Some soft cover publications are created for the sole purpose of being tossed onto the rubber conveyer belt amidst the Cheerios and the laundry soap. Others are meant to be handled with utmost care, attention and appreciation, much like a fine wine or a cherished work of art. Once a year, mountain enthusiasts across the country are treated to the newest volume of the Canadian Alpine Journal (CAJ), from which they sip and let swirl on their tongues accounts of Canadian mountaineers exploring the beauty and magic of high alpine places.

Unlike alpine journals of some other countries, the CAJ is not a dry and tedious record of mountains climbed and descended, but rather a cross between a special edition of National Geographic and an engaging coffee table magazine.

For some, the journal is a keepsake, for others a travel planner, for others a collection of first-rate armchair thrills. For the climbers and adventurers who submit their articles to the journal, it's an opportunity to develop and hone their story telling and writing skills, much as they would their skills on 50 degree ice and rock. An unpaid article in the CAJ might help secure a grant for an upcoming trip or might serve as a step toward a career in adventure photojournalism.

But while readers of the CAJ are fortunate to be astonished and entertained by high calibre internationally recognized Canadian alpinists and climbing writers such as Barry Blanchard, they are also delighted and inspired by unknown Canadian mountaineers and adventurers.

Such is the essence of the CAJ. It's not just about rock stars and Himalayan conquerors, it's about people, Canadians, getting out and exploring wild, remote alpine environs and caring enough to share their adventure with others.

The journal's stories aren't of big budget expeditions with a Cecil B. DeMille sized support team. Guy Edwards' account of the first complete ski traverse of the Coast Mountains is about an independent group of friends working together to complete a five and a half month journey covering 2015 kilometres of rugged, remote, extraordinarily challenging and quintessentially Canadian terrain. Contributions by climbers Rob Owens, Eric Dumerac, Scott Semple and Sean Isaac help peg this place and time in Canada's mountaineering history, these strong young climbers pushing standards at the international level with small, self-sufficient teams. Karen McNeill's account of new routes in Greenland with Andrea Kortello and Katie Holm, as well as Margo Talbot's run down of the newest mixed routes in the Rockies help remind us that Canadian women are at top of their game too.

First ascents, new routes, overseas explorations, amusing anecdotes about having a tent and its contents sifted through a fast flowing riverbed, history and geology lessons fill the pages of the 2002 CAJ which are generously interspersed with captivating photographs, making the journal a pleasure to flip through at any pace. The fresh and unique layout of each separate feature story gives each a unique aura.

Mountain poems by Monica Meneghetti, Angelique Prick and Tom Gleeson add an element that is unfortunately rare in mountain publications, but certainly precious as a brilliant high alpine flower set in a bed of scree.

With settings like Baffin Island, The Cirque of the Unclimables, Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Central America, Nepal, Mongolia and Borneo, each story carries the reader on a far-flung journey. The collective hard work and dedication that goes into creating the CAJ is evident on every page and celebrated in editor Geoff Powter's introduction.

The 2002 CAJ is a collection of writings that individually and together celebrate the precious value and the infinite possibilities of life in the mountains.

2002 Canadian Alpine Journal, Editor Geoff Powter, 157 pages, published by the Alpine Club of Canada.