A Fine Line: Searching for Balance Among Mountains

Piolet d'Or recipient Zimmerman is widely recognized as one of the most talented climbers of the twenty-first century, yet one of his greatest accomplishments has been learning to pursue his love of adventure and climbing while crafting a meaningful life grounded in responsibility and purpose.

In this engaging and provocative memoir, Zimmerman, who learned to climb in Washington's Cascade range, maintains a delicate balancing act: appreciating the joy that climbing brings him while recognizing that the sport has a dark side. With thoughtful introspection, he blends tales of mountain adventures with stories of memorials for friends killed in climbing accidents and firsthand experience of the effects of climate change.

Whether he is recounting an epic in the Alaska Range during which his climbing partner contemplates eating his gloves, sharing tales of camaraderie with veteran climber Steve Swenson in the Karakoram, or considering how the warming climate affects the daily lives of the people who inhabit mountainous areas, Zimmerman explores climbing's place in a complex, changing world.