Mazama Library

Established in 1915, the Mazama Library is nationally recognized as holding one of the top mountaineering collections in the country. Located on the ground floor of the Mazama Mountaineering Center, the library is a fantastic resource for members and the general public to find information on hiking, climbing, camping, and exploring the rich history of regional and global mountaineering culture.

Learn more about the Library & Historical Collection at mazamalibrary.org

The library is open Tues–Thurs 10:30 a.m.– 5 p.m.

Our Library and Historical Collections Manager is present Tuesdays and Thursday 10:30 a.m.– 5 p.m., and Mondays and Fridays by appointment.

Treasures from the SPECIAL COLLECTION

Scenes From The Snow-Fields: Being Illustrations Of The Upper Ice-World Of Mont Blanc, From Sketches Made On The Spot In The Years 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858; With Historical And Descriptive Remarks, And A Comparison Of The Chamonix And St. Gervais Routes, 1885, by Edmund Thomas Coleman, 1823–1892.

This impressively large book, 22”x15”, is one of the rarest and most valuable of all mountaineering literature. Edward Coleman was an original Alpine Club member and one of the earliest painters of the high Alps. He was a regular contributor to the Alpine Club’s winter art exhibitions. Scenes from the Snow-Fields recounts, in art and word, his two ascents of Mont Blanc via the St. Gervais route and his passage of the Col de Miage. Mazama Library Special Collection, 914.94 C67

DID YOU KNOW?

• An alp is a grassy pasture below the snowline where animals are taken to feed in summer. • There are 53 peaks in the Alps over 13,124 feet. • That a successful ascent of Mont Blanc was celebrated by the firing of cannons in the nineteenth century. • That the years between the first ascent of the Wetterhorn in 1854 and the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, marks the Golden Age of Alpinism, when nearly all the highest peaks in the Alps were climbed for the first time.

The Mazama Library NEEDS SUPPORT—from you!

Please consider a financial contribution to support the Mazama Library, a nationally recognized collection and one of the few remaining mountaineering libraries in the United States. Your financial donation will help support our full-time librarian, acquire rare mountaineering books and historic photographs, and maintain our valuable archives and historic objects collections. Thank you for your support.