Dramatically immortalizing the breathtaking beauty and remote wilderness of one of the planet's last untamed frontiers, this intriguing photographic exploration of near inaccessible landscape and culture illuminates the starkly beautiful but often inhospitable Himalayan regions. Religiously documented over a 20-year period, these glorious, panoramic black-and-white images--including one breathtaking, 48-inch panorama--are the remarkable result of a dedicated and passionate fascination with the history and vistas of the Himalayas. Complemented by trekking maps of mountains, glaciers, and rivers--from the peaks of Kashmir, the Hidden Realm, and the Great Cleft of the Kali Gandaki to mighty Mount Everest in Tibet and Nepal--and accompanied by scholarly essays penned with scientific, geological, and spiritual analysis of the region, this stunning visual journey illustrates the Himalayas as an enduring emblem of man's ultimate challenge in nature.