Ed Viesturs, America’s most successful Himalyan climber, devotes about a third of The Mountain to his personal experiences on Mount Everest (which have involved large and small expeditions, and various routes up the mountain); the remainder of the book covers what he believes to be “some of the most visionary deeds in the long chronicle of mountaineering.” Although he considers Everest not the “most interesting or most challenging” of 8,000-meter peaks, Viesturs claims that “no mountain in the world has a richer or more varied history than Everest.” Given his commitment to the mountain—Viesturs has spent a cumulative total of two years participating in 11 Everest expeditions—his views on the subject command respect. He is unhappy with much of the conventional wisdom regarding Everest—he wrote this book partly to “counter the sordid caricature of Everest as a circus for dilettantes” that resulted from some accounts of the 1996 disaster. Viesturs does not believe the 1996 climbers were “clueless yuppies”; and he feels that guiding a client can be “a morally admirable act.” But, readers interested in Viesturs’ comments on his 1996 experiences will have to read two other books in addition to The Mountain: No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks, and The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--the World's Deadliest Peak.
For those unfamiliar with the history of Everest climbs, this book can serve as a useful introduction to the subject. Those who have read Viesturs’ other books, and those who know something about the history of Everest, will find in The Mountain much that is familiar; but even they may be enlightened by Viesturs’ impressions of the major expeditions, and his descriptions of his own climbs and of the men with whom he climbed at one time or another—Carlos Carsolio, Scott Fischer, Rob Hall, Tom Hornbein, John Roskelley, Eric Simonson, Jim Wickwire, and Krzysztof Wielicki.
Like some of Viesturs’ other books, The Mountain is organized in a curious non-chronological sequence. It begins with Viesturs’ 1987 climb up the Great Couloir (North Side); then drops back to the 1920s British expeditions; then moves ahead to Viesturs’ 1988 and 1989 efforts on the Kangshung Face and the 1990 International Peace Climb; then drops back to 1930s British expeditions, followed chronologically by the 1950-1953 U.S., Swiss and British expeditions; Viesturs’ 1993 solo attempt on the Great Couloir, his 1994 and 1995 climbs through the South Col with Rob Hall; it then drops back again to the probably apocryphal 1952 Soviet expedition, the 1960 Chinese expedition, the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition, the 1996 tragedy and the IMAX expedition, and the 1997 NOVA expedition; then back to the 1972 and 1975 British Southwest Face expeditions, the 1981 and 1983 U.S. Kangshung Face expeditions; then back to the 1980 Polish Winter climbs; and further back to Reinhold Messner’s 1978 and 1980 climbs, and then ahead to the 1986 efforts of Jean Troillet, Erhard Loretan, and Pierre Beghin. The organization of the text is of course the author’s prerogative; but I find it hard to see what is gained by this peculiar presentation.
It is difficult to quarrel with the selection of expeditions with which Viesturs’ has chosen to deal, or with the amount of space he devotes to each, although he allots relatively few pages to Hillary and Tenzing’s 1953 climb—the first to reach the summit. Some have doubted that Chinese climbers actually reached the summit in 1960, but Viesturs, after mentioning evidence that casts doubt on the success of this attempt, is inclined to “give the [Chinese] climbers the benefit of the doubt.” He does not, however, offer much explanation for why he accepts the Chinese claims. (Such other experts as Chris Bonington, Jochen Hemmleb, and Tom Holzel, have examined the evidence and concluded that the Chinese did reach the summit.) Viesturs’ description of the 1990 Peace Climb presents some interesting insights.
The Mountain includes 16 pages of photographs (mainly in color), a 2-page bibliography, and a 12-page index. It lacks any photographs or diagrams showing the climbing routes of the various expeditions.
The Mountain: My Time on Everest
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Last update: 12-06-2024
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