The Outdoors & Nature category has 284 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 2,023 ratings. The most-rated is American Buffalo.
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
Summary
Join these two comedy greats and lifelong friends on their journey from recuperation to riverbank in this hilarious and heart-warming audiobook that gives you a front-row seat at an exclusive Bob and Paul production. Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse have been friends for 30 years, but when life intervened, what was once a joyous and spontaneous friendship dwindled to the odd phone call or occasional catch up. Then, Glory Be! They were both diagnosed with heart disease and realised that time is short. They'd better spend it fishing.... So they dusted off their kits, chucked on their waders and ventured into the achingly beautiful British countryside to fish, rediscover the joys of their friendship and ruminate on some of life's most profound questions, such as: How did we get so old? Where are all the fish? What are your favourite pocket meats? What should we do if we find a corpse? Following the success of the BBC's Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing series, this wonderful audiobook by two lifelong friends is a love letter to the joys of angling, the thrill of the catch and the virtue of having a right daft laff with your mates. On the fish, the equipment, the food, and the locations, Gone Fishing is the perfect audiobook for fans of Bob Mortimer, Paul Whitehouse and for anyone who wants to listen to a brilliantly written and endlessly funny joint memoir on life, friendship and joys of fishing. Audio edition includes an exclusive fishing trip with Bob and Paul.
©2019 Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse (P)2019 Bonnier Books UK
The Climb
Summary
The Climb is a true, gripping, and thought-provoking account of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest: On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by experienced leaders attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world, but things went terribly wrong. Crowded conditions on the mountain, miscommunications, unexplainable delays, poor leadership, bad decisions, and a blinding storm conspired to kill. Twenty-three men and women, disoriented and out of oxygen, struggled to find their way down the southern side of the mountain. In the dark, battered by snow driven by hurricane-force winds, some of the climbers became hopelessly lost and resigned themselves to death. Anatoli Boukreev, the head climbing guide for the West Seattle-based Mountain Madness expedition, refused to give up hope. Solo, climbing blind in the maw of a storm that continually threatened his life, Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death.
©1997 by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks
Training for the New Alpinism
Summary
In Training for the New Alpinism, Steve House, world-class climber and Patagonia ambassador, and Scott Johnston, coach of US national champions and World Cup Nordic skiers, translate training theory into practice to allow you to coach yourself to any mountaineering goal. Applying training practices from other endurance sports, House and Johnston demonstrate that following a carefully designed regimen is as effective for alpinism as it is for any other endurance sport and leads to better performance. They deliver detailed instruction on how to plan and execute training tailored to your individual circumstances. Whether you work as a banker or a mountain guide, live in the city or the country, are an ice climber, a mountaineer heading to Denali, or a veteran of 8,000-meter peaks, your understanding of how to achieve your goals grows exponentially as you work with this audiobook. Chapters cover endurance and strength-training theory and methodology, application, and planning, nutrition, altitude, mental fitness, and assessing your goals and your strengths. Chapters are augmented with inspiring essays by world-renowned climbers, including Ueli Steck, Mark Twight, Peter Habeler, Voytek Kurtyka, and Will Gadd. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2014 Patagonia Books (P)2019 Tantor
A Fly Rod of Your Own
Summary
John Gierach is known for his witty, trenchant observations about fly-fishing. In A Fly Rod of Your Own, Gierach once again takes us into his world and scrutinizes the art of fly-fishing. He travels to remote fishing locations where the airport is not much bigger than a garage and a flight might be held up because a passenger is running late. He sings the praises of the skilled pilots who fly to remote fishing lodges in tricky locations and bad weather. He explains why even the most veteran fisherman seems to muff his cast whenever he's being filmed or photographed. He describes the all-but-impassable roads that fishermen always seem to encounter at the best fishing spots and why fishermen discuss four-wheel drive vehicles almost as passionately and frequently as they discuss fly rods and flies. And while he's on that subject, he explains why even the most conscientious fisherman always seems to accumulate more rods and flies than he could ever need. From Alaska to the Rockies and across the continent to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, A Fly Rod of Your Own is an ode to those who fish.
©2017 John Gierach (P)2017 Tantor
The Will to Climb
Summary
The best-selling author of No Shortcuts to the Top and K2 chronicles his three attempts to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest peak, Annapurna in the Himalaya, while exploring the dramatic and tragic history of others who have made - or attempted - the ascent, and what these exploits teach us about facing life's greatest challenges. As a high-school student in the flatlands of Rockford, Illinois, where the highest objects on the horizon were water towers, Ed Viesturs read and was captivated by the French climber Maurice Herzog's famous and grisly account of the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950. When he began his own campaign to climb the world's 14 highest peaks in the late 1980s, Viesturs looked forward with trepidation to undertaking Annapurna himself. Two failures to summit in 2000 and 2002 made Annapurna his nemesis. His successful 2005 ascent was the triumphant capstone of his climbing quest. In The Will To Climb, Viesturs brings the extraordinary challenges of Annapurna to vivid life through edge-of-your-seat accounts of the greatest climbs in the mountain’s history, and of his own failed attempts and eventual success. In the process, he ponders what Annapurna reveals about some of our most fundamental moral and spiritual questions - questions, he believes, that we need to answer to lead our lives well. "Of all fourteen of the world's highest mountains, which I climbed between 1989 and 2005," writes Viesturs, "the one that came the closest to defeating my best efforts was Annapurna." Although it was the first 8,000-meter peak to be climbed, Annapurna is not as well known as the world's highest mountain, Everest, or second highest, K2. But as Viesturs argues, Annapurna, while not technically the most difficult of the 8,000ers, is the most daunting because it has no route - no ridge or face on any side of the mountain - that is relatively free of what climbers call "objective danger": the threat of avalanches, above all, but also of collapsing seracs (huge ice blocks), falling rocks, and crevasses. Since its first ascent in 1950, Annapurna has been climbed by more than 130 people, but 53 have died trying. This high fatality rate makes Annapurna the most dangerous of the 8,000-meter peaks. Viesturs and co-author David Roberts chronicle Ed's three attempts to climb Annapurna, as well as the attempts of others, from the two French climbers who made the landmark first ascent of Annapurna on June 3, 1950, through the daring and tragic campaigns of such world-class mountaineers as Reinhold Messner and Anatoli Boukreev. Viesturs' accounts and analyses of these extraordinary adventures serve as a point of departure for his exploration of themes vividly illustrated by Annapurna expeditions, including obsession and commitment, fear and fulfillment, failure and triumph - issues that have been neglected in the otherwise very rich literature of mountaineering, and that can inform the lives and actions of everyone.
©2011 David Roberts, Ed Viesturs (P)2011 Random House
Mind of the Raven
Summary
Bernd Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. But as animals can be spied on only by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father", as well as observing them in their natural habitat. He studies their daily routines and, in the process, paints a vivid picture of the ravens' world. At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation and analysis we become their intimates, too. Heinrich's passion for ravens has led him around the world in his research. Mind of the Raven follows an exotic journey - from New England to Germany, and from Montana to Baffin Island in the High Arctic - offering dazzling accounts of how science works in the field, filtered through the eyes of a passionate observer of nature. Each new discovery and insight into raven behavior is thrilling, at once lyrical and scientific.
©1999 Bernd Heinrich (P)2016 Tantor
The Peregrine
Summary
The nation's greatest voice, David Attenborough, reads J. A. Baker's extraordinary classic of British nature writing, The Peregrine. J. A. Baker's classic of British nature writing was first published in 1967. Greeted with acclaim, it went on to win the Duff Cooper Prize, the pre-eminent literary prize of the time. Luminaries such as Ted Hughes, Barry Lopez and Andrew Motion have cited it as one of the most important books in 20th-century nature writing. Despite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J. A. Baker spent long winters looking and writing about the visitors from the uplands peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons and waders that share the desolate landscape with them.
©1967 J. A. Baker (P)1967 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
The Living Mountain
Summary
In this masterpiece of nature writing, beautifully narrated by Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense, poetic prose explores and records the rocks, rivers, creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape. Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the ‘essential nature’ of the Cairngorms; her quest led her to write this classic meditation on the magnificence of mountains, and on our imaginative relationship with the wild world around us. Composed during the Second World War, the manuscript of The Living Mountain lay untouched for more than 30 years before it was finally published.
©2019 Nan Shepherd (P)2019 Canongate Books Ltd
Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers
Summary
In his latest fresh and original collection, Gierach shows us why fly-fishing is the perfect antidote to everything that is wrong with the world. In Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers, Gierach looks back to the long-ago day when he bought his first resident fishing license in Colorado, where the fishing season never ends, and just knew he was in the right place. And he succinctly sums up part of the appeal of his sport when he writes that it is "[A]n acquired taste that reintroduces the chaos of uncertainty back into our well-regulated lives". Lifelong fisherman though he is, Gierach can write with self-deprecating humor about his own fishing misadventures, confessing that despite all his experience, he is still capable of blowing a strike by a fish "[I]n the usual amateur way". He offers witty, trenchant observations not just about fly-fishing itself, but also about how one's love of fly-fishing shapes the world that we choose to make for ourselves.
©2020 John Gierach (P)2020 Tantor
No Shortcuts to the Top
Summary
This gripping and triumphant memoir follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time. For 18 years, Ed Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's 14 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go. A preternaturally cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest but who would not shrink from a peak (Annapurna) known to claim the life of one climber for every two who reached its summit, Viesturs lives by an unyielding motto: "Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory." It is with this philosophy that he vividly describes fatal errors in judgment made by his fellow climbers, as well as a few of his own close calls and gallant rescues. And, for the first time, he details his own pivotal and heroic role in the 1996 Everest disaster made famous in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. No Shortcuts to the Top is more than the first full account of one of the staggering accomplishments of our time; it is a portrait of a brave and devoted family man and the beliefs that shaped this most perilous and magnificent pursuit.
©2006 Ed Viesturs and David Roberts (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.
All Fishermen Are Liars
Summary
For John Gierach, "the master of fly-fishing" (Sacramento Bee), fishing is always the answer - even when it's not clear what the question is. In All Fishermen Are Liars, Gierach travels around North America seeking out quintessential fishing experiences, whether it's at a busy stream or a secluded lake hidden amid snow-capped mountains. He talks about the art of fly-tying and the quest for the perfect steelhead fly ("The Nuclear Option"), about fishing in the Presidential Pools previously fished by the elder George Bush ("I wondered briefly if I'd done something karmically disastrous and was now fated to spend the rest of my life breathing the exhaust of this elderly Republican"), and the importance of traveling with like-minded companions when caught in a soaking rain ("At this point someone is required to say, 'You know, there are people who wouldn't think this is fun'"). And though Gierach loses some fish along the way, he never loses his passion and sense of humor. Wry, contemplative, and lively - that is to say, pure Gierach - All Fishermen Are Liars is a joy to listen to-and, as always, the next best thing to fishing itself.
©2014 John Gierach (P)2017 Tantor
Gifts of the Crow
Summary
New research indicates that crows are among the brightest animals in the world. And professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington John Marzluff has done some of the most extraordinary research on crows, which has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic, and the Chicago Tribune, as well as on NPR and PBS. Now he teams up with artist and fellow naturalist Tony Angell to offer an in-depth look at these incredible creatures - in a book that is brimming with surprises. Redefining the notion of “bird brain,” crows and ravens are often called feathered apes because of their clever tool-making and their ability to respond to environmental challenges, including those posed by humans. Indeed, their long lives, social habits, and large complex brains allow them to observe and learn from us and our social gatherings. Their marvelous brains allow crows to think, plan, and reconsider their actions. In these and other enthralling revelations, Marzluff and Angell portray creatures that are nothing short of amazing: They play, bestow gifts on people who help or feed them, use cars as nutcrackers, seek revenge on animals that harass them, are tricksters that lure birds to their deaths, and dream. The authors marvel at crows' behavior that we humans would find strangely familiar, from delinquency and risk-taking to passion and frolic. A testament to years of painstaking research, this riveting work is a thrilling look at one of nature's most wondrous creatures.
©2012 John Marzluff and Tony Angell (P)2012 Tantor
How to Shoot like a Navy SEAL
Summary
Each year in America, two million criminals break into homes just like yours. Is your aim good enough to guarantee your family's safety? How to Shoot like a Navy SEAL teaches gun owners and their families the same deadly, effective techniques the author used to create the world's deadliest snipers. The book is designed to give you the most powerful methods in easy-to-follow instructions. A retired US Navy SEAL and best-selling author, Chris Sajnog was hand selected to develop the entire US Navy SEAL sniper training program. Now you can use these world-class techniques to master your weapon and protect your family. Here's what you'll learn: How to find the right positions for you - not the cookie-cutter methods that work for only some people - so you can maximize your aim with as little effort as possible Simple training exercises you can do right now, at home, without having to spend thousands of dollars at the shooting range How to boost your accuracy by up to 95 percent, using the "Navy SEAL focus" technique that you can master in minutes Chris Sajnog's "SEAL 7": seven super simple steps that'll completely change the way you shoot, so you can hit your mark every time The SEAL sniper trick that you can start using today, allowing you to instantly hit targets at twice the distance Why the aiming technique you were taught is completely wrong and how you can fix it instantly How to do all of this safely without risking harm to your family
©2013 Center Mass Group, LLC (P)2015 Center Mass Group, LLC
The World Beneath Their Feet
Summary
Winner of the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award for Best History/Biography A saga of survival, technological innovation, and breathtaking human physical achievement - all set against the backdrop of a world headed toward war - that became one of the most compelling international dramas of the 20th century. While tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was raging across the Himalayas. Contingents from Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the United States had set up rival camps at the base of the mountains, all hoping to become recognized as the fastest, strongest, and bravest climbers in the world. Carried on across nearly the entire sweep of the Himalayas, this contest involved not only the greatest mountain climbers of the era, but statesmen and millionaires, world-class athletes and bona fide eccentrics, scientists and generals, obscure villagers and national heroes. Centered in the 1930s, with one brief, shining postwar coda, the contest was a struggle between hidebound traditionalists and unknown innovators, one that featured new techniques and equipment, unbelievable courage and physical achievement, and unparalleled valor. And death. One Himalayan peak alone, Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, claimed 25 lives in less than three years. Climbing the Himalayas was the Greatest Generation's moonshot - one shrouded in the onset of war, interrupted by it, and then fully accomplished. A gritty, fascinating history sure to enrapture fans of Hampton Sides, Jon Krakauer, and Laura Hillenbrand, The World Beneath Their Feet brings this forgotten story back to life. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Scott Ellsworth (P)2020 Little, Brown & Company
Fool's Paradise
Summary
If John Gierach is living in a fool's paradise, then it's a paradise that his regular listeners will recognize and new fans will delight in discovering. Laced with the inimitable blend of wit and wisdom that have made him fly-fishing's foremost scribe, Fool's Paradise chronicles the fishing life in all its glory (catching your biggest fish ever) and squalor (being stranded in a tent during a soaking rainstorm). In Gierach's world, both experiences are valuable, and perhaps inevitable. Fishermen everywhere will understand Gierach's quest to discover and explore new waters, the unlikely appeal of winter fly-fishing, or his dismay at encroaching development. Braving trips on small prop planes and down "oh-my-God" roads, Gierach and his fishing buddies pursue bull trout in British Columbia, steelhead in the Rocky Mountains, and pike so fierce that a wise fisherman wears Kevlar gloves for the obligatory trophy photo. Equal parts fishing lore, philosophy, and great fish stories, Fool's Paradise may not be a perfect substitute for actually being out on the water, but it's surely the next best thing.
©2008 John Gierach (P)2017 Tantor
Navy SEAL Shooting
Summary
Imagine if you could learn to shoot safely and effectively at home saving you time and money you don't have. Well, now you can! Navy SEAL Shooting teaches you the groundbreaking training method developed by one of the most respected firearms instructors in the world, retired Navy SEAL Chris Sajnog. With easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and 385 illustrations, this book covers everything you need to know to make effective shots in any high-stress situation. You will learn to plan your training, improve your accuracy and speed, shoot while moving, and clear malfunctions. Plus discover every manipulation needed for any semi-automatic pistol or rifle. Whether in combat, competition or just safely and confidently protecting yourself or your family, this book will help you dominate any opponent. Register your audiobook purchase at navysealshooting.com to receive access to all the images from the print version as well as receive free additional training from the author.
©2015 Center Mass Group, LLC (P)2016 Center Mass Group, LLC
High Exposure
Summary
The story of the famed large format cinematographer, adventurer, and mountaineer whose terrifying experiences on Mount Everest during the deadly 1996 season became the defining moment of his life. By 1995, David Breashears had already twice reached Mt. Everest's summit. Then he faced the greatest challenge of his life: to scale the 29,028-foot peak, hauling the giant IMAX® camera to film the large format film, Everest. In this extraordinary memoir, Breashears takes that perilous climb, during which 9 would tragically perish, and uses it as the linchpin of his life. As his fans will discover, there is an inextricable link between this enigmatic man's troubled childhood, his brilliant successes as a climber and cinematographer, and his courage and honor in the face of disaster.
©1999 by David Breashears (P)1999 NewStar Media Inc.
Good Call
Summary
The closer we look at the Robertson family, the more we discover the substance and authenticity below the surface of these well-known TV characters. In this enlightening audiobook, Jase Robertson gives us a deep look behind his funnyman exterior. In addition to stories of life in the Robertson family and epic tales of hunting of all kinds, listeners will get an inside look at Jase’s personal faith in the Creator of the outdoors he so dearly loves: "My first thoughts about God came in a duck blind as I gazed upon the diversity and beauty of creation. There is nothing in nature that can be reproduced or equaled by humans. None of our computers, microchips, or cell phones can duplicate what God has put forth. Viewing the details of this magnificent Earth is better than any sermon from any preacher I have heard about the evidence of God." More than a behind-the-scenes look at this beloved Duck Dynasty character, listeners will be inspired and encouraged to implement Jase’s "good call" reflections on faith, family, and fowl into their own lives.
©2014 Jase Robertson. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version(R), NIV(R) (c)1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica, Inc.(R). Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. (P)2014 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Everest 1953
Summary
On the morning of 2 June 1953, the day of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, the first news ebbed through to the British public of a magnificent achievement: Everest had finally been conquered. Drawing on first-hand interviews and unprecedented access to archives, this is a groundbreaking new account of that extraordinary first ascent. In a thrilling tale of adventure and courage, Mick Conefrey reveals that what has gone down in history as a supremely well-planned attempt was actually beset by crisis and controversy, both on and off the mountain. From funding panics to Sherpa rebellions, hostile press to menacing weather, John Hunt and his team had to draw on unimaginable skill and determination, as well as sheer British ingenuity, to succeed. An intimate insight into the forgotten personalities behind the ascent including Eric Shipton, the enigmatic Mr Everest, and Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, who came within 100 metres of being first to the summit. Everest 1953 recounts a bygone age of self-sacrifice and heroism, using letters and personal diaries to reveal the immense stress and heartache the climbers often hid from their fellow team members.
©2012 Mick Conefrey (P)2013 Audible Ltd
Training for the Uphill Athlete
Summary
Dovetailing on the success of Training for the New Alpinism and Patagonia's own emphasis on all mountain use, Training for the Uphill Athlete translates theory into methodology to allow you to write your own training plans and coach yourself to endurance goals. Steve House, one of the best mountaineers, and his coach Scott Johnston, an Olympic-level cross country ski coach, along with Kilian Jornet, hands down best endurance athlete at this time, present training principles for the multisport mountain athlete who regularly participates in a mix of distance running, ski mountaineering, and other endurance sports that require optimum fitness and customized strength. This is an authoritative but accessible training manual for athletes and coaches who feel most alive in the mountains or pushing the uphill ascent. Distance running, ski mountaineering, skimo, and skyrunning are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, and are often undertaken by the same person during a single year. This book collects the scientifically backed and athlete-tested wisdom and experience of three of the best uphill athletes and coaches and extrapolates both to educate outdoor athletes of all stripes to perform their best.
©2019 Patagonia Works (P)2020 Tantor