Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publsiher: Anchor
Total Pages: 318
Release: 1998-11-12
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780679462712

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#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

The Top of the World

The Top of the World
Author: Steve Jenkins
Publsiher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2002-04-29
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780547349565

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In this stunning picture book, Steve Jenkins takes us to Mount Everest - exploring its history, geography, climate, and culture. This unique book takes readers on the ultimate adventure of climbing the great mountain. Travel along and learn what to pack for such a trek and the hardships one may suffer on the way to the top. Avalanches, frostbite, frigid temperatures, wind, and limited oxygen are just a few of the dangers that make scaling this peak one of the most extreme physical challenges one can experience. To stand on the top of Mount Everest is to stand on top of the world. With informative text and exquisitely detailed cut paper illustrations, Steve Jenkins brings this extreme journey alive for young adventurers.

Shook

Shook
Author: Jennifer Hull
Publsiher: University of New Mexico Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2020
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780826361943

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Shook tells the story of resilience, nerve, and survival on the deadliest day on Everest.

Life and Death on Mt Everest

Life and Death on Mt  Everest
Author: Sherry B. Ortner
Publsiher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2020-03-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780691211770

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The Sherpas were dead, two more victims of an attempt to scale Mt. Everest. Members of a French climbing expedition, sensitive perhaps about leaving the bodies where they could not be recovered, rolled them off a steep mountain face. One body, however, crashed to a stop near Sherpas on a separate expedition far below. They stared at the frozen corpse, stunned. They said nothing, but an American climber observing the scene interpreted their thoughts: Nobody would throw the body of a white climber off Mt. Everest. For more than a century, climbers from around the world have journ-eyed to test themselves on Everest's treacherous slopes, enlisting the expert aid of the Sherpas who live in the area. Drawing on years of field research in the Himalayas, renowned anthropologist Sherry Ortner presents a compelling account of the evolving relationship between the mountaineers and the Sherpas, a relationship of mutual dependence and cultural conflict played out in an environment of mortal risk. Ortner explores this relationship partly through gripping accounts of expeditions--often in the climbers' own words--ranging from nineteenth-century forays by the British through the historic ascent of Hillary and Tenzing to the disasters described in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. She reveals the climbers, or "sahibs," to use the Sherpas' phrase, as countercultural romantics, seeking to transcend the vulgarity and materialism of modernity through the rigor and beauty of mountaineering. She shows how climbers' behavior toward the Sherpas has ranged from kindness to cruelty, from cultural sensitivity to derision. Ortner traces the political and economic factors that led the Sherpas to join expeditions and examines the impact of climbing on their traditional culture, religion, and identity. She examines Sherpas' attitude toward death, the implications of the shared masculinity of Sherpas and sahibs, and the relationship between Sherpas and the increasing number of women climbers. Ortner also tackles debates about whether the Sherpas have been "spoiled" by mountaineering and whether climbing itself has been spoiled by commercialism.

The Hunt for Mount Everest

The Hunt for Mount Everest
Author: Craig Storti
Publsiher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-04-15
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9781529331561

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'The definitive back story of Mount Everest' Stewart Weaver, co-author of Fallen Giants 'Craig Storti has given us the Everest book that we've needed all along' Scott Ellsworth, author of The World Beneath Their Feet The seventy-one-year quest to find the world's highest mountain. The Hunt for Mount Everest is the seldom-told story of how the last remaining major prize in the history of exploration was identified, named and at last found. This is Everest, the prequel: a high-drama tale, filled with larger-than-life characters and quiet heroes, traverses the Alps, the Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet, the British Empire, the Anglo-Russian rivalry known as The Great Game, the disastrous First Afghan War, and the phenomenal Survey of India. Encountering spies, war, political intrigues, and hundreds of mules, camels, bullocks, yaks, and two zebrules, this account uncovers the fascinating saga leading up to the fateful day in late June of 1921, when two English climbers, George Mallory and Guy Bullock, became the first westerners - and almost certainly the first human beings - to set foot on Mount Everest.

Where Is Mount Everest

Where Is Mount Everest
Author: Nico Medina,Who HQ
Publsiher: Penguin
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2015-05-19
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780698412163

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As the recent deaths of sixteen Sherpas underscore, climbing Mount Everest remains a daunting challenge. Located in the Himalayas, Everest is the highest mountain in the world at a whopping 29,028 feet. In this compelling narrative, Nico Medina guides readers through the mountain’s ancient beginnings, first human settlers, historic climbs, and the modern commercialization of mountain-climbing. With stories of expeditions gone wrong and miraculously successful summit climbs, this is a thrilling addition to the Where Is? series!

The Contest

The Contest
Author: Gordon Korman
Publsiher: Scholastic Incorporated
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0545392322

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Dominic, Chris, Perry, Tilt, Sammi, Bryn, and Cameron compete with each other to be selected as part of a team of teenage climbers with the goal of ascending Mount Everest.

The Next Everest

The Next Everest
Author: Jim Davidson
Publsiher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2021-04-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781250272300

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A dramatic account of the deadly avalanche on Everest—and a return to reach the summit. On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in eighty-one years and killed nearly 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with eighteen people losing their lives on the mountain. After spending two unsettling days stranded on Everest, Davidson's team was rescued by helicopter. The experience left him shaken, and despite his thirty-three years of climbing and serving as an expedition leader, he wasn’t sure that he would ever go back. But in the face of risk and uncertainty, he returned in 2017 and finally achieved his dream of reaching the summit. Suspenseful and engrossing, The Next Everest portrays the experience of living through the biggest disaster to ever hit the mountain. Davidson's background in geology and environmental science makes him uniquely qualified to explain why the seismic threats lurking beneath Nepal are even greater today. But this story is not about “conquering” the world’s highest peak. Instead, it reveals how embracing change, challenge, and uncertainty prepares anyone to face their next “Everest” in life.