Arlene Blum’s Feb. 21 lecture at Hamilton on “mountains and molecules” began with an autobiographical account of how she has built a remarkable career in otherwise unlikely circumstances.  Blum is founder and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute (GSPI), an organization that serves as a watchdog group for regulations that may have adverse health effects.

 “MAD, ILL-EQUIPPED AND ADMIRABLE: EVEREST 1962,” an article written by Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History Maurice Isserman appearing in Alpinist magazine, tells the story of an American-Swiss team of four climbers who attempted to climb Mt. Everest from the north side.  Isserman wrote about the climbers’ adventures, from their initial planning to their illegal entry into Tibet and their near-fatal accidents which ultimately caused them to turn back.

As final exams approach, many Hamilton students are facing one last mountain of work before they can head home for the holidays. Perhaps appropriate for this season and providing a welcome break from all the studying, Hamilton welcomed prize-winning author Wade Davis on Dec. 12 to discuss his award-winning work, Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest.

Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History Maurice Isserman discussed mountaineering on March 8 at the University of Michigan’s Mountaineering Culture Studies Group meeting. He was joined by Stewart Weaver of the University of Rochester with whom he co-authored the award-winning book Fallen Giants:  A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extreme (2008). Isserman and Weaver talked about the origin and evolution of their own work, as well as the future of mountaineering.

The Colorado River is one of the United States’ most impressive rivers. At 1,450 miles long, the river drains almost 250,000 square miles—10 percent of the United States—down the spine of the Continental Divide. The Colorado, though, is not as mighty as it once was. Because of population growth in the Southwest the Colorado no longer reaches the Pacific Ocean, but trickles dry in the deserts of northern Mexico. In his Nov. 1 talk in the Taylor Science Center, adventurer Jonathan Waterman detailed his journey down the Colorado and discussed the implications of the overuse of the river as a water resource.

James L. Ferguson Professor of History Maurice Isserman was presented with the University of Rochester’s Andrew Eiseman Writer’s Award for Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes on Dec. 10, in Rochester. Isserman and co-writer Stewart Weaver of the University of Rochester will share the award and its $1,000 prize.

An interview with James L. Ferguson Professor of History Maurice Isserman has been published in Grasping for Heaven: Interviews with North American Mountaineers by Frederic Hartemann and Robert Hauptman.

Bernadette McDonald visited Hamilton on Nov. 9 to discuss her experiences with some of the most outstanding Himalayan mountain climbers of the 20th century as she chronicled their lives in biographies. Her writing has taken her all over the world, driving her to ask personal questions, delve into complex characters, and develop countless friendships. Along the way, she dealt with difficult, “grumpy” personalities, faced exhausting climbs, read hundreds of letters and diary entries, and even learned to overcome personal fears.

Mountaineering writer Bernadette McDonald will speak on the topic “Writing a Life: Himalayan Heroes,”  on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Red Pit, Kirner-Johnson Building. The event is free and open to the public.  A book sale and signing will follow McDonald’s presentation.