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Outdoor Recreation. Nonfiction. HTML: This is the gripping true account of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest. On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by experienced leaders attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world�??but things went terribly wrong. Crowded conditions on the mountain, miscommunications, unexplainable delays, poor leadership, bad decisions, and a blinding storm conspired to kill. Twenty-three men and women, disoriented and out of oxygen, struggled to find their way down the side of the mountain. In the dark, battered by snow and driven by hurricane-force winds, some of the climbers became hopelessly lost and resigned themselves to death. But head climbing guide Anatoli Boukreev refused to give up hope. Climbing blind in the maw of a life-threatening storm, Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death. This is an amazing true story of an expedition fated for disaster, of the blind ambition that drives people to attempt such dangerous ventures, and of a modern-day hero, who risked his own life to save others.… (more)
User reviews
This book's illustration of the Everest massif provides a better sense of vertical scale for the ascent of the glacier leading up to Mt. Everest than does Krakauer's, and the regional map includes towns at lower elevations than on Krakauer 's (doesn't really affect the story; I just like knowing geographical details). Krakauer's text provides more geological detail about the climb route.
I read Krakauer's book first; I wonder what I would think had I read Boukreev's first. But I will say this much: Krakauer admitted to very poor decisions of his own, whereas in this book everybody, and I mean that literally, is accused of poor decision-making – except Boukreev (I first noticed this about a third of the way through, before the summit attempt, and then started watching for mention of poor decisions by Boukreev. There were none). Fair or not, such a "Teflon ʻToli" portrayal does him no favors.
Observing the same people and places from another vantage point is fascinating and educational, but I lost interest towards the end of the book when the novel switches from a tragic yet heroic tale of Everest to a 100+ page diatribe on why Krakauer was incorrect. I do understand wanting to keep your name clean, but I think the actions spoke strongly throughout the text and did not need a 100+ pages of bonus material to ensure you wore the "Team Boukreev" T-shirt. Aside from the last bit, this is a very well written novel that I would highly recommend.
When he mentioned that he hated small talk and trying to motivate others in an unfamiliar language I was so sympathetic. In the translation of Boukreev's Russian you can tell how eloquent he really
The difference between Hall's and Fischer's philosophies of guiding were emblematic of an ongoing debate between practitioners in the adventure travel industry. The camps of belief can be roughly divided between the "situationalists" and the "legalists." The situationalists argue that in leading a risky adventure no system of rules can adequately cover every situation that might arise, and they argue that rules on some occasions should be subordinated tounique demands that present themselves, the legalists, believing that rules can substantially reduce the possibility of bad decisions being made, ask that personal freedom take a backseat.
Mr. Krakauer...never paints the big picture of one of the most amazing rescues in mountaineering history performed single-handedly a few hours after climbing Everest without oxygen by a man some describe as the Tiger Woods of Himalayan climbing.
And on the reason why so many died on that climb;
To cite a specific cause would be to promote an omniscience that only Gods, drunks, politicians, and dramatic writers can claim.
Amen. It was hubris, youth, greed, arrogance, audacity and the nature of the beast the allowed so many to die on Everest in '96. IMHO.
I don't think that I would have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I had read it before Into Thin Air. The Climb is not written in a style that I found as engaging as Krakauer's, though I found that I prefer this telling of the
This is an account of the climb up Mount Everest in 1996 that resulted in tragedy when a storm came up during the descent from the summit. Anatoli Boukreev was a guide with Scott Fischer’s group, and in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air, he was not portrayed favourably.
Boukreev’s
I just ordered his other book - which includes some of his diaries from that night. He died one year later in an avalanche.
Boukreev has some additional information that Krakauer couldn't have known (or didn't know, or, according to Boukreev, knew and ignored) that helps to shed some light on the events of
As other reviews have said, it is not as well written as Krakauer's story, and it doesn't provide as much information from other climbers and guides. It is primarily Boukreev's story of his successful rescues and the events that led to him being able to do them.
Overall, it is a good companion to Into Thin Air, but I doubt it has much stand-alone value for anyone looking for the story of what happened. However, for someone looking for a rescue story as opposed to a tragic story, this would probably be a good place to start.
> For some reason I cannot explain I did not share Rob Hall’s optimism, and I thought it highly unlikely the weather would stabilize. My intuitions continued to bother me, and I fully expected that we would not climb the next day.
Mountaineering seems to attract strong personalities, and each of these two believes he is correct. In the end, like many tragedies where numerous people have taken part, each person has a different experience, and each remembers what happened differently. This book clearly states Boukreev’s philosophy and cites evidence to back up his position, refuting Krakauer’s assertions.
The Climb tells a riveting story. It highlights the importance of preparedness, leadership, and communication in the extremely hazardous environment of high altitude climbing. I felt it occasionally slipped into repetition and a bit of defensiveness, but I can understand the reasons for it. There are several appendices included, and I found it very informative to read the transcript of the Mountain Madness team’s debriefing made a few days afterward.
In the end, I was glad to have read both accounts and now feel I have a more complete understanding of the tragedy. Recommended to anyone who has read Into Thin Air or is interested in extreme sports, especially mountaineering.