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I found a good one to read on my Kindle Fire. "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail", by David Miller. David got tired of working every day in a cubicle. Company wouldn't approve his vacation time to hike the trail so he went anyway.
Pretty good reading.
I agree with Netwit. Into Thin Air is a very good book. I read it twice. The climber/pathologist is one of our local guys in Dallas and I remember when all this unfolded. It's really a horror story and I kept a quilt wrapped around me because I was so cold. His descriptions are that real.
I have yet to read a Krakauer book that is not excellent.
Netwit and Ketabcha:
I've wanted to read this one for awhile, and after 10 pages, I want to keep reading! I've also wanted to read Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory - I am very much in awe of Pat Tillman.
I also thought "Into Thin Air" was a good book. I had read Krakauer's article in Outside magazine prior to his book coming out, so already knew the story, but of course the book is far more comprehensive.
Once you are done with "Into Thin Air," if you are still interested in books about mountaineering, you could try "Seven Summits" by Dick Bass, Frank Wells and Rick Ridgeway: Seven Summits: Dick Bass,Frank Wells,Rick Ridgeway: 9780446385169: Amazon.com: Books Dick Bass was the first person to climb the highest summit on each continent (although there is a dispute whether Kosciusko in Australia counts), and it is a very interesting book. David Breashears, who features in "Into Thin Air" as the head of the IMAX team, was Bass's guide on Everest.
Then, of course, you will have to watch the IMAX Everest movie (I can't find it on YouTube) and "Everest - The Death Zone" which follows Breashears and Viesturs in a scientific trip back up Everest a year after the disastrous 1996 trip:
I also thought "Into Thin Air" was a good book. I had read Krakauer's article in Outside magazine prior to his book coming out, so already knew the story, but of course the book is far more comprehensive.
Once you are done with "Into Thin Air," if you are still interested in books about mountaineering, you could try "Seven Summits" by Dick Bass, Frank Wells and Rick Ridgeway: Seven Summits: Dick Bass,Frank Wells,Rick Ridgeway: 9780446385169: Amazon.com: Books Dick Bass was the first person to climb the highest summit on each continent (although there is a dispute whether Kosciusko in Australia counts), and it is a very interesting book. David Breashears, who features in "Into Thin Air" as the head of the IMAX team, was Bass's guide on Everest.
Then, of course, you will have to watch the IMAX Everest movie (I can't find it on YouTube) and "Everest - The Death Zone" which follows Breashears and Viesturs in a scientific trip back up Everest a year after the disastrous 1996 trip:
Have you read Touching the Void: The Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson?
It's about two Englishmen who climb the highest peak in the Andes and what happens to one of them. It's an amazing survival story and I could not put it down once I started it.
Have you read Touching the Void: The Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson?
It's about two Englishmen who climb the highest peak in the Andes and what happens to one of them. It's an amazing survival story and I could not put it down once I started it.
No, I haven't, thanks for the recommendation. As I was writing my post, I was looking at other mountaineering books on Amazon and thinking I should read another. I am sort of an armchair mountaineer. Thanks again.
I also thought "Into Thin Air" was a good book. I had read Krakauer's article in Outside magazine prior to his book coming out, so already knew the story, but of course the book is far more comprehensive.
Once you are done with "Into Thin Air," if you are still interested in books about mountaineering, you could try "Seven Summits" by Dick Bass, Frank Wells and Rick Ridgeway: Seven Summits: Dick Bass,Frank Wells,Rick Ridgeway: 9780446385169: Amazon.com: Books Dick Bass was the first person to climb the highest summit on each continent (although there is a dispute whether Kosciusko in Australia counts), and it is a very interesting book. David Breashears, who features in "Into Thin Air" as the head of the IMAX team, was Bass's guide on Everest.
Then, of course, you will have to watch the IMAX Everest movie (I can't find it on YouTube) and "Everest - The Death Zone" which follows Breashears and Viesturs in a scientific trip back up Everest a year after the disastrous 1996 trip:
I've watched a show that sounds the same as what you mention about the Death Zone on National Geographic channel and it was about a scientific team. For some really sick reason, in the depths of a Manitoba winter, I like watching Everest expeditions. Maybe it's a touch of schadenfreude that someone else was worse off than me . Just watching those shows makes me cold and I pile on the blankets.
Have you read Touching the Void: The Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson?
It's about two Englishmen who climb the highest peak in the Andes and what happens to one of them. It's an amazing survival story and I could not put it down once I started it.
Thanks. Another book to add to my list of what to get when I go to the city.
I've watched a show that sounds the same as what you mention about the Death Zone on National Geographic channel and it was about a scientific team. For some really sick reason, in the depths of a Manitoba winter, I like watching Everest expeditions. Maybe it's a touch of schadenfreude that someone else was worse off than me . Just watching those shows makes me cold and I pile on the blankets.
Yes, the video I posted is the one produced by NatGeo.
If you haven't read "The Terror" by Dan Simmons, it is a great one for piling on the blankets - I nearly froze to death reading that book.
Looks like I started an avalanche of mountaineering book ideas. Te he he.
Seriously, though, I've never really thought about mountaineering books before, but if there are any in the same vein as Into Thin Air, with some kind of mountaineering mishap, then I'd definitely be interested in reading them. I just heard Into Thin Air was good and that's why I'm reading it.
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. Just watching those shows makes me cold and I pile on the blankets.