CLOUD WALKERS

Canadian peaks have not received the glamorous attention of the Himalayan, nor even that of our own Mount McKinley, highest peak in the Northern Hemisphere. Moreover, Canada's Mount Logan is only 450 feet lower than McKinley and incredibly more difficult to approach. For instance, the first party to attempt Mount Logan made a two-year project out of it. During their first expedition they transported 4 1/2 tons of supplies up 80 miles of inclined glacier to prepare for their second and final attempt. The second attempt did put six men on the summit, but only after difficulties that are still only barely indicated on the written page. That includes temperatures at -50° Fahrenheit and hallucinations worthy of Rimbaud. The peaks Sherman describes also include Mounts Waddington , Slesse, Robson, Howson and Fairweather. As an indication of what comes over climbers, one mountaineer, rescued after six freezing days without food, wanted either ""a glass of ice-cold milk straight from the refrigerator"" or else ""a mixture of cold milk and beer."" In one of his most interesting tales, Sherman participates in locating the high wreckage of an airliner which crashed with 54 aboard...This is not only an excellent addition to recent climbing books, but also fills a great gap in the subject for armchair altitude addicts.