The Mountain: My Time on Everest

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 562 ratings

Price: 18.37

Last update: 01-09-2025


About this item

In The Mountain, veteran world-class climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs—the only American to have climbed all fourteen of the world's 8,000-meter peaks—trains his sights on Mount Everest in richly detailed accounts of expeditions that are by turns personal, harrowing, deadly, and inspiring.

The highest mountain on earth, Everest remains the ultimate goal for serious high-altitude climbers. Viesturs has gone on eleven expeditions to Everest, spending more than two years of his life on the mountain and reaching the summit seven times. No climber today is better poised to survey Everest's various ascents—both personal and historic. Viesturs sheds light on the fate of Mallory and Irvine, whose 1924 disappearance just 800 feet from the summit remains one of mountaineering's greatest mysteries, as well as the multiply tragic last days of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer in 1996, the stuff of which Into Thin Air was made.

Informed by the experience of one who has truly been there, The Mountain affords a rare glimpse into that place on earth where Heraclitus's maxim—"Character is destiny"—is proved time and again.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Matthew Morine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Love His Stories
    Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2014
    Viesturs is a hero of mine. His first book started my love for mountains. Before I moved to Colorado, I thought I should read a book about mountain climbing. It made sense, I was moving to the state with the most peaks over 14,000. So I read, “No Shortcuts to the Top.” It was awesome, and because of it, I climbed my first 14,000 peak. This got me hooked, and now I am at 51 of the 58 peaks in Colorado. Thank you Viesturs. Also, last year, I was able to go hear him speak in Golden Colorado. Charity also came with me, and shockingly, she loved his presentation. She says it was one of the best dates ever. This book is about his trips to Mt. Everest. But it is more than that, it is about the history of the mountain, and probably the most famous mountain in the world. The book was somewhat of a review, as much of the history I knew, and ever read recently about Mallory’s adventures, in the book “Into the Silence.” It was good hearing some of the details again. Viesturs, is a class act. He kind of refuses to trash people, but every now and then, he will speak his mind. If you love mountaineer, and if you are a Viesturs fan, you will love this book. Of course, it is not as good as his first book, but it is a good read. I like the way the book reads. It is not just all history, and than adventures. It moves well, and it kept my attention. It was a fun read.
  • JR
    4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile Read
    Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017
    I have enjoyed reading several books about Ed's exploits. This book is slightly different. While the book outlines all of his experiences on Everest, it also lends historical perspective to his accomplishments. I was somewhat disappointed that he didn't go more into the 1996 Everest tragedy. I felt like the "you can read the detailed account in my other book" was a thinly veiled attempt at boosting sales for "No Shortcuts to the Top" which is in my opinion a much better book than this one to begin with. I did enjoy this book despite that single annoyance. Ed's life is one that every mountaineer should know about.
  • timcon1964
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Readable Account of Viesturs' Everest Experiences & Brief Descriptions of the Most Significant Everest Climbs
    Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2017
    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.
  • lars sune haugen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary experienced mountaineering stories
    Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2014
    I have climbed Mount Everest myself, and reading Mr. Viesturs personal experiences over so many years and his gentle and puristic approach, gives me a belief that there is still more to Everest than meets the laymans eyes.
    The book is also a precoius dive into the climbing community's most honoured icons. Mountaineers such as Bonington, Shipton, Abruzzi and Breashers and their feats on the worlds highest peaks are wonderfully described and historically acurate.
    Viesturs describes the true hardship that meets the mountaineers in a factual and realistic way.
    The stories of his many and often ubelievable attempts on Everest takes the reader on a fantastic journey.
    It's a pageturner - a true gem of a book
    Lars, Norway
  • DeniseM
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, doesn't bog reader down in climbing jargon
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2017
    Have most of Viesturs books. They are recommended books if you like that genre or want to learn more. He writes about people, events, history and personal experiences. Along with some technical facts, but not too much to confuse people who don't know a lot about this sport.
  • A. Antonio
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book
    Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2013
    The Mountain is one of Ed Viesturs best books to date. He does an excellent job of mixing historic and recent accounts. While some people might prefer a more conventional chronological approach, this approach seemed to make the book a little more interesting.

    There was a little bit of recycling from his previous books but it was kept to a minimum and was mixed in with plenty of new material.

    One thing that seemed to stand out a little more in this book than Ed's previous books was his depiction of his summit days. In this book he seemed to really focus on how truly brutal those days are. In the past he wrote about his summit days and how he pulled them off but this time it seemed like they he made an effort to explain what really goes into them.

    Overall anyone who has an interest in Everest, the Himalaya, Adventure, or mountaineering will really enjoy this book. It moves at a good pace.

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