Synopses & Reviews
Without risk, say mountaineers, there would be none of the self-knowledge that comes from pushing life to its extremes. For them, perhaps, it is worth the cost. But when tragedy strikes, what happens to the people left behind? Why would anyone choose to invest in a future with a high-altitude risk-taker? What is life like in the shadow of the mountain? Such questions have long been taboo in the world of mountaineering. Now, the spouses, parents and children of internationally renowned climbers finally break their silence, speaking out about the dark side of adventure.
Maria Coffey confronted one of the harshest realities of mountaineering when her partner Joe Tasker disappeared on the Northeast Ridge of Everest in 1982. In Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow, Coffey offers an intimate portrait of adventure and the conflicting beauty, passion, and devastation of this alluring obsession. Through interviews with the world's top climbers, or their widows and families-Jim Wickwire, Conrad Anker, Lynn Hill, Joe Simpson, Chris Bonington, Ed Viesturs, Anatoli Boukreev, Alex Lowe, and many others-she explores what compels men and women to give their lives to the high mountains. She asks why, despite the countless tragedies, the world continues to laud their exploits. With an insider's understanding, Coffey reveals the consequences of loving people who pursue such risk-the exhilarating highs and inevitable lows, the stress of long separations, the constant threat of bereavement, and the lives shattered in the wake of climbing accidents.
Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow is a powerful, affecting and important book that exposes the far reaching personal costs of extreme adventure.
Review
"
Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow...has taken me on a journey I did not anticipate and has left me with deeper understanding and appreciation for those on the other side of the mountain."
-Tom Hornbein from the foreword to Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow
"This haunting book is the first of its kind in mountaineering literature. No longer will we be able to ignore the cost of climbing to our familes and loved ones."
-Jim Wickwire, coauthor of Addicted to Danger
"This compelling book offers voices from the other side of the mountaineering story - those left behind. With her history of personal pain, Coffey has an entrée into the shattered worlds of wives, husbands and children. A consistent pattern emerges: The climbers addiction pushes them to a terrible end. Coffey explores all dimensions of these tragedies, including why anyone would attempt a relationship with a serious climber."
- The Los Angeles Times
Review
Winner of the 2003 John Whyte Award for Mountain Literature and the 2004 National Outdoor Book Award"Coffey begins where Jon Krakauer left off. His characters strive, suffer and vanish 'into thin air.' This compelling book offers voices from the other side of the mountaineering story - those left behind."
- Los Angeles Times
"...an important book...Coffey is an accomplished author with the specific expertise to make this book the great read that it is."
- Gripped Magazine
"This book is a page-turner: Coffey's writing style is direct and ferociously honest, while her use of emotionally gripping anecdotes infuses an engaging, novelistic feel...A gripping must-read."
- American Alpine Journal
Synopsis
A groundbreaking book that violates the central taboo of extreme adventure: discussing the shattered lives and broken hearts of those who most love the adventurers. Mountaineers speak and write lyrically about risk; without it, they say, there would be none of the self-knowledge that reputedly comes from pushing life to its extreme edges. Excluded from that self-knowledge are the voices of those left behind: the parents, spouses, children, and loved ones who until now have maintained the code of silence about the dark side of adventure. In Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow, Maria Coffey goes beyond the typical climbing book to question the reasons why men and women give their lives to the mountains, and reveal the consequences of loving people who pursue such risk. Many of the world's top climbers--or their widows and families--offer intimate perspectives on adventure and its costly aftermath, including Jim Wickwire, Conard Anker, Lynn Hill, Joe Simpson, Chris Bonington, Ed Viesturs, Anatoli Boukreev, Alex Lowe, and others. The result is a powerful, affecting, and important book that strips the romance from adventure and returns it to the human realm.
About the Author
Maria Coffey is the author and co-author of ten books, including
Fragile Edge, an account of her relationship with the mountaineer Joe Tasker and his death on Everest. She lives with her husband Dag Goering on Vancouver Island, Canada.
Table of Contents
Moments of perfection -- High times, hard contact -- In thrall -- The transcendence zone -- Voices I : the shadow falls -- The mourning work -- Badges of honor -- Masters of denial -- Voices II : an absence of light -- The lingering shadow -- The brilliance beyond.