About the Book

In 1962 Summit magazine readers were astonished to see a photo of an allegedly unknown range: the “Riesenstein” peaks of British Columbia. The main summit, the mysterious author claimed, remained tantalizingly unclimbed. The editors printed the article, as if missing the clues that its creators had planted to hint that the story was a hoax. During this virtual talk, based on the new book Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams, author Katie Ives will be exploring some of the richly varied tales behind the Riesenstein, from the long history of climbers’ obsessions with supposed blanks on maps to the complex motivations of the pranksters who plotted the hoax—and the collective fascination with wild places and mythic mountains that the Riesenstein reveals.

To get a taste of this upcoming book, the AAC sat down with Ives to learn a little more about her and her writing process. Alongside our interview, we have included holdings from the AAC Library, which are referenced in Ives' book.