The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest

Having read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, I read The Climb thinking that it would complete the picture and give me a balanced view of what happened on Everest in 1996, when storms hit a number of commercial expeditions resulting in the deaths of eight climbers. It did so to a degree, and the account by Boukreev the climb and of his rescue of three members of his expedition is certainly gripping, but there were aspects of this book that spoiled it a little for me. The most interesting part of the book is the first part, which describes the expedition and Boukreev's heroic rescue of three of his fellow climbers. The Mountain Madness debriefing transcript at the end is almost as interesting, but in a different way. In between these is sandwiched a lot of argument about Jon Krakauer's account and his criticisms of Boukreev. I found this irritating, distracting, unnecessary and undignified. The Climb is tilting at windmills here. After all, Krakauer is not unreservedly critical of Boukreev. He describes Boukreev's rescue efforts and gives him credit for them. He does also question the wisdom and motives of some of Boukreev's actions, but I think this fair enough; he wrote his account very soon after the events, and admits to the incompleteness of his knowledge. He is also critical of the Everest 'industry' in general, and most of all of himself.

The Climb is not such an engaging read as Into Thin Air. Perhaps this is because Boukreev was not a writer himself and his command of English was poor, so he had to collaborate with someone who could write, but who was not an eyewitness to the events. Krakauer has the advantage of being both a participant, an eyewitness and a good writer, so his account, while it may have gaps and inaccuracies, is much more compelling. It certainly gives one a greater feel for the atmosphere and the characters involved. If you want to read just one account of the events described in this book, then I would recommend Into Thin Air. You may then feel compelled to read The Climb for the sake of balance. This review seems rather more negative than I intended it to be, so let me finish on a positive note. The Climb tells a gripping story of true life drama, tragedy and heroism. You will want to know how it ends. Boukreev, although he describes himself as a 'difficult' person, comes across with great humanity, honesty and heroism.

A gripping read (0/0 people found this helpful)

Having read most accounts of the 1996 Everest disaster, I find this to be the most compelling and the most believeable. I could not put the book down until it was finished. Even the transcripts at the end made good reading.

Boukreev Vindicated (1/1 people found this helpful)

This is the TRUE story of what happened on Everest on 10th May 1996, and gives the lie to Krakeurs spurious, self-absolving account - not worthy of mention here - where Krakeur - 'exhausted' - stayed in his tent when Boukreev asked for help to go and search for the lost climbers. Boukreev was demonstrably one of the greatest climbers of his generation, and his name will adorn the golden halls of Everest's history long after Krakeur has spent the last of his 30 pieces of silver. The Climb is a beautifully written, well organised and very moving story - particularly when, at the end, we learn of Boukreev's ultimate fate amongst the mountains he worshipped.

Tourists take on Everest (1/3 people found this helpful)

This is guide Anatoli Boukreev's version of the events of the Everest tragedy of May 1996.

As a guide and not a 'customer' Boukreev paints a dim (but seemingly honest) view of the climbers, base camp, the tour companies and of the whole Everest industry.
Most of the protaganists come across as not particularly nice people, whose motivation for climbing the worlds highest peak is solely so they can write a book and tell the folks back home what high achievers they are.
Boukreev subtly explains that all you need to climb Everest is a lot of money, a reasonable degree of fitness which anybody can attain, and an expert guide like himself. You dont need previous Mountaineering experience provided you can tick these three boxes.

One of those books I couldn't put down (4/5 people found this helpful)

I was gripped by this book and found it hard to put down. It came across as factual, interesting and absorbing, and I'm not even a climber! Although I've never met him, I have a huge amount of respect for Anatoli Boukreev as a result of reading this book. In contrast, I tried to read an account of the same expedition written by Jon Krakauer but the bits I dipped into were pages of gossip about other members of the team (it came across in a 'gossipy' way to me), and something I couldn't quite put my finger on that grated with me somewhat. Possibly not a fair comparison, but from browsing through Into Thin Air for about half an hour I'm unlikely to read Krakauer's book in full. I found Boukreev's account to be more about Everest, the expedition, and ... well, it was just a nicer read.

Ironically, the bits in Krakauer's book I read about other members of the expedition really told me more about Krakauer himself. He seemed to go into too much detail about other people's private lives, whereas I was interested in what was going on at Everest. Boukreev's book (and Weston De Walt) came across to me as more focused, structured, well written, fair, factual in a non-judgemental way, and avoided making assumptions without stating that they were assumptions. It was an adventure to read, and to gain some insight into what it's really like to climb Everest. It was also reassuring to hear that not all climbers of Everest put reaching the summit ahead of saving another human life.

I highly recommend this book, and am unable to fault it in any way.

Anatoli Boukreev, G.Weston Dewalt

Reader Reviews:

Another side of the story (0/0 people found this helpful)

A gripping read (0/0 people found this helpful)

Boukreev Vindicated (1/1 people found this helpful)

Tourists take on Everest (1/3 people found this helpful)

One of those books I couldn't put down (4/5 people found this helpful)

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