Idea Montagna - 4000m Peaks of the Alps

Klik hier voor de inhoudsopgave en een voorbeeld van een routebeschrijving (2e editie)

The third edition of ‘4000m Peaks of the Alps’ is now available. It is one of the most sought-after books by mountaineers and one of Idea Montagna’s best sellers.
The volume has a new graphic design, but above all, it features revised reports on the ascents of the 82 peaks over 4000 metres, describing their current state of glaciers and rocks.

In fact, the highest mountains in the Alps have undergone many changes in recent years. This book has been reissued in response to popular demand, providing information for more informed and safer mountaineering.

The great beauty of this book, with its detailed accounts of the normal and classic routes of all the 4000-metre peaks in the Alps, has ensured its success, which has also been recognised in Great Britain, Germany and France, where it has been translated and appreciated.

At the heart of any desire to climb a mountain lies a certain aesthetic sensitivity: an attraction towards the beauty of these majestic structures, towards an unspoilt and potentially hostile environment, towards the harmony of sport and movement. Every climber has their preferences, some simple (shape, colour, shape and geology) and others more complex (geographic location, history). Even altitude is a determining factor in choosing a mountaineering goal: the height of a mountain, as well as being a geographic fact, also provides us with information on the size of the mountain compared to its neighbours, its characteristics and the physical commitment required for its ascent.

When considering a massif or a mountain range, the highest peak will probably also encompass many of those assets which immediately attract a climber’s attention: the biggest face, the highest ridge, the largest glacier. The extreme nature of high altitude environments, enchanting on a sunny day and hellish in a storm, creates a certain fascination which, once experienced, is difficult to escape. In the alpine range, high altitude environments are usually found around 3000 metres upwards. Only a limited number of peaks reach 4000 m, of which only a handful breach 4500, and only one, Mont Blanc, nears 5000 m. Despite their height being, in relative terms, half of that the Himalayan peaks, the four-thousanders are the genuine “Alpine Giants”: majestic and famous mountains which, above all, hold so much history.