The Snow Leopard

One of the greatest pieces of travel and nature writing ever written, this is the true story of a journey to the high Himalayas in search of the snow leopard.

In 1973 Matthiessen made the 250-mile trek to the dazzling Tibetan plateau of Dolpo, as part of an expedition to study wild blue sheep. It was an arduous, sometimes dangerous, physical endeavour: exertion, blisters, blizzards, endless negotiations with sherpas, quaking cold. But it was also a 'journey of the heart'. Amongst the beauty and indifference of the mountains Matthiessen was searching for solace. He was also searching for a glimpse of a snow leopard, a creature so rarely spotted as to be almost mythical.

Review

A beautiful book, and worthy of the mountains he is among

What began as a practical search for the rare snow leopard, revered Buddhist emblem, developed into a quest for the meaning of Being. An enjoyable combination of mountaineering and mysticism ― Observer

It's a tale of an inner struggle for calm, and would be an inspiring and sustaining desert island companion

As much the chronicle of an inner journey as it is the learned recording of an unfamiliar territory...a timeless account ― Independent

An evocative account of a remote and timeless place and its people ― Sunday Times

A magical book: a kind of lunar paradigm and map of the sacred-The book has transcended the usual limits of language ― Nation

About the Author

Peter Matthiessen was a naturalist, explorer and writer. His works of fiction include At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Far Tortuga and the acclaimed 'Watson Trilogy'. His explorations resulted in many fine works of non-fiction, among them The Snow Leopard, The Cloud Forest and The Tree where Man was Born. He died in 2014, aged 86.