I have been on a long-term side project, tangential to my enjoyment of mountain lit, to identify the Climbing Classics of mountaineering and climbing literature and these are my working lists, which were ever changing. I kept a list of “candidates” for Climbing Classics and a list of books that I need to read/acquire to evaluate so you can see my progress. Please bear with me, as I officially started this semi-formal process back in 2019.

MY SHORT-LONG LIST OF BOOKS TO READ AND/OR ACQUIRE

I kept a spreadsheet that I called the T.S.M. Long Short List or just My Short-Long List. They are books that readers like you have persuaded me might be a candidate or just interested me enough to read for myself. It hasn’t been updated in a while, but here it is if it’s helpful to you:

CLIMBING CLASSIC CANDIDATES (So far and in no particular order)

These are candidates but not yet my nominees as of 2023:

• Annapurna by Maurice Herzog (1951)*
• The Mountain of My Fear by David Roberts (1968)
• Kiss or Kill by Mark Twight (2001)
• Fifty Classic Climbs by Steve Roper and Allen Steck (1979)
• The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd (1977)
• Minus 148 Degrees by Art Davidson (1969)

*Dates are listed as the first year of publication.