The Climb

4.4 | 1,987 ratings

Price: 13.62

Last update: 12-22-2024

About this item

On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world, but things went terribly wrong. This is the harrowing account of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest.

Luther Mahoney

A great book detailing the Mountain Madness side of the 1996 Tragedy

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2016

After watching the 2015 Everest film I became a sponge for all things about the 1996 Everest tragedy watching 4 documentaries, reading Jon Krakauer and Lou Kasischke's books. Just finished The Climb (TC) a few hours ago and loved it.

For those who do not know this book discuses the 1996 tragedy on Everest that befell two climbing teams. Krakauer's book (into thin air [ITA]) is usually regarded by the public as the main source of what happened on the mountain. In that book Krakauer was critical to Anatoli who then released this book to defend himself and his actions (by not using supplemental oxygen and for descending the mountain rapidly before the team). I felt bad that Anatoli got a bad wrap for 1996 when he risked his own life several times to save other climbers.

This is a great read for any Everest junkies and is really the only main book that shows what happened on the Mountain Madness team (Krakauer and Lou's books are from the other teams POV). The book offers some really good insight into Scott Fischer and the other MM climbers. IMHO it also clearly explain why Anatoli did not use supplemental oxygen as well as why he did a rapid descent.

The first 60% of the book covers 1996. The next chapter details his next expedition back up Everest and how he made make-shift graves for Scott and Yasuko Namba as well as took their small effects to give back to their families. Classy move imho.

The last 30% of the book is a group transcript of the MM group discussing the tragedy shortly after it happened and is a great read.

I am not going to get into who is right or wrong and will let you decide for yourself. All I will say is that this is a great read and if you read Krakauer's book you are only getting 1 side of the story. imo all three books should be read as they are all great reads but also from three distinct POVs.

Notes:
Worth The Money: Yes! (easily)
Would I Recommend It: Yes!

Paul Lawrence

A very interesting read

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2012

I'm not `into' climbing books but I do enjoy reading tales of humans striving against the odds. Having read Jon Krakauers book Into Thin Air about the unfortunate events of the 1996 climbing season on Everest it seemed appropriate to read the account of the same climb by Anatoli Boukreev (written with G. Weston DeWalt).

Those in the know will understand that Krakauer was quite damning of Boukreevs decisions on the climb that saw several deaths amongst climbers and several others permanently damaged by frostbite. This book is in many ways Boukreevs right of reply. Hence it's a book you really should read if you've read Krakauers account to which I'll take the liberty of comparing it to directly for much of this review given they seem somehow intertwined.

As to the book itself: The writing style is not as breezy as the Krakauer work. That books writing style is breezy and easily digested. The Climb on the other hand comes across as more stilted. Now I don't blame Boukreev for that, after all he would have been a native Russian speaker presumably and his real talent seems to have been as a great mountaineer - one of the finest of his generation in fact. So no, it is DeWalt that must bear the brunt of my criticism of pointing out how the book does not flow and demands a more indulgent reader.

The Climb assists the reader with a few useful maps and a clutch of photos that tend to humanise things somewhat. And similarly to the Krakauer book there is plenty of praise for the commitment, bravery and tenacity of many of the members of the various expeditions. There is also a heck of a lot of respect for the simple fact that there is so little margin for error or ill luck in the extreme areas of the planet.

On the other side of the ledger The Climb does enunciate rather well an alternate telling of the events of 1996 and does greatly allow for the reader to get a fuller understanding of some of the issues facing the expedition and the way things unravelled so tragically. The book goes into the thinking of Boukreev who was obviously one of the fittest and most important members of either the Fischer or Hall teams and certainly a man of great bravery and whatever your view of some of his decisions (after reading both books) several people must owe their lives to a quietly stoic and very self contained man who while perhaps not a `people person' took his duties seriously as a matter of personal honour.

One aspect of this work I didn't like was the long epilogue discussing the ongoing feud between Krakauers and Boukreevs telling of events. Boukreev himself succumbed to an avalanche while climbing in Nepal on Christmas Day, 1997. One the one hand his passing should have caused Krakauer to `pull his head in' as we say in Australia, but despite his protestations that it was his duty to do continue to repudiate things Krakauer was saying I couldn't help feeling there was some unsavoury grandstanding going on.

I would heartily recommend anyone who has an interest in climbing works but particularly anybody who has read Into Thin Air. Despite the stilted writing and the long addendum at the end I felt I had a far more rounded understanding of what was at the end of the day a tragic event that showed the power of nature but also the power of the humans contending with it.

Kevin Murphy

An Excellent Book by a True, Awarded Mountaineer Who Was There

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2015

Great account from an accomplished (and awarded for his heroic, life-saving efforts in the 1996 Everest expedition) mountaineer who was there, did it and shares his experience. Unjustly maligned in Krakauer's book, "Into Thin Air" (and the mountaineering article that preceded this book) as a guide who abandoned others to seek refuge in the lower Camp, the real story is told. Krakaeur in his book, "Into Thin Air," fails to even mention the fact that Boukreev was awarded in 1997 with the prestigious David A. Sowles Memorial Award by American Alpine Club for his successful rescue efforts in the 1996 Everest expedition (while Krakaeur, during these events, was passed out in his tent at the lower Camp). The Sowles award recognizes people "who have distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperiled in the mountains." This highly prestigious award is not given lightly and never to guides who are derelict in their duties (as Krakaeur wrongly asserts of Boukreev). The award Boukreev received is the American Alpine Club's highest award for valor in recognition of his role in rescuing climbers in the 1996 Everest disaster. As a person who has successfully climbed both Mt. Whitney (California's highest mountain) and Mt. Shasta (a more traditional and technical mountaineering climb) I am not even remotely close to the caliber of someone like the now-deceased Anatoli Boukreev. However, his account of the technical and dynamic aspects of the Everest climb is much more detailed and believable than Krakaeur's lame post hoc assertions.

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