Pasadena resident, musician and a good friend and supporter of the club Drew Dembowski in 2012 very kindly donated a large number of alpine related books from his personal collection to the Caltech Alpine Club Library. These books are available in our main collection on the 9th floor of Millikan Library
Drew's Top 16
New to mountaineering literature? The following are Drew's favorite books from the collection and a good place to start if you're feeling overwhelmed by all these books.
Annapurna South Face by Chris Bonnington
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2 by Rick Ridgeway
High Odyssey: The First Solo Winter Assault of Mt. Whitney and the Muir Trail area, 1928/1929 by Gene Rose
Everest: Kangshung Face by Stephen Venables
K2: The Savage Mountain by Robert Bates, Charles Houston
Annapurna by Maurice Herzog
In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods by Galen Rowell
Starlight and Storm by Gaston Rebuffat
Everest: Best Writing from 70 Years of Human Endeavour by Peter Gillman (editor)
The Ascent of Everest by Sir John Hunt
The Hall of the Mountain King by Howard Snyder
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Nanda Devi: The Tragic Expedition by John Roskelley
The Villain: The Life of Don Whillans by Jim Perrin
The books in the collection are as follows:
| Author | Title | Year |
| Allison, Stacy | Beyond the Limits | 1993 |
| Band, George | Road to Rakaposhi | 1955 |
| Bass, D, Ridgeway, R. | Seven Summits | 1986 |
| Bates, R, Houston, C. | Five Miles High | 2000 |
| Bates, R, Houston, C. | K2: The Savage Mountain | 1954 |
| Bates, Robert | Mountain Man: The Story of Belmore Brown | 1988 |
| Bates, Robert | The Love of Mountains is Best | 1994 |
| Beckey, Fred | Mountains of North America | 1982 |
| Boardman, Peter | The Shining Mountain: Two Men on Changabang | 1982 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Annapurna South Face | 1971 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | I Choose To Climb | 1967 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Everest the Hard Way | 1976 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Kongor: China's Elusive Summit | 1982 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge | 1983 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | The Everest Years | 1987 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Boundless Horizons | 1988 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Mountaineer | 1990 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Sea, Ice and Rock | 1993 |
| Bonington, Sir Christian | Everest | 2002 |
| Boukreev, Anatoli | The Climb | 1997 |
| Breashears, D. Salkeld,A. | Last Climb | 1999 |
| Bremer-Kamp, Cherie | Living on the Edge | 1987 |
| Browne, Belmore | The Conquest of Mount McKinley | 1956 |
| Buhl, Herman | Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage | 1956 |
| Child, Greg | Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas | 1988 |
| Child, Greg | Over The Edge | 2002 |
| Coffey, Maria | Fragile Edge | 1989 |
| Curran, Jim | Suspended Sentences | 1991 |
| Curran, Jim | High Achiever: Life of Chris Bonington | 1999 |
| Dickinson, Matt | The Other Side of Everest | 1999 |
| Diddert, R, Lambert, R | Forerunners to Everest | 1954 |
| Diemberger, Kurt | The Endless Knot | 1990 |
| Duane, Daniel | El Capitan: Historic Feats and Radical Routes | 2000 |
| Eggler, Albert | The Everest-Lhotse Adventure | 1957 |
| Eiselin, Max | The Ascent of Dhaulagiri | 1961 |
| Fellowes, P.F.M. | First Over Everest | 1934 |
| Franco, J, Terray, L. | At Grips With Jannu | 1957 |
| Gillette, N Reynolds, J | Everest Grand Circle | 1985 |
| Gillman, Peter | Everest: Best Writing from 70 Yrs | 1993 |
| Gregory, Alfred | The Picture of Everest | 1954 |
| Gregory, Alfred | Alfred Gregory's Everest | 1993 |
| Grylls, Bear | Facing Up | 2000 |
| Harrer, Heinrich | The White Spider | 1961 |
| Harvard H/ Thompson T. | Mountain Of Storms | 1974 |
| Haston, D, Gillman, P. | Eiger Direct | 1966 |
| Haston, Dougal | In High Places | 1973 |
| Heckmair, Anderl | My Life as a Mountaineer | 1978 |
| Hemleb, J Johnson, L | Ghosts of Everest | 1999 |
| Herrligkoffer, Karl M. | Nanga Parbat | 1954 |
| Herzog, Maurice | Annapurna | 1953 |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | High Adventure | 1955 |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | No Lattitude for Error | 1961 |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | High in the Thin Cold Air | 1962 |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | Nothing Venture, Nothing Win | 1975 |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | From the Ocean to the Sky | 1979 |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | View From the Summit | 1999 |
| Holzel, T./ Salkeld, A | First On Everest | 1986 |
| Howkins, Heidi | One Woman's Quest for the Summit | 2001 |
| Hunt, Sir John | The Ascent of Everest | 1953 |
| Hunt, Sir John | The Conquest of Everest | 1953 |
| Hunt, Sir John | Our Everest Adventure | 1954 |
| Huntford, Roland | Shacklton | 1985 |
| King, Clarence | Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada | 1935 |
| Kocour, Ruth Ann | Facing the Extreme | 1998 |
| Krakauer, Jon | Into the Wild | 1996 |
| Krakauer, Jon | Into Thin Air | 1997 |
| Le Bron, Leo | Majestic Mountains | 1989 |
| Lewis, H. Warren | You're Standing on My Fingers | 1969 |
| Lyall, Alan | The First Descent of the Matterhorn | 1997 |
| Maraini, Fosco | Where Four Worlds Meet | 1964 |
| McCallum, John D. | Everest Diary | 1966 |
| McLewin, Will | In Monte Viso's Horizon | 1991 |
| Messner, Reinhold | The Seventh Grade | 1974 |
| Messner, Reinhold | The Challenge | 1977 |
| Messner, Reinhold | Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate | 1979 |
| Messner, Reinhold | K2: Mountain of Mountains | 1980 |
| Messner, Reinhold | Solo: Nanga Parbat | 1980 |
| Messner, Reinhold | The Crystal Horizon | 1982 |
| Messner, Reinhold | The Big Walls | 1987 |
| Messner, Reinhold | Free Spirit: A Climber's Life | 1991 |
| Messner, Reinhold | To the Top of the World | 1992 |
| Messner, Reinhold | All Fourteen 8,000ers | 1999 |
| Messner, Reinhold | My Quest for the Yeti | 2000 |
| Messner, Reinhold | The Second Death of George Mallory | 2001 |
| Messner, Reinhold | Moving Mountains: Lessons on Life and Leadership | 2001 |
| Miura, Yuichiro | The Man Who Skied Down Everest | 1978 |
| Molenaar, Dee | The Challenge of Ranier | 1971 |
| Moore, Terris | Mt McKinley: The Pioneer Climbs | 1967 |
| Morse, R.G. | The Naked Mountain | 1982 |
| Murphy, Joseph, E. | Adventure Beyond the Clouds | 1986 |
| Norgay, Tenzing | After Everest | 1977 |
| Noyce, Wilfrid | South Col | 1955 |
| Olsen, Jack | The Climb Up To Hell | 1962 |
| Patey, Tom | One Man's Mountains | 1971 |
| Perrin, Jim | The Villain: The Life of Don Whillans | 2005 |
| Poole, Michael C. | The Love of Mountains | 1980 |
| Rebuffat, Gaston | Starlight and Storm | 1957 |
| Rebuffat, Gaston | On Snow and Rock | 1967 |
| Rebuffat, Gaston | Men and the Matterhorn | 1967 |
| Rebuffat, Gaston | The Mont Blanc Massif | 1975 |
| Roper, S, Steck, A. | Fifty Classic Climbs of North America | 1979 |
| Ridgeway, Rick | The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2 | 1980 |
| Rose D, Douglas, Ed | Regions of the Heart | 2000 |
| Rose, Gene | High Odyssey | 1987 |
| Roskellley, John | Nanda Devi:The Tragic Expedition | 1987 |
| Roskellley, John | Stories off the Wall | 1993 |
| Rowell, Galen | In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods | 1977 |
| Rowell, Galen | The vertical World of Yosemite | 1974 |
| Rowell, Galen | Many People Come Looking, Looking | 1980 |
| Rowell, Galen | The Yosemite - Essays of John Muir | 1989 |
| Rowell, Galen | The Art of Adventure | 1989 |
| Rutledge, Hugh | Everest: The Unfinished Adventure | 1937 |
| Sayre, Woodrow Wilson | Four Against Everest | 1964 |
| Scott, D, MacIntyre, A | The Shishapangma Expedition | 1984 |
| Scott, Doug | Big Wall Climbing | 1978 |
| Scott, Doug | Himalayan Climber | 1992 |
| Sherman, John | Sherman Exposed | 1999 |
| Shipton, Eric | Nanda Devi | 1936 |
| Shipton, Eric | The Mt Everest Reconnaissance Expedition 1951 | 1952 |
| Shipton, Eric | Men Against Everest | 1955 |
| Shipton, Eric | That Untravelled World | 1969 |
| Smythe, Frank S. | The Kangchenjunga Adventure | 1931 |
| Snyder, Howard | The Hall of the Mountain King | 1973 |
| Spring, Bob & Ira | High Worlds | 1959 |
| Steele, Peter | Eric Shipton: Everest and Beyond | 1998 |
| Tasker, Joe | Everest: The Cruel Way | 1981 |
| Tasker, Joe | Savage Arena | 1982 |
| Tilman, H. W. | The Ascent of Nanda Devi | 1937 |
| Tilman, H. W. | When Men and Mountains Meet | 1946 |
| Tilman, H. W. | Mount Everest 1938 | 1948 |
| Tilman, H. W. | Two Mountains and a River | 1949 |
| Tilman, H. W. | The Seven Mountain Travel books | 1983 |
| Tucker, John | Kangchenjunga | 1955 |
| Tullis, Julie | Clouds from Both Sides | 1986 |
| Ullman, James Ramsey | Kingdom of Adventure: Everest | 1947 |
| Ullman, James Ramsey | Americans on Everest | 1964 |
| Ullman, James Ramsey | Straight Up | 1968 |
| Vaughan, Norman D. | My Life of Adventure | 1995 |
| Venables, Stephen | Painted Mountains | 1987 |
| Venables, Stephen | Everest: Kangshung Face | 1989 |
| Venables, Stephen | A Slender Thread | 2000 |
| Weathers, Beck | Left for Dead | 2000 |
| Whittaker, Jim | A Life on the Edge | 1999 |
| Whittaker, Lou | Memoirs of a Mountain Guide | 1994 |
| Whymper, Edward | Scrambles Amongst the Alps 1860 - 1869 | 1981 |
| Wickwire, Jim | Addicted to Danger | 1988 |
| Wilcox, Joe | White Winds | 1981 |
Checkout the movies for which Drew has played on the soundtrack! Most likely, you have heard him play on multiple occasions.