Patagonia: Notes from the Field

The people who use Patagonia gear have explored the furthest extremities of wildness from the icy waters of the Labrador Sea to the baking hot, vertical granite of El Capitan. Patagonia: Notes from the Field delivers an intense glimpse of those front lines in a spectacular collection of essays and photographs commissioned for Patagonia. Authors such as Paul Theroux, Gretel Ehrlich, Russell Chatham, Rick Ridgeway, and Tom McGuane offer first-hand perspectives often off-beat and sometimes unsettling on our relationship to the natural world. Their words capture life-threatening moments and sudden insights into the soul of a sport. The accompanying images may command silence (the tiny silhouettes of climbers on a distant snowy ridge) or elicit a whoop of joy (a kayaker dropping off a 20-foot waterfall). Editor Nora Gallagher has collected the best essays and images from Patagonia's award-winning catalog and melded them with newly commissioned material to create an intelligent, powerful, and vital portrait of 'life out there.'Patagonia: Notes from the Field will appeal to adventurers, travelers, and dreamers everywhere.

Yvon Chouinard is the founder of Patagonia, Inc. He started his career in the outdoor business selling hand-forged climbing gear from the back of his car. Since publishing his first one-page mimeographed catalog in 1964, he has built a company with a reput

Nora Gallagher has edited the Patagonia catalog for 15 years. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, and other publications. Author of the book Things Seen and Unseen, she lives in Santa Barbara, California.