Naked Mountaineer
The Naked Mountaineer recounts a series of solo journeys to some of the world’s most exotic peaks in places such as Switzerland, Japan, and Borneo. However, it is far from the typical heroic mountain-expedition book. Although Steve Sieberson did reach many summits, in most cases his travels were more memorable for what he encountered along the way than for the actual climbing. His real adventures involved peculiar people, strange foods, and tropical diseases, rather than pitons, ice axes, and carabiners. On the Matterhorn he met an English alpinist who reveled in naked selfies, he stumbled into a cockfight in a Balinese village, and on a volcano in Italy he was mistaken for a famous singer by an insistent fan.
The Naked Mountaineer offers mountain-themed travel stories with a wide-eyed view of the world, while presenting irreverent commentary on climbers and their peculiar sport. These are rollicking tales, filled with the unexpected.
Steve Sieberson began his mountaineering career in the late 1970s in Washington State and eventually became a climb leader for one of the country’s premier outdoor organizations, the Mountaineers. He spent sixteen years as a member of Seattle Mountain Rescue, practiced international law in Seattle for twenty-five years, and is now a professor of law at Creighton University in Omaha.
Lou Whittaker is the dean of American mountaineering and the country’s foremost professional mountaineering guide.