Book time

[king tut]

This is like Oprah's book club, but completely different. I am calling on all of you to give me a new adventure book. I like to read books about hiking/climbing that involve death/danger. here's what i have read...

-not w/out peril
-all krakauer books
-good morning midnight
-the joe simpson book(what was the name?)
-alive
-climb
-some others ones that i don't remember (kinda vague huh?)

So give me some new suggestions that i can read while laying on the beach resting my poor 95 yr old knees on the beach.

 

[JohnL]

Stephen Venables - Everest: Alone at the Summit
Stephen Venables - A Slender Thread: Escaping Disaster in the Himalayas
Ed Webster - Snow In the Kingdom: My Storm years on Everest (same climb as the Venables book above)
Jim Curran - K2: Triumph and Tragedy (13 climbers died on K2 during the summer of 1986)
Joe Simpson - Dark Shadows Falling (you are thinking of Touching the Void, I think)
Joe Simpson - This Game of Ghosts

That will keep you busy for a while.

JohnL

 

[MattC]

Here's another one I recently stumbled across in a used book store- "The Climb Up to Hell" by Jack Olson. It's about a disatrous attempt on the north wall of the Eiger in 1957, in which three died, and one was rescued. Includes some background on the Eiger and the Alps in general, and explores some controversial issues within the mountaineering and SAR community of that time and place. Published by St. Martin's/Griffen. Might be out of print or kinda hard to find.

Matt

 

[David Metsky]

Lots of good suggestions in this thread.

-dave-

 

[poison ivy]

Here are a few that I've really enjoyed:

"Mawson's Will" -- about a lesser known Antarctic adventure
"Endurance" by Worsley -- about Shackleton's well-known Antarctic Adventure
"In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods" by Galen Rowell -- about a failed American attempt on K2
"Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey -- great book about the southwest... gets a little preachy in spots but otherwise is my favorite Abbey book
"Coming into the Country" by John McPhee -- about Alaska
"Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez -- lots of historical and flora & fauna type info about the Arctic.

- Ivy

 

[LittleBear]

Here's another one - from a somewhat different perspective:

"Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow: The Dark Side of Extreme Adventure" by Maria Coffey - this book examines the psychological and emotional side of extreme adventurers and that of their family members. Very interesting reading.

Another great book, although not about mountaineering is

"North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Artic" by Alvah Simon - In the summer of 1992, Simon and his wife, both experienced adventurers, set off in a 36-foot sailboat, the Roger Henry, toward northern Canada to spend a year above the Arctic Circle. Circumstances lead to his wife returning home while he continues to spend the winter in what he characterizes as "sunless, sub-zero winter months of 'lifesucking cold.'" Another very interesting read.

 

[ADK4Life]

Scrambles Amongst The Alps by Edward Whymper

A great account of the first ascent of Matterhorn during a time when it was throught to be the highest mountain in the world. Many quote worthy comments in the book.

 

[giggy]

I actually liked SEVEN SUMMITS about dick bass and some other dude who decided to climb all the highest in their 50's. pretty inspiring story - though it proves $$ helps in this sport. many popular names will creep up in this book.

The autobiographies from the whittaker twins are really great (JIM and Lou - each did one) - they deal with the typical big mountains - but also talk about rainier alot.

Jim Wickwires book is good.

One book about a womens climb on denali was really good - though don't remember her name or the book. It was paperback.

Stacy Allisons book is great.

David Brashears book was decent.

Matt Dickerson's book on the 1996 everest storm was good.


sorry don't have titles. Many of them were borrowed from library and don't have them anymore. an amazon search should bring them up.

 

[professor]

"Annapurna", by Maurice Herzog - describes the first ever successful climb of any 8000-meter peak. Heck, they had a hard time just finding the peak, let alone climbing it!

 

[mtnmama]

Summer Reading

How about...
-LastClimb
-High Exposure
-Mountain Without Mercy
(David Breashers)
-Undaunted Courage
Looks like you'll be all set for your summer reading!

 

[RGF1]

They might be hard to find But The Endless Knot K2 Mountain of Dreams and Destiny by Kurt Diemburger and a very Different perspective on thhe 1996 tragedy on Everest . is the Climb by Anatolli Boukkreev.
The Endless Knot is a deepply personl book that describes tragedy on K2 . That happned in 1986 where 13 people lost thier lives some at 8,000 meteres .

 

[KZKlimber]

"In the Shadow of Denali" by Jon Waterman

"Desire and Ice" by David Brill

 

[king tut]

thanks for the suggestions. By the way, I have read high exposure, I liked it quite a bit. I read coming into the country as well, but found it was a little dry. I did like the book, but some parts just seemed to drag on. Has anyone read the Beck Weathers book about the Everest disaster? I wonder if it is worth a read or not.

 

[Tuggy]

Well its an oldie but if you haven't read "Call of the Wild" by Jack London, you'll have some fun reading it.

 

[Hakuna Matata]

Beck Weather's book is "Left for Dead". As I recall it was pretty good. There had to be 200 people on that mountain when that storm hit and they all wrote a book about it. I've read most of them. I read a good one about that same storm by a 17 year old that was at 4th camp waiting to summit when the storm hit. I can't recall the name right now but I'll find it and let you know.
How I get reading material is to go to Amazon.com and put in outdoor adventure. A lot of the books you can read excerpts from them on line and see if your interested. Then I go to the public library and get the book.

 

[jjo]

Ditto on many mentioned. I loved "not w/o peril" and enjoy portions of "Mountain and Kreg". It can be tedious and dry but an excellent source of the history. I've read all of Anne LaBastile's books also. One obscure author that i greatly respect now out of print is Walter Collins O'Kane. He wrote 2 old classics that I love: The cabin and beyond the cabin door. Kirkhauer's books are also a good read. Read on...