David Roberts (climber)

David Roberts (b. 1943 ^[1]) is a climber, mountaineer, and author of books and articles about climbing. He is particularly noted for his books The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative, chronicling major ascents in Alaska in the 1960s, which had a major impact on the form of mountaineering literature. In thirteen seasons spent in the Alaskan wilderness, Roberts is well known for many first ascents, including the Wickersham Wall on Mount McKinley, the West rib of Mount Huntington, climbing in the Western Brooks Range and the Kichatna Spires, and on the East Face of Mount Dickey.

Roberts is the son of Walter Orr Roberts and mentor to Jon Krakauer.

David Roberts attended Harvard University, where he received a mathematics degree in 1965. He was a member of and former president of the Harvard Mountaineering Club. He also received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Denver in 1970.^[2]

From 1970 to 1979 Roberts was a professor of literature at Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts, as well as designing the college's Outdoors Program.^[2]

He is generally acknowledged as the "dean" of American climbing literature.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bibliography

• The Mountain of My Fear. (1968) Vanguard Press.
• Deborah: A wilderness narrative. (1970)
• Moments of Doubt: And Other Mountaineering Writings. (1986) The Mountaineers. ISBN 0-89886-118-7
• Escape Routes: Further Adventure Writings of David Roberts. (1997) The Mountaineers. ISBN 0-89886-509-3
• In Search of the Old Ones. (1997) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-83212-7
• A Newer World : Kit Carson John C Fremont And The Claiming Of The American West. (2001) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-87021-5
• Great Exploration Hoaxes (2001). Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-78324-5
• True Summit : What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent on Annapurna. (2002) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0327-5
• Escape from Lucania : An Epic Story of Survival. (2002) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2432-9
• Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World. (2003). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2431-0
• On the Ridge Between Life and Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined. (2005). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-5518-6
• Sandstone Spine: Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge, photographs by Greg Child. (2005) The Mountaineers. ISBN 1-59485-005-4
• The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion that Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest. (2005) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-5517-8
• Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy. (2008) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1-4165-3988-3
• The Last of His Kind: The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer. (2009) William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-156094-1
• Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer. (2011) Broadway. ISBN 978-0-307-59176-0
• Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration. (January 21, 2013) W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393240160

Co-authored books

• Mount McKinley: The Conquest of Denali, with Bradford Washburn (1991) Harry N Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3611-9
• Iceland: Land of the Sagas, with Jon Krakauer. (1998) Villard. ISBN 0-375-75267-6
• The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mt. Everest, with Conrad Anker. (2001) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-87152-1
• No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks, with Ed Viesturs. (2006) Broadway. ISBN 0-7679-2470-3
• K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, with Ed Viesturs. (2010) Broadway. ISBN 0-7679-3260-9
• The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna—the World's Deadliest Peak, with Ed Viesturs. (2011) Crown. ISBN 0-307-72042-X

Edited books

• Points Unknown: The Greatest Adventure Writing of the Twentieth Century (2002) W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-32378-1

Selected awards

• Prix Mediterrane
• Prix du Salon de Livre de Passy
• Prix d'Autrans
• American Alpine Club Literary Award
• Folio Magazine Award
• Grand Prize at Banff Mountain Book Festival
• Club Medal by Harvard Travellers Club
• 2001 National Geographic Adventure ranked "The Mountain of My Fear" and "Deborah" among the 100 best adventure books ever written

References

External links

• David Roberts Facebook page