On Belay
The Life of Legendary Mountaineer Paul Petzoldt
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
* Paul Petzoldt was a pioneering North American climber and founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
* Details an adventurous, wild, and long life
* Drawn from 30 years of personal association and extensive interviews
There are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but there are no old, bold climbers. This familiar saying, coined by legendary climber Paul Petzoldt, is one he lived to disprove. When he passed away at the age of 91, Petzoldt's career was marked by decades of achievement in climbing, incomparable passion for outdoor education, wanderlust, and a relentless drive for adventure.
Petzoldt's name is synonymous with the Grand Tetons and NOLS, the highly respected outdoor school that he founded. Blazing the trail for an international code of wilderness ethics and safe climbing techniques, Petzoldt devised the voice signaling system that begins with On belay!
This intimate biography details Petzoldt's climbing career, including many first ascents in the Tetons, the first American expedition to K2, and the extraordinary leadership accomplishments that made him legendary.
This title is part of our LEGENDS AND LORE series. Click here > to learn more.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Petzoldt, now 90, climbed Wyoming's Grand Teton when he was 16, and by age 21 had his own guiding concession. Famous for exploits such as traversing the Matterhorn twice in one day and scaling K2 in the Himalayas, he is also a renowned climbing instructor, the originator of an innovative voice-signal system and a promoter of wilderness ethics. Ringholz, who collaborated with Petzoldt on The Wilderness Handbook, bases her laudatory biography on 30 years of taped interviews, successfully incorporating Petzoldt's voice into the narrative as he tells the story of his varied adventures, which included riding freight cars as a young man, a year studying with the dean of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle and an unsatisfying month on a commune in India. Often surrounded by controversy, Petzoldt was accused and acquitted of manslaughter in India and denounced for unethical business conduct when he headed the National Outdoor Leadership School. Ringholz shows that he has always been more interested in independence than in money. Photos not seen by PW.
