Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In May 2014, the mountaineer and scientist John All fell into a crevasse near Everest and took a series of videos as he struggled to climb out 70 feet of ice and snow with fifteen broken bones including 6 cracked vertebrae, internal bleeding, a severely dislocated shoulder, and his face covered in blood. The videos of him went viral and appeared in newscasts all over the world: CNN, BBC, Australia, Brazil, Israel, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc. and every website imaginable from People Magazine to National Geographic. NPR called him "a badass for science.
Yet this story is only the latest of All s adventures. He s also won a footrace for his life with a wild hyena, stepped on a black mamba in the African bush, and scaled Everest - all in pursuit of his true passion: the future of adaptation to our world s changing climate. Icefall is more than a fascinating adventure storyit is a report from the extremes, which hold new lessons about the impact of climate change. It is about the collapsing Andean glaciers, the hidden jungles in Honduras where native people have learned about surviving hurricanes, and the highest points on earth, where more scientific secrets lie. The result is a thrilling adventure memoir with profound lessons for how humans will adjust as our world continues to change beneath our feet.
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Synopsis
John All has survived encounters with black mamba snakes, run-ins with wild jungle animals, and a brush with death in an icy tomb. No one knows the outer limits of our changing planet quite like him. In May 2014, the mountaineer and scientist John All plunged into a crevasse in the Himalayas, a fall that all but killed him. He recorded a series of dramatic videos as he struggled to climb seven stories back up to the surface with a severely dislocated shoulder, internal bleeding, a battered face covered in blood, and fifteen broken bones--including six cracked vertebrae. The videos became a viral sensation, an urgent and gripping dispatch from one of the least-known extremes of the planet.
Yet this climb for his life is only the latest of John All's adventures in some of Earth's most hostile climates. He has also been chased by a wild hyena, scaled Everest, and narrowly missed being hit by an avalanche, all in pursuit of his true calling: the study of how we can master the challenge of our world's changing climate. Icefall is a thrilling adventure story and a report from the extremes of the planet, taking you to collapsing Andean glaciers, hidden jungles in Honduras, and the highest points on Earth. In this gripping account, our changing climate is not a matter of politics; it's a matter of life and death and the human will to survive and thrive in the face of it.