Resources

We’re all for crossing the Alps—or any other stretch of ground—using only directions from people you meet along the way. The problem with that, at least in Switzerland, is that you will miss out on some of the most beautiful maps ever created. The national maps made by Swiss cartographers are art, navigable art, and you would be doing yourself a disservice to ignore them. Start here: map.geo.admin.ch.

Photojournalist Ben Buckland has devoted his career to human rights and nature conservation. “My work has taken me to over one hundred countries, to war zones, logging camps, and some of the worst prisons on earth. While not shying away from darkness, I also strive to tell compelling stories through my images that inspire hope and create positive action for change.” @bensb, benbuckland.photo

We’re big believers in adventure as a marital test. What doesn’t kill a marriage makes it stronger, right? LOL. For more relationship wisdom, follow author Cassidy Randall, @cassidyrandall, cassidyrandall.com.

Randall’s book, Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali, was published in spring 2025, and she’s been highlighting extraordinary gender-based challenges female alpinists have faced, not the least of which was climbing in skirts. In a 1961 expedition to climb Makalu, Irene Miller was ordered by trip leader Edmund Hillary not to climb above base camp, and another member said if she wanted to climb, she would have to have sex with all the men on the team.

Trained in environmental history, writer Dr. Rob Williams is a professor, publisher, musician, and breath coach. @drrobwilliams, nordicflow.io

Josh Powell’s The Pacific Crest Trail: A Visual Compendium is the coolest, most fun book we’ve seen about the beloved PCT, and that includes Wild by Cheryl Strayed, which, while a blockbuster, was not always fun. Powell’s book is a mix of infographics, graphic information, charts, illustrations, and the kinds of observations that only come from long days on the trail. You don’t have to be a thru-hiker to appreciate it, either. Are you human? Do ya walk? Buy the book. Buy it for everyone you know. It’s that good. @byjoshpowell, joshuampowell.com

Boulder Outdoor Survival School runs courses from late May until early September. The seven-day field class author Graham Averill took cost $2,290. There are fourteen-day and twenty-eight-day courses, as well as courses in wilderness navigation, hunting-gathering, primitive skills, and primitive living. @boulderoutdoorsurvivalschool, boss-inc.com

Graham Averill is—his words—a ho-hum writer, okay dad and husband, addicted to golf. From experience, we can say he’s okay on a mountain bike and around a campfire—a solid notch above ho-hum. @daddrinks

Longtime contributor to AJ and former managing editor Jeff Moag has written many, many Historical Badasses. This is our favorite.

Learning how other people are living with fewer material objects can be really inspiring. At minimum, it will encourage you to reassess your relationship with your stuff, including those adventure toys not getting enough use. Aside from the widely known Marie Kondo, we recommend Margareta Magnusson’s The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, as well as Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fujio Sasaki. Sasaki’s a bit of an extremist and some of his advice is just plain wrong (he recommends throwing things out, not donating), but there’s much to learn from his experience.

This story is adapted from Enough: Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest, written by mountain guide Melissa Arnot Reid and published in spring 2025. Our selection shares an important chapter in Arnot Reid’s journey, but it’s sure as heck just one of them: Enough is full of big mountains, big egos, expedition drama, and unblinking self assessment. Get it wherever you get your books.

Arnot Reid is the owner, along with husband Tyler Reid, of Pacific Alpine Guides, which runs climbing and skiing trips in the Northwest and internationally. Arnot Reid is available for guiding private climbs. She’s also the founder of the Juniper Fund, which assists Himalayan mountain workers and their families when Sherpa and other workers are lost in the mountains. To date, they have supported the families of sixty-nine deceased climbers. @melissaarnot, melissaarnot.com, pacificalpineguides.com, thejuniperfund.org

Writer and photographer Seth Kantner was born and raised in Alaska and schooled at home and on the land. He’s worked as a commercial fisherman, trapper, gardener, wilderness guide, and adjunct professor. Kantner is a frequent contributor to Adventure Journal, though not frequent enough in our book. Speaking of books, we recommend his novel Ordinary Wolves. @sethkantner, sethkantner.com

In case you haven’t noticed, the recipes we feature in Three Square are always vegan. There are two reasons for this: One, for lots of recipes, it’s easier to add animal products than remove them. Two, eating more plants and fewer animal products is one of the best lifestyle changes you can make to fight climate change. It’s not like you’re going to waste away; bears, despite their love of salmon, eat mostly berries and other fine vegetative foods.

The recipes in this issue are excerpted and adapted from Dirty Gourmet: Plant Power, Mountaineers Books, 2023. Dirty Gourmet’s first cookbook, Dirty Gourmet, was published by Mountaineers Books in 2018. dirtygourmet.com, @dirtygourmet