow adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia. Footage captures the amazing and beautiful mountain ranges and coastline along the west coast of North America, from California to deep Patagonia.

"While tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was raging across the Himalayas. Contingents from Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the United States had set up rival camps at the base of the mountains, all hoping to become recognized as the fastest, strongest, and bravest climbers in the world. Carried on across nearly the entire sweep of the Himalayas, this contest involved not only the greatest mountain...

Describes how Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkey became the first human beings to reach the top of the world by climbing Mount Everest.