For some the irresistible lure of danger, the call of the heights and the summons of uncharted territory. For others — compelled by the constraints of time, money or plain human terror — the preferred pleasure lies in living, vicariously, the feats of the brave through the pages of a book. We bring seven offerings to those who believe that adventure is all in the mind.

Women who risk: profiles of women in extreme sports

This book by Marilyn Olsen focuses on the extraordinary lives and achievements of women who participate in adventurous sports such as snowboarding and mountain biking. It is an inspiring book for any woman to read (on second thoughts, perhaps not for the faint-hearted). Hatherleigh Press, 2001.

The climbing: expedition planning

The book by Clyde Soles and Phil Powers is a must-have if you're thinking about undergoing an expedition. The 224-page book covers the basics: timing, risk, style, teamwork, time, money, base camp, gear, mealtimes, the climb, the descent. Mountaineer Books, 2003.

Climbing free: my life in the vertical world

This biography of the world-renowned rock climber Lynn Hill discusses Hill’s climbing accomplishments, including her famous “free ascent” of the Nose route on El Capitan, Yosemite. Hill talks about how she got to where she is in her climbing career, describing a life which included injuries, friendships, World Cup competitions and, of course, mountaineering. Norton, 2002.

To conquer the air

James Tobin, a journalist twice nominated for a Pulitzer, is also a historian, and it’s criminal that a writer should be so good in two fields. In this book, the most critically acclaimed of all the books to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ famous accomplish- ment, Tobin jumps smoothly between the Wrights and their competition — Smithsonian secretary Samuel Pier- pont Langley, Alexander Graham Bell in Canada, a collection of assorted Frenchmen — and back to the Wrights. Simon and Schuster, 2003.

Where the mountain casts its shadow

Twenty years after her boyfriend Joe Tasker’s death on Everest’s Northeast Ridge, Maria Coffey wrote this sad yet somehow ecstatic book about what such tragedies mean to the loved ones of mountaineers. She travelled widely and spoke to a great many people — wives, husbands, children, parents, and the climbers themselves. It’s very moving stuff, and the book raises basic issues about extreme adventure and the risks it entails. St Martin’s Press, 2003.

In the land of white death

In 1912, two dozen men on a Russian ship found themselves frozen into the Arctic ice. Eleven tried to walk out. In the end, two made it back to civilisation; Valerian Albanov was one of them. It’s a great survival story, well told, and (at least until its recent reissue, which was excerpted in Adventure, November/December 2000) virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. Modern Library, 2000.

The mountains of my life

The great Italian climber, Walter Bonatti, was always a loner and a controversial figure among his countrymen, but no one denies his greatness. This edition includes his persuasive defence of his much- criticised role in the first ascent of K2 — it’s a high-altitude detective story. And he writes like a dream. Modern Library, 2001.