In May 1996 a number of expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route. Each group contained world class climbers and relative novices, some of whom had paid tens of thousands of pounds for the climb. As they neared the summit twenty-three men and women, including the expedition leaders, were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disorientated, out of oxygen and depleted of supplied, the climbers struggled to find their way to safety. Experienced high-altitude guide Anatoli Boukreev led an exhausted ...
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In May 1996 a number of expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route. Each group contained world class climbers and relative novices, some of whom had paid tens of thousands of pounds for the climb. As they neared the summit twenty-three men and women, including the expedition leaders, were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disorientated, out of oxygen and depleted of supplied, the climbers struggled to find their way to safety. Experienced high-altitude guide Anatoli Boukreev led an exhausted and terrified group of climbers back to safety before going back out into the blizzard to help others stranded on the mountain. Rescuing a number of people from certain death, he emerged a hero. The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev is an honest and gripping account of true endurance and contains interviews with most of the surviving climbers, medical personnel, Sherpa guides, and families of the dead who experienced the tragedy. This edition also includes the transcript of the Mountain Madness debriefing, recorded five days after the tragedy, as well as G. Weston de Walt's response to Jon Krakauer.
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Add this copy of The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest to cart. $14.34, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 1999 by St. Martin's Griffin.
It gives events from Boukreev's perspective. If you enjoyed Into Thin Air immensley, you'll find The Climb worthwhile.
Atljv
Mar 4, 2008
Great Book
This is a book for the adventuresome. While the writing is not as polished as the effort by Krakauer, it does indeed convey what it needs to, adequately enough that an interesting story unfolds. At the very heart of the book are interesting questions about the commercialization of high altitude climbing (nowhere more obscenely displayed than on Everest) and the commitment level of those that choose to undertake such a climb. Everest attracts thrill-seekers, as well as those who want to engage a challenge. Anatoli Boukreev, lead climber on the Mountain Madness team, definitely falls into the latter camp (as do most mountain guides). As someone that worked up to big mountain climbs over many years of climbing, continuously pushing his self-reliance in a measured manner, he is the epitome of what is to be a climber. The clients he led on Everest, however, came from various backgrounds, with varied levels of conditioning, mountain proficiency, etc. As much as Everest clients may believe that they have an understanding of the danger and hardship that such a climb proposes, it is difficult to do so without the context that comes from years of experience.
This book was written as a rebuttal to claims made by Krakauer in his book but its true rewards to the reader lie elsewhere. The sad truth of the matter is that only the individuals on the mountain will ever really know what was running through their own heads at the time that critical decisions were made. Having a coherent thought above 8,000 meters is enough of a challenge without having the lives of clients in your hands.
I love any and all Mountainteering books, so if you love climbing, hiking, or mountainteering this is the book for you!!!
