A biography of the notorious but beloved mountaineer who achieved more than 100 first ascents Norman Clyde is one of the most illustrious Sierra mountaineers of the first half of the twentieth century. He was the first person to ascend more than one hundred peaks throughout western North America, and he climbed more than one thousand peaks in his lifetime an accomplishment achieved without the aid of today s technology or support. Clyde s achievements not only influenced contemporary and future climbers but also spurred the popularity of mountain travel and increased the public s knowledge of the High Sierra. His eccentricities are almost as well known as the records he set. A fellow climber once described watching Clyde known for carrying a ninety-pound backpack that towered above him extract from his pack a pistol, a cast-iron frying pan, several heavy cooking pots, three fishing roads, an axe, and the Odyssey in its original Greek. Clyde led or participated in many mountain rescues and is credited with saving a number of lives. He said of himself, I m like the village half-wit who could always find Old Bes the cow when nobody else could. I just imagine where I d go if I were Old Bes and then I go there. One of his more famous expeditions was the recovery of mountain climber Pete Starr s body in the Minarets, in 1933, after all the other searchers gave up. He buried Starr s body where it was found. As biographer Robert C. Pavlik puts it, Clyde had a hard life, filled with tragedy and triumph, heroism and petulance, but above all, a deep and abiding love for the beauty and majesty of the mountains. Throughout this book the only biography of the mountaineer in print Norman Clyde s own words have been used to tell the story of his life and times, along with recollections of his family, friends, fellow climbers, and acquaintances. The word unique is often used inappropriately, but after you read this book I would wager that you can t think of a better word for this prodigious individual. Steve Roper, from the Foreword...