Synopses & Reviews
As the climbers of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster vanished into thin air, one man had the courage to bring them down alive...On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by expert leaders attempted to scale the world's largest peak. But things went terribly wrong. Crowded conditions, bad judgement, and a bitter storm stopped many climbers in their tracks. Others were left for dead, or stranded on the frigid mountain. Anatoli Boukreev, head climbing guide for the Mountain Madness expedition, stepped into the heart of the storm and brought three of his clients down alive. Here is his amazing story-of an expedition fated for disaster, of the blind ambition that drives people to attempt such dangerous ventures, and of a modern-day hero, who risked his own life to save others..
Review
"Raw but powerful...[Boukreev] took action. He chose danger, and he saved lives." --
The New York Times Book Review"One of the most amazing rescues in mountaineering history, performed single-handedly a few hours after climbing Everest without oxygen by a man some describe as the Tiger Woods of Himalayan climbing." --Wall Street Journal
"[The Climb] has a ring of authenticity that challenges the slickly written Into Thin Air...Compelling" --Minneapolis Star Tribune
About the Author
Anatoli Boukreev was one of the world's foremost high-altitude mountaineers, arguably the finest of his generation. He had summited eleven of the world's 8,000 meter peaks without the use of supplementary oxygen, some of them, including Mount Everest, multiple times. In all, he attempted twenty-one times he was successful. Born in Russia where he received the Master of Sports with Honors, Boukreev had made his home in Kazakhstan where in 1998 the President of that Republic awarded him posthumously the "Erligi Ushin" Medal for his contributions to high-altitude mountaineering and for his personal courage.
G. Weston Dewalt is a writer and investigative filmmaker who specializes in human rights issues, the confluence of humankind and the environment, and biography. His film Genbaku shi: Killed by the Atomic Bomb compelled the U.S. Department of Defense to acknowledge that American POWs had been killed during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. He divides his time between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and London.