I always look forward to cracking the 2 annual reports from the American Alpine Club. Published annually since 1948, Accidents in North American Mountaineering 2015 is a rare collection of first-hand narratives of mountaineering injuries. The vignettes of accidents are gems, each containing both a narrative summary and an analysis. Because the accounts are penned by climbers involved in the mishaps, the stories reveal first-hand insight on what went wrong. In addition, some 4000 reports from this and past editions are now available at publications.americanalpineclub.org.

After longtime helmsman Jed Williamson transitioned to Editor Emeritus, current Managing Editor Dougald MacDonald updated the format by increasing the quantity of images and diagrams, and added regional editors to render personal knowledge to the account. The book includes 2 informational chapters: one on rope protection, and another summarizing accidents on Yosemite National Park’s famed El Capitan big wall. Short sidebars highlight frostbite, rappelling, and head injuries. The volume is capped with statistical tables. Accidents is an interesting read for climbers, and a good study in trends for mountain rescuers.

The companion to Accidents, the venerable classic in mountain literature, The American Alpine Journal 2015, has been published annually since 1929. The paper is thick, the book is heavy, and the pages are jam-packed with beautiful, high-quality images and illustrations for “The World’s Most Significant Climbs.” The lovely route maps are lines overlaid on clear pictures of rock walls, crags, glaciers and snow-clad peaks. The climbers’ personal narratives recount adventures from both well-known locales as well as blank spots on the climbing globe like Mt Namuli in Mozambique, Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar, South Simvu Glacier in India, and a rock tower called Poumaka in the Marquesas Islands. The beauty of the collection is the first-person vignettes, which are not cohesive in style or tone but share the commonalities of the thrill, anguish, beauty, and challenge of mountaineering, which ooze through the pages in varied voices.