Enduring Patagonia

New York: Random House, 2001. xii, 225 pages, illustrations (some colour); 24 cm. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Faint dust spotting/top edge. Stated First Edition. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. "Patagonia is a strange and terrifying place, a vast tract of land shared by Argentina and Chile where the violent weather spawned over the southern Pacific charges through the Andes with gale-force winds, roaring clouds, and stinging snow. Squarely athwart the latitudes known to sailors as the roaring forties and furious fifties, Patagonia is a land trapped between angry torrents of sea and sky, a place that has fascinated explorers and writers for centuries. Magellan discovered the strait that bears his name during the first circumnavigation. Charles Darwin traveled Patagonia's windy steppes and explored the fjords of Tierra del Fuego during the voyage of the Beagle. From the novel perspective of the cockpit, Antoine de Saint-Exupry immortalized the Andes in Wind, Sand, and Stars, and a half century later, Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia earned a permanent place among the great works of travel literature. Yet even today, the Patagonian Andes remain mysterious and remote, a place where horrible storms and ruthless landscapes discourage all but the most devoted pilgrims from paying tribute to the daunting and dangerous peaks . Enduring Patagonia is a breathtaking odyssey through one of the worldís last wild places, a land that requires great sacrifice but offers great rewards to those who dare to challenge it. / Gregory Crouch grew up in Goleta, California, where he now lives with his wife, DeAnne, and their son, Ryan. He has made more than a dozen climbing expeditions on four continents, most notably in Alaska and Patagonia, and his work has appeared in National Geographic, Islands, Backpacker, Climbing, and Rock & Ice." - Publisher.. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. 8vo.