Alpine Karst Vol. 3 (2008)

The original Alpine Karst newsletters of the 1970s were an ambitious project to collect data on the major alpine karst areas of North America (and to a lesser extent, other alpine regions of the world). Finally the first 4 issues from the 1970s are a once again available. With beautiful full-cover cardstock covers, this valuable collection includes not only the newsletters but also contributions from the original series editors--Chuck Pease, Jim Chester and Ron Zuber-- recalling their editorships and the travails of producing those original issues. For good measure, the editor, Tina Oliphant, has also included two widely-read articles from Frank Binney's Inside Earth series. The articles describe early activities by author Jim Chester in Lost Creek Siphon (Montana) and Norm Pace's review of exploration in Montana's Scapegoat Wilderness Area. Both areas have seen considerable interest in the new century with Lost Creek Siphon finally being mapped in 2001 after nearly 30 years efforts and Scapegoat the focus of recent summer and winter "expedition" caving to push the area caves.

Alpine Karst; in the beginning offers us a literary time capsule of wilderness caving exploits and information that feels as fresh and relevant today as it no doubt felt during those halcyon days of the 1970s when the original issues were published.

Edited By Tina Oliphant
2008
ISBN 978-0-939748-68-6
216 pages, Softbound