★Rights sold to China!
★Alps, Caucasus, Himalayas... From the ancient times the mountains captured people's imagination! Who were the first conquerors of the world's highest tops? What dangers did they face? How did they survive in those extreme journeys?
★This book tells a story of the conquest of the mountains, from 18th century to present times, a story of human courage and friendship, of incredible adventures and discoveries.
★For children 7 years old and up.

This is a unique story of how people changed their view of mountains and mountain climbing. First they saw mountains as an enemy to subjugate but with time the very process of ascent acquired a special meaning for the climbers. The subdued illustrations remind us of vintage postcards from the Alps.

"A synonym for mountaineering is alpinism. This word derives from a name of the Alpes Mountain Range. That name, in its turn, derives from a Latin word albus meaning ‘white’ or from a Latin word altus meaning ‘high’, according to different theories."

"And now, in 1857 in London the Alpine Club was founded, the first mountaineering club in the world. The Club started to introduce systematically its own conditions. Now the alpinists could confidently stand their ground against the guides of Chamonix, appealing to the rules of the Club. Following the British example, the Alpine clubs were founded all over Europe.
The founders of the first Alpine Club believed that mountaineering was the highest form of devotion to the mountains.
That was a beginning of the Golden Age of mountaineering."

"The mountaineers decided that it would be better to climb up the North Face of Everest. They had to find how to enter it. The pass to the northern saddle which lead to the ridge was hidden in the rocks, icefalls, and ice. After a long search, George Mallory managed to find the approach to Chang La – the northern saddle of Everest. To climb the crest, 500 steps had to be cut out in the ice. The expedition didn’t proceed further. The mountaineers were too exhausted to attempt the ascent to the peak, everybody suffered from altitude sickness. And what was most important, the time was up – the monsoon with all the snowfalls has arrived."