OVER the TOP & BACK AGAIN:

Hiking X the Alps ©
by Brandon Wilson

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Imagine
Chucking Commitments,
Selling Possessions,
Tossing Routine,
And Then Setting Off on a Crazed
Eight-Country Trek Across the Alps.

After decades of hiking some of the world’s great trails, über-adventurer Brandon Wilson heard about the Via Alpina, a path running the length of the Alps across eight countries. Besides offering immersion into Alpine life and wilderness, it’d be the ultimate physical challenge. It meant climbing more than 3,000 feet from valley to mountain hut every day—for months—over more than 1,000 miles. Intrigued, he imagined it was a sort-of European Appalachian Trail, only with better wine.

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Confident that misery loves company, the peripatetic Everyman coaxed his desk-jockey wife Cheryl into joining him, even though that meant leaving her job, a cozy Hawaiian hideaway, and selling everything before walking off to an uncertain future on a long-distance walk across the Alps.
Not a Walk in the Park

Join the couple as they discover the Via Alpina—one-step-at-a-time. Leaving the Adriatic Sea, the couple set out in the summer of 2009 on the ultimate hike across Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France and Monaco, hoping to arrive at the Mediterranean Sea before the first snows arrived.

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Ups and Downs

Unlike their trek across Tibet, they wouldn’t have to dodge Chinese bullets. Who knew that icefields, relentless rain, the dreaded Föhn, lethal ticks, barking marmots, and mountains of cow patties could be even more daunting?

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More than Cheese & Gnomes...
Total Immersion Into Alpine Life and Adventure

Little could prepare them for the rarified beauty, serenity, wildlife and legends…

The hilarious situations and bizarre characters they’d meet would even help put peril into perspective.


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The Agony of De Feet

Wilson painstakingly chronicled their wild 1,200-mile adventure while muscles were still sore and clothes were still wet. It’s all here, the triumphs and agony of de feet, captured in his witty, gritty, award-winning style.

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Dare to Follow a Gonzo Dream

Join the intrepid couple as they dig deep to confront their most difficult escapade yet. Wilson’s keen eye and dry wit captures it all, the highs and lows, as they witness the Alps’ changing lifestyle and fragile landscape. Inspiring, empowering, humorous (yet slightly crazed), Over the Top & Back Again sweeps you along for an unforgettable look at the peerless Alps—and at an everyday couple who, once again, dared to follow their wildest dream.

 READ AN EXCERPT

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Chapters include:
  1. Leaps Into Madness
  2. Get Lost in Slovenia
  3. The Best Laid Plans
  4. But Do Ants Have Knees?
  5. It’s Always the Little Things
  6. Out of the Forest, Not Out of the Woods
  7. What’s The Sound of One Man Falling?
  8. Beware the Föhn
  9. When Cows Fly
  10. Mr. Moustache & His Snails
  11. The Alpenhorn at Sunset
  12. Sumo Cows
  13. A Secret Handshake
  14. The Dreaded Patous!
  15. Flying Monkey Spiders
  16. Just the Tick-Talkin’

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Over the Top & Back Again: Hiking X the Alps by Brandon Wilson, a new book of Alpine adventure, including the author's maps and photos with sketches by Ken Plumb, will be available worldwide in October 2010. Mark it on your calendar.

OVER THE TOP & BACK AGAIN
 the first travel narrative written in English about hiking the Via Alpina


Want to be among the first to read this new Alpine adventure? We'll notify you before it hits the streets!

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TICK, er, CLICK HERE

Visit the official Via Alpina website for details about their route, huts, activities, forums, and Alpine culture. Or read:
Exploring Europe on foot | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

Official gear sponsors include GoLite, Gossamer Gear, OmniMap.com and Upcountry Fitness.

photos © Brandon Wilson, all rights reserved