Voices from the Summit:
The World’s Greatest Mountaineers on the Future of Climbing

by Bernadette McDonald and John Amatt

“Have you ever wanted to sit down with David Breashears, Lynn Hill, or Ricardo Cassin and ask them what they thought about climbing’s current state of affairs? Or maybe try to gain some insight into their passion and drive? If your answer is “yes” then Voices from the Summit is what you’ve been looking for. (…)
Thirty-two of the world’s most respected and visionary climbers were asked to write about the future of climbing as it relates to their particular discipline, and sometimes to touch upon a particular topic. Together with wonderful black-and-white portraits of each author, the individual essays are a unique look into minds and hearts of these climbers.”
Dave Sheldon, “Climbing” 2001, March 15, No. 201, p. 127

“The subtitle of this book immediately seduced me. What an original concept to have world-class mountaineers discuss the future of our rapidly changing sport. I was soon disappointed. Most of the contributors, obviously given little direction by The Banff Centre for Mountain Culture (who commissioned the project), have ignored the future almost completely. Instead, they simply placed their résumés out there for all to see. We find life histories that drone on for 99 percent of the essay, with trite ruminations about the future mentioned only as an afterthought. (…) Much of all is interesting, I’ll admit, but isn’t it a bit out of subject?”
Steve Roper, “American Alpine Journal” 2001, p. 424-425

“In the mountains I was still wearing knickers. So writes Catherine Destivelle, apparently, about her teenage self in this collection of original essays from contributors to the Banff Mountain Film Festival, published to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Three things about this remarkably frank statement are typical of this book: it is written in North American, it’s mostly about the past and style is the preoccupation. (…)
The most profound essays in this collection are those that have learned from the past that style has an inner dimension as well as a public one, what Royal Robbins calls, the mountains inside the mountaineer.”
Terry Gilford, „High” 2001, May, No. 222, p. 58-60

“The idea of asking a bunch of climbers to talk about the big issues in the sport: ethics, commercialism, motivations etc, etc, sounds like asking for trouble; akin to telling a rugby team to discuss the finer points of existentialism. But, like the old adage about monkeys and typewriters, such an experiment is bound to throw up the odd minor masterpiece. And so it has proved with this compendium of essays by the Great & the Good of the mountaineering past and present. (…)
However, despite the earnest prolixity of some of the contributions, the book is a rare opportunity to take the philosophical pulse of the world’s top climbers; and proves that at least some mountaineers have brains. You’ll have to get the book to find out which.”
Colin Wells, “On The Edge” 2001, April, No. 106, p. 86-87