RECOMMENDED READING:
The following books and maps are some of many we would recommend for reading before coming to the Austrian / Italian Alps and the Stubai region.
Some are what we would call 'background' reading, some are specific to the trip you will be doing, and all are excellent preparation and fun to read, counting the days before your holiday begins.
The books & maps are divided into following categories:
1: GUIDE BOOKS
2: TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS
3: 'HOW TO' BOOKS
4: REGIONAL TITLES
1: GUIDE BOOKS
| BOOK TITLE |
USA |
CANADA |
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Allan Hartley:
Trekking in the Stubai Alps
The book describes the 'rucksack route' and the 'glacier traverse' (starts at page 83)
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Allan Hartley:
Hut to hut touring in the Stubai Alps
This is the best book in english on hiking/trekking and glacier travel in the Stubai Alps, Austria. Unfortunately the maps are rudimentary but that's copyright. You will need to supplement this book (like most other similar books) with real maps. The descriptions are accurate and very useful.
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Jonathan Hurdle: Walking Austria's Alps
Tour 5 describes the Stubai Alps
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2: TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS
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3: 'HOW TO' BOOKS
| BOOK TITLE |
USA |
CANADA |
UK |
Alun Richardson:
The Rucksack Guide,
Rucksack Guide: Walking, Scrambling and Via Ferrata" is your essential handbook for when on the mountain. It offers concise guidance and support for whatever situations you might find yourself in, including: technical skills; tips and reminders on the key techniques that you need for rope work; various techniques to help in a range of weather conditions safety; and, guidance on what to do in extreme situations.
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4: REGIONAL TITLES
| BOOK TITLE |
USA |
CANADA |
UK |
Brenda Fowler: Ice Man
Otzi, the frozen cadaver now residing in a museum in Bolzano, Italy, was discovered by hikers in the glacial ice of the Tyrolean Alps, in 1991. He'd been there a long time - roughly 5300 years - undisturbed. [..]The quarrel between Austria and Italy over Tyrol was revivified by the exglaciation of Otzi; the squabble over the precise location of his discovery and the ultimate possession of his remains is one of the chief subjects of this journalistic book. The second focus of the book is the melee that took place between archaeologists over the right to study Otzi and his effects. |
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Kev Renolds:
Alpine Points of View
A splendid coffee table book of the Alps: From Nice to Slovenia |
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Michael Wachtler:
The first World War in the Alps
This is one of the only books in English about the Great War that has been fought between the Italians and Austrians in the Eastern Alps.
Never before had men been expected to hold out for months, even years on end in the bitter cold and snow at altitudes of almost 12,000 feet above sea level. This was the feature which lent such historical significance to a relative sideshow of the Great War. It was an anachronistic struggle, man against man, for no armored vehicles could ever reach these rock faces. |
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Fergus Fleming:
Killing Dragons
In the 1800s, travellers fell under the spell of Enlightenment, philosophers and Romantic poets came to the Alps looking for a hint of heaven on earth. Some of them attempted the first recreational climbs of the mountains. They were an odd lot, indeed. Albert Smith burdened his porters with wheels of cheese and casks of wine on the way up Mont Blanc, John Tyndall, regarded the Alps as the devil's work but nonetheless raced against his compatriot Edward Whymper to climb the Matterhorn... |
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Edward Whymper:
Scrambles amongst the Alps
Scrambles Amongst the Alps describes nine years Whymper spent climbing in the Alps, from 1860 to 1869, a time when mountain climbing was just starting to become an international sport getting international headlines. His biggest success was the Matterhorn, and the book spends much of its time on Whymper's seven failed attempts at it, and on the eighth, in which he summited, and four men died. The book makes an excellent guide on this account to the history of early climbing and climbing techniques. |
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Rolf Steininger:
South Tyrol
- A minority of the 20th century
Tyrol, a province that had been part of Austria for over 500 years and was almost totally German-speaking, was split into two after World War I and the southern part was awarded to Italy as "spoils of war". The country was settled with Italians from the south, who had a totally different mentality from the Italians residing in South Tyrol. With the emergence of National Socialism in Germany, eighty-six percent of all South Tyroleans agreed to leave South Tyrol and become citizens of "Greater Germany". After World War II, the region was not returned to Austria. |
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| BOOK TITLE |
USA |
CANADA |
UK |
Martha Ward:
The hidden life of Tyrol
It tells how people of these high mountains put meaning into their collective lives and how they organize the "whole house"--the social structure of mountain survival. Through time Tiroleans have suffered and solved major ethnic problems. Moreover, this Alpine region has wedded economic development to ecological sensitivity. Their remarkable achievements are an international model. Tirol is one of the most highly visited and highly visible culture areas in Europe. |
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