Andy Selters has explored and worked in mountains worldwide for almost 40 years, and he has chronicled adventures and advocated for mountains and mountain peoples for almost as long. For many years he worked as a climbing instructor and guide, leading ascents and treks in the Cascades, Alaska, and the Himalayas. He still leads occasional treks and peak climbs in Asia. His personal climbs include many across most ranges in North America, plus demanding ascents in the Yukon, India, Bolivia, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Andy came of age as a mountaineer on Mt. Shasta, including a summer as custodian of the Sierra Club hut there. He has fond memories of climbing and skiing from every side of the mountain and at all times of year. Besides The Mt. Shasta Book, Andy has also authored or coauthored Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue and Ways to the Sky, the definitive, award-winning history of mountaineering across North America. He lives at the eastern foot of California's Sierra Nevada, where, in addition to writing and taking photographs, he teaches tai-chi, coaches his son in youth baseball, and gets out for mountain jaunts.
Michael Zanger, a California native, has been drawn to the mountains ever since he took a family trip to Yosemite at age five. He founded Shasta Mountain Guides in the mid-1970s and has lived at the foot of Mt. Shasta for nearly 50 years. He's participated in climbs and expeditions to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In addition to mountaineering, he enjoys rock climbing, trekking and camping, biking, kayaking, paragliding, and photography.