John Scott Douglas makes us share in the very feelings of the intrepid men who have had that unquenchable urge to conquer the seemingly unconquerable, no matter what the hazards or physical hardships. His story ranges from the early days of the first ascent to the summit of Mont Blanc, when the climbing equipment consisted of alpenstocks and meat cleavers and an ordinary bed blanket was the only protection against the icy blasts during the nights spent aloft on the mountainside, to the up-to-the-minute scientific equipment, including oxygen feeders and insulated suits, used in the recent ascent of Mount Everest. The author is an enthusiastic mountaineer himself. He has enjoyed “scrambles” in the Alps, the Andes, the Central American Cordilleras, Alaska, the Catskills and the Colorado Rockies, the Olympics, Cascades and High Sierras. He writes on a favorite subject with zest and informative accuracy. His book provides “high” adventure in more than one way! DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY Transcriber’s Notes --Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. --Silently corrected a few palpable typos. --In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_. End of Project Gutenberg's The Hurricane Hunters, by Ivan Ray Tannehill