This timely book explores how hiking, trekking and climbing mountains, increasingly popular leisure activities, can stimulate change and create opportunities for sustainable development. Using empirical evidence from interviews held in the Himalayas combined with a theoretical grounding, it focuses on the socio-economic and environmental issues of the impact of mountaineering adventure tourism on local communities. Chapters highlight the progressive stages of the host-guest interactions between local communities and tourists, moving from initial, indirect and final tourism development, and the unique sociocultural phenomena these create. The book examines how, with a planned and systematic approach, mountaineering can be a key factor in promoting an overall improvement in local people's quality of life through initiatives in economic development and environmental conservation. It offers a look towards the future to create sustainable tourism development in mountain regions. This is an invigorating read for adventure tourism and human geography scholars, particularly with the blend of theory and first-hand studies of local impacts of mountain tourism. It will also be an interesting read for industry representatives, policy makers and professionals in the field.