Book Retroactively Inspires our Organization’s Name
Book inspires my mission
While house-sitting here in Durango, at fellow Mountain Spirit board member Bob Stremba’s house, I ran across a book on his shelf entitled “The Mountain Spirit”. Naturally I was intrigued. It looked like an old publication, and indeed, it was published by Overlook Press in 1979.
It’s an anthology with authors Georger Steiner, Galan Rowell, Dogen, David Roberts, Evelio Echevarria and Jeff Long and more. Some of the chapter titles are: A History of Imagination in Wilderness, The Isolated Mountain, Alaska and Personal Style, Cairns, Modesty and the Conquest of Mountains, Bouldering: A Mystical Art Form, and Mountains in Early Taoism.
From the book’s back cover:
” The past few years have seen an extraordinary growth of interest in mountaineering all over the world, especially in North America. Until now, there has been a marked tendency among writers to concentrate on only the sporting aspects of mountain climbing.
The Mountain Spirit is the first work to explore the spiritual realm of mountains and mountain climbing in a philosophical, poetic, and even religious context. Bringing to the reader the excitement of heights and distant perspectives i, this book presents original material from an eclectic writing community and a unique approach to the aesthetics of the mountain experience”.
Reading through the pages, I was to see the book giving more expression to what I already felt but up till now, hadn’t expressed in the mountaineering aspects of this book. I’ll be ordering my copy today, and will see what I can do to get extra copies to fellow board members.
Our organization was founded on the idea of helping people to connect to themselves, each other and the environment. Mountaineering, and being in the power of mountains, is a natural ingredient in spiritual growth. We hope you’ll check out this book, and come with us on an adventure of the spirit in the mountains.
D.R. Richards, Founder
Mountain Spirit Institute
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