CATALOG FALL/WINTER 2016 FALL/WINTER CATALOG F16_Cover.indd 2 3/16/16 9:51 AM MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS creates outdoor recreation titles for activities ranging from nature walks to bicycle tours to climbing adventures and much more. Our owner, The Mountaineers, is a nonprofit membership organization that has been a leader in outdoor education for more than 100 years. Mountaineers Books publishes regional activity guidebooks, sports instructional texts, and nonfiction adventures designed to inspire and also to preserve the history of achievements by those who pushed the boundaries of our sports before us. SKIPSTONE is our imprint for people striving to live a sustainable lifestyle, which for us means digging in the garden, thinking about what we eat, treating all creatures with respect, and finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Skipstone books are for people who want to live life deliberately, finding joy in the nature just outside their back door. Our conservation titles are published by BRAIDED RIVER, which uses the emotive power of books as key tools in advocacy campaigns. These are lush, photo-driven books, with insightful essays presenting the environmental, social, and scientific issues related to a critical ecosystem. Each book is accompanied by educational outreach and is usually paired with a traveling museum exhibit. We work with well known nonprofit partners and reach millions of passionate citizens with messages for solving problems to make the world a better place for present and future generations. MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS recreation • lifestyle • conservation It's all about the outdoors. Mountaineers Books is an independent, nonprofit publisher Photo from Advanced Rock Climbing (see page 6) © Topher Donahue F16_Catalog_Frontlist.indd 2 3/16/16 2:28 PM F16_Catalog_Frontlist.indd 3 3/16/16 2:28 PM NEW BRAIDED RIVER PAUL BANNICK OWL A YEAR IN THE LIVES OF NORTH AMERICAN OWLS PAUL BANNICK AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER OWLA YEAR IN THE LIVES OF NORTH AMERICAN OWLS “For anyone who appreciates wild things and wild places, each of Paul Bannick’s stunning photographs is worth ten thousand words.” – Ted Williams, Audubon • Details owls’ behavior throughout the changing seasons • Owls are one of the most popular species among birders and non-birders alike • 200 new images by the photographer of the bestselling The Owl and the Woodpecker In Owl, award-winning photographer Paul Bannick uses his intimate yet dramatic images to track four different nesting owl species—Northern Pygmy, Burrowing, Great Gray, and Snowy—throughout the course of one year and in four distinct habitats. Readers follow along at the nest as each stage in an owl’s life is chronicled: courtship, mating, and nesting in spring; fledging and feeding of young in summer; dispersal and learning independence in fall; Also by Paul Bannick and, finally, winter’s migration. Unusual irruptions and the everyday struggle to survive are (see page 58) also covered. In addition to the four featured owls, all 19 species of North American owls are generously depicted throughout the book; Bannick’s startling images reflect their shared behaviors as well as some surprising exceptions and adaptations. More than just a backdrop, the four featured owl habitats—forest, grassland and steppe, boreal, and Arctic—reveal wildly rich stories of their own. Owl is a stunning follow-up to Bannick’s bestselling title, The Owl and the Woodpecker, giving bird lovers yet another gorgeous photographic tribute, engaging natural history, and a compelling call to preserve the habitats that sustain these most iconic of birds. Paul Bannick is an award-winning and widely published wildlife photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat. He has received the Canon Prize of the International Conservation Photography Awards, as well as first place in the “Birds and Their Habitat” category in Audubon magazine's annual contest. He lives in Seattle; learn more at www.paulbannick.com. 3 1 208 pages, 10 ⁄4 x 9 ⁄2, 200 color photos, color maps, hardcover, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-59485-800-0. NATURAL HISTORY/BIRDS/PHOTOGRAPHY. Rights: World. Paul Bannick 4 MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS phone: 800.553.4453 F16_Catalog_Frontlist.indd 4 3/16/16 2:28 PM Excerpted from OWL by Paul Bannick Late one April day, I was driving down a gravel road in southeastern Idaho looking for Burrowing Owls. Most of the landscape was heavily plowed fields, so it would be easy to assume that very little wildlife could exist there. But a small, gargoyle-like Burrowing Owl on the fencepost belied that assumption. The bug-eyed, long-legged vertical owl rotated his body ninety degrees so that he was parallel with the ground, fluffed out his feathers to appear much larger, and displayed distinctive white feathers at his brows and beneath his bill. In this unusual posture, he filled his throat with air and forcibly repeated hoo-hooo, clearly an attempt to lure a female lurking somewhere in the sage across the road. The scrap of land behind the owl’s perch was not pristine. Beyond the barbed wire fence, every thirty yards or so, blue-green sagebrush bushes rose three to five feet out of the hard-packed brown dirt whiskered with short, stubby weeds. Firm mounds of tan dirt marked abandoned badger burrows, which were the nest and roost sites for Burrowing Owls. Down the road, only trails of the sun’s red glow remained on the horizon. To my right, six Short- eared Owls danced in the air above a rough brown patch of tall dead grass encircled by the green, sprinkler-watered rectangles. These owls had found homes on a scrap of ungrazed land beside heavy agriculture because of the tall vegetation. Within twenty-five miles, in the same habitat, a few pairs of Barn Owls nested in the spaces between straw bales surrounded by hundreds of cows and near other Burrowing Owls on adjacent protected land. Less than fifty miles to the north, two trees, one cottonwood and one Russian olive, separated by 150 yards of flat meadow, provided nesting habitat for owls that hunt in the grasslands, sage- steppe, and farmlands, but are often thought of as Young owls, { opposite } like these Northern Hawk owls are growing fastest at about 2 weeks of age. At this time the seem to never satiated and often coninue to beg after being fed, putting great pressure woodland species. The first shelterbelt hid nesting on parents. (Minnesota) Owls that nest in { left } woodpecker cavities often choose the smallest cavities they can fit into, leaving no extra room for a predator to reach in with a talon, bill or Northern Saw-whet Owls (with a call sounding like body and eat young, eggs or adults. (Washington) 2/21/16 5:15 PM OWL_1PP.indd 89 the sharpening or whetting of a saw blade) and 2/21/16 5:15 PM OWL_1PP.indd 88 Great Horned Owls, while the second concealed eight nesting pairs of Long-eared Owls. In the adjacent wetlands, several pairs of Short-eared Owls thrived. And Western Screech Owls were nesting successfully in another stand of trees less than fifty miles away in the { left } A Northern Pygmy Owl fledgling hangs from a Douglas Fir branch that has tipped from his weight. (Colorado) { opposite } Adult owls often make loud, plaintive noises and same type of landscape. wave their wings to get the attention of potential predators and lead them away from the nest or young. (Washington) OWL_1PP.indd 128 2/22/16 7:21 AM OWL_1PP.indd 129 2/21/16 5:17 PM www.mountaineersbooks.org fax: 800.568.7604 5 F16_Catalog_Frontlist.indd 5 3/16/16 2:28 PM NEW MOUNTAINEERS OUTDOOR EXperts series MOUNTAINEERS OUTDOOR EXPEREXPERTT seriesseries ADVANCED ROCK CLIMBING EXPERT SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES TOPHER DONAHUE FULL COLOR Foreword by TOMMY Caldwell ADVANCED ROCK CLIMBING Expert Skills and Techniques Topher Donahue Foreword by Tommy Caldwell AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER “The old way of climbing was systematic, methodical, and consistent. Now it’s anything goes, reacting to every situation differently.” —Tommy Caldwell • For skilled climbers who want to push to the next level • Tips and advice from Tommy Caldwell, Steph Davis, Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold and more of the world’s best climbers • 250 color photographs and 12 illustrations Advanced Rock Climbing: Expert Skills and Techniques is for good climbers who want to get even better—from training to gear, sport climbing to multi-pitch efficiency, and beyond. Each chapter has detailed advice from some of the world’s best climbers and guides—Tommy Caldwell, Angela Hawse, Justen Sjong, Steph Davis, Sonny Trotter, Alex Honnold, Lynn Hill, and more. Also by Topher Donahue Through clear, step-by-step instruction, detailed color photographs, and hard-earned (see page 36) wisdom, this new guide helps strong climbers increase their speed on multi-pitch climbs, conserve energy on big faces, train for tendon strength, improvise self-rescue, and more. Advanced Rock Climbing is for someone who has been climbing for several years and aspires to transition from intermediate to advanced levels, experienced climbers who are stuck in a rut, and naturally talented climbers who are climbing high grades but who may not have the experience to go further safely. Co-author of the popular Rock Climbing, 2nd Edition, Topher Donahue began climbing at age three, and was guiding rock and alpine routes by the time he was fourteen. He has worked with some of the world’s most respected guides and climbers, integrating what he’s learned from these companions and professionals into the climbing methods and philosophy that he teaches in Advanced Rock Climbing. Topher lives with his family in Nederland, Colorado. Find him at www.topherdonahue.com and www.alpinecreative.com.