Drawn: The Art of Ascent

2015 Banff Mountain Book Competition Award--Adventure TravelA hand-crafted, artfully told true story about the balance of an adventurous life.

Shivering in a cave beneath Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia, artist and rock climber Jeremy Collins had an intense and anxious vision, both geographic and artistic, about this life and what he was doing with it. As a result, he left Argentina and commenced on a four-year journey that took him in the four cardinal directions from his home in Kansas City--north, south, east, west--to create art in the wild, climb new routes, and live out his own map. Drawn: The Art of Ascent shares his exploits, his art, and what he discovered about balancing wilderness adventure with peace at home.

Jeremy chronicles ambitious first ascents in the United States, China, Venezuela, and Canada with climbing partners including James Q Martin, Mark Jenkins, Pat Goodman, Jeff Achey and Mikey Schaefer. At the same time, this contemplative dad shares his dreams and desires, and always finds a route back to his family.

Jeremy's art is a rich and textured mixed media of pencil, charcoal, watercolor, torn paper, and photographs. Drawn features pages from the sketchbooks he kept on these climbs with hand-written text.