EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book I Take the Road to Everest

Download or read book I Take the Road to Everest written by Pramila le Hunte and published by Troubador Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2022-01-28 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Think of a time when the sun never set on the British Empire. For the British it was once a land of Hope and Glory, but over the eighty years of my biography the grandeur fizzled out and sadly the country ended up as a land of hope for glory.

Book Up and About

    Book Details:
  • Author : Doug Scott
  • Publisher : Vertebrate Publishing
  • Release : 2018-11
  • ISBN : 9781911342823
  • Pages : 404 pages

Download or read book Up and About written by Doug Scott and published by Vertebrate Publishing. This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A full and fascinating portrait of one of the great figures of mountaineering.' - Michael Palin At dusk on 24 September 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston became the first Britons to reach the summit of Everest as lead climbers on Chris Bonington's epic expedition to the mountain's immense south-west face. As darkness fell, Scott and Haston scraped a small cave in the snow 100 metres below the summit and survived the highest bivouac ever - without bottled oxygen, sleeping bags and, as it turned out, frostbite. For Doug Scott, it was the fulfilment of a fortune-teller's prophecy given to his mother: that her eldest son would be in danger in a high place with the whole world watching. Scott and Haston returned home national heroes with their image splashed across the front pages. Scott went on to become one of Britain's greatest ever mountaineers, pioneering new climbs in the remotest corners of the globe. His career spans the golden age of British climbing from the 1960s boom in outdoor adventure to the new wave of lightweight alpinism throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In Up and About, the first volume of his autobiography, Scott tells his story from his birth in Nottingham during the darkest days of war to the summit of the world. Surviving the unplanned bivouac without oxygen near the summit of Everest widened the range of what and how he would climb in the future. In fact, Scott established more climbs on the high mountains of the world after his ascent of Everest than before. Those climbs will be covered in the second volume of his life and times.

Book Where Men Win Glory

Download or read book Where Men Win Glory written by Jon Krakauer and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-07-27 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A "gripping book about this extraordinary man who lived passionately and died unnecessarily" (USA Today) in post-9/11 Afghanistan, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air. In 2002, Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of American patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, a legend was born. But the real Pat Tillman was much more remarkable, and considerably more complicated than the public knew. Sent first to Iraq—a war he would openly declare was “illegal as hell” —and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was driven by emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, and masculine pride, and he was determined to serve his entire three-year commitment. But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers. Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman’s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman’s family and the American public for five weeks following his death. During this time, President Bush used Tillman’s name to promote his administration’ s foreign policy. Long after Tillman’s nationally televised memorial service, the Army grudgingly notified his closest relatives that he had “probably” been killed by friendly fire while it continued to dissemble about the details of his death and who was responsible. Drawing on Tillman’s journals and letters and countless interviews with those who knew him and extensive research in Afghanistan, Jon Krakauer chronicles Tillman’s riveting, tragic odyssey in engrossing detail highlighting his remarkable character and personality while closely examining the murky, heartbreaking circumstances of his death. Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer’s storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war. This edition has been updated to reflect new developments and includes new material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Book The Road to Sagarmatha

    Book Details:
  • Author : Adam A. Wilson
  • Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
  • Release : 2011-02-11
  • ISBN : 1456815970
  • Pages : 284 pages

Download or read book The Road to Sagarmatha written by Adam A. Wilson and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-02-11 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Up in the “Death Zone” of Mt. Everest, world famous freelance photographer Aaron Temple is dying. Paralyzed by altitude sickness, he has been left behind by Dave Horton, leader and financial backer of the 50th anniversary climb of the famed mountain. As the deep sleep of hypothermia edges closer, his unsettled consciousness still ponders the question of why this was happening to him. “Not here,” he whispers as the light begins to fade and the wind whips sheets of cascading snow down upon him. “Not now.” Aaron perishes on the mountain. Back in Orlando, when hotel accountant Hank Longo, Aaron’s best friend, hears the news, it is a crushing loss. The buddy who had been his life sharing, brother-in-arms comrade had died and questions still remain as to how he had succumbed to the harsh elements when everyone else managed to get off the mountain. Hank dreams about Aaron lying half buried in the snow with an arm outstretched and frostbitten fingers reaching for a handhold. When he meets Umesh Bhuju, a former Sherpa climber, he is told that the dreams will continue as long as Aaron’s body remains on Everest and his spirit trespasses with the deities that protect the mountain. Hank concludes he cannot leave his friend where he is. In spite of his lack of climbing skill, the power of loyalty compels Hank to travel to the Himalayas in order to find his friend and bring him home. With an amazing assembled crew of men & women, he journeys to retrace the same steps Aaron had taken, hoping that the answer as to why his friend had died lies somewhere between Katmandu and the 29,000 foot summit of Everest. Bringing back Aaron from the highest point on Earth will be the greatest challenge of his life. The road he is about to take, “The Road to Sagarmatha,” is the only one that can once again make him whole.

Book Ascent Into Hell

    Book Details:
  • Author : Fergus White
  • Publisher :
  • Release : 2017-12-11
  • ISBN : 9781973422716
  • Pages : 348 pages

Download or read book Ascent Into Hell written by Fergus White and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-11 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is but one aim: the summit, the summit of Mount Everest.What starts with a trouble-free trek into the Nepalese highlands explodes into a gripping tale of hardship, peril, and adversity. Pushed beyond their physical and mental limits, climbers drop by the wayside. Their primal instincts for survival battle with their dogged resolve to drag themselves to the top of the world. But the focus remains: battle to the summit, and if successful, somehow get back down again.White plunges the reader into a land of subzero temperatures, asphyxiating air, and ever increasing danger. Base Camp and the world above it come to life in this riveting, true novel. The inner workings of an Everest expedition team and what it takes to climb the world's highest mountain are laid bare. Some return from the death zone injured. Some do not return at all.Success and failure vie for supremacy throughout.This personal, day-by-day chronicle takes the reader along every step of an Everest climb. A must for climbing enthusiasts, lovers of adventure, and adrenaline junkies; the closing chapters will leave you breathless.

Book The Mountain

    Book Details:
  • Author : Ed Viesturs
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2013-10-08
  • ISBN : 145169475X
  • Pages : 375 pages

Download or read book The Mountain written by Ed Viesturs and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In national bestseller The Mountain, world-renowned climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs and cowriter David Roberts paint a vivid portrait of obsession, dedication, and human achievement in a true love letter to the world’s highest peak. In The Mountain, veteran world-class climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs—the only American to have climbed all fourteen of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks—trains his sights on Mount Everest in richly detailed accounts of expeditions that are by turns personal, harrowing, deadly, and inspiring. The highest mountain on earth, Everest remains the ultimate goal for serious high-altitude climbers. Viesturs has gone on eleven expeditions to Everest, spending more than two years of his life on the mountain and reaching the summit seven times. No climber today is better poised to survey Everest’s various ascents—both personal and historic. Viesturs sheds light on the fate of Mallory and Irvine, whose 1924 disappearance just 800 feet from the summit remains one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries, as well as the multiply tragic last days of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer in 1996, the stuff of which Into Thin Air was made. Informed by the experience of one who has truly been there, The Mountain affords a rare glimpse into that place on earth where Heraclitus’s maxim—“Character is destiny”—is proved time and again.

Book Tibet  Lamplight Unto a Darkened World   the American Delusion a Parody of Life

Download or read book Tibet Lamplight Unto a Darkened World the American Delusion a Parody of Life written by Patrick Mahoney and published by Patrick Mahoney. This book was released on 2008-08-28 with total page 1288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michener meets Grisham,on a mountain top in Tibet; hooked up by Hermann Hesse ;-) Chronicling the adventures of a modern-day Siddartha, this Historical 'fiction' novel is a parable with a heart.

Book The Vast Unknown

Download or read book The Vast Unknown written by Broughton Coburn and published by Crown. This book was released on 2013 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "By the author of the bestseller Everest: Mountain Without Mercy, this chronicle of the iconic first American expedition to Mt. Everest in May 1963--published to coincide with the climb's 50th anniversary--combines riveting adventure, a perceptive analysis of its dark and terrifying historical context, and unprecedented revelations about its secret motivation. /b> n the midst of the Cold War, against the backdrop of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the space race with the Soviet Union, and the quagmire of the Vietnam War, a band of iconoclastic, independent-minded American mountaineers set off for Mt. Everest, aiming to restore America's confidence and optimism. Their objective is to reach the summit while conducting scientific research, but which route will they take? And, mysteriously, who wants the results of the scientific tests, and for what purpose? The Vast Unknown is, on one level, a harrowing, character-driven account of the climb itself and its legendary team of alternately inspiring, troubled, and tragic climbers who suffer injuries, a near mutiny, and death on the mountain. It is also an examination of the profound sway the expedition had over the Ame

Book Everest

    Book Details:
  • Author : Thomas F. Hornbein
  • Publisher : The Mountaineers Books
  • Release : 1998
  • ISBN : 9780898866162
  • Pages : 244 pages

Download or read book Everest written by Thomas F. Hornbein and published by The Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 1998 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details the author and his partner Willi Unsoeld's ascent of Everest's West Ridge in 1963.

Book The Third Pole

Download or read book The Third Pole written by Mark Synnott and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ***NPR Books We Love selection*** “If you’re only going to read one Everest book this decade, make it The Third Pole. . . . A riveting adventure.”—Outside Shivering, exhausted, gasping for oxygen, beyond doubt . . . A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as “the Year Everest Broke.” What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul—and your life—if you let it. The mystery? On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine set out to stand on the roof of the world, where no one had stood before. They were last seen eight hundred feet shy of Everest’s summit still “going strong” for the top. Could they have succeeded decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? Irvine is believed to have carried a Kodak camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did the frozen film in that camera have a photograph of Mallory and Irvine on the summit before they disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again? Kodak says the film might still be viable. . . . Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face along with his friend Renan Ozturk, a filmmaker using drones higher than any had previously flown. Readers witness first-hand how Synnott’s quest led him from oxygen-deprivation training to archives and museums in England, to Kathmandu, the Tibetan high plateau, and up the North Face into a massive storm. The infamous traffic jams of climbers at the very summit immediately resulted in tragic deaths. Sherpas revolted. Chinese officials turned on Synnott’s team. An Indian woman miraculously crawled her way to frostbitten survival. Synnott himself went off the safety rope—one slip and no one would have been able to save him—committed to solving the mystery. Eleven climbers died on Everest that season, all of them mesmerized by an irresistible magic. The Third Pole is a rapidly accelerating ride to the limitless joy and horror of human obsession.

Book Into Thin Air

Download or read book Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer and published by Anchor. This book was released on 1998-11-12 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

Book Because It s There  to Climb Mount Everest

Download or read book Because It s There to Climb Mount Everest written by Aleksey Berzon and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-20 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because It's There: To Climb Mount Everest is a memoir of Aleksey Berzon. This book includes photographs. The story is about a young man who attempted to climb Mount Everest. However, before the journey could begin, it seemed to be doomed from the start. Visa law changes, a hurricane and airplane cancellations stood in the way between Aleksey and his adventure. Experience Nepal and climb to Mount Everest through the eyes of Aleksey. The endless forks in the trails were his nemesis and the safety precautions of the climb seemed lost in the wind. Meet locals, climbers and avid travelers along the way. Dive into a world of unique and strange conversations. Join the adventure of self-discovery through humor and personal insights. Because It's There: To Climb Mount Everest is the first book of a series of four. Three more books will follow: Adventures In Tibet, A Walk Across China, and Meeting The People Of Vietnam. Excerpt: When my large plate of dal bhat arrived, the woman asked me, "Why didn't you stay at our lodge? We have warm delicious food, a hot shower, comfortable beds and Wi-Fi." I thought about her question and concluded it was because I didn't have the Lonely Planet guidebook. This brand, the largest travel guidebook publisher in the world, was commonly called by backpackers as the "Bible of the Road." In my opinion, when a traveler let a guidebook dictate their trip, it no longer became an adventure, but simply retraced the steps of someone else. It took away the mystery of the road, the unexpected, and set a standard of high expectations by merely promoting the popular. The romance of the road was then gone. Getting lost in this world had already become difficult, and encountering the unexpected, extraordinary situations a subject to read about in adventure books, only to be mentioned as a safety hazard in guidebooks. Once aware of the unexpected, can it still be called an adventure? My accommodation for the night may not have been the best, but at least I supported a different family and spread the wealth. After dinner, I went back to the lodge, cleaned up with a moist towel and passed out under a heavy set of blankets, with daddy-long-legs to keep me company. Excerpt # 2: Kato sat in a corner failing to warm up a bowl of noodles using his small backpacker canister stove. I stood at the other corner and tried to clean a dirty blanket I wanted to use for the night. At that moment, I couldn't help but ask, "Kato, you are a respected businessman and can stay at the best hotel and eat at a restaurant of your choice. Why are you here with me? Why do you go through all this discomfort?" Kato turned to look at me and returned a genuine smile of contentment and happiness. He then said the words I'd never forget. "At home, I have a family waiting for me. I have a job, friends and most comforts that money can offer. In order to appreciate the life I have at home, I am here to experience a different way of life. Wait. No." Kato paused for a moment. "I travel to live a different life." He nodded as if agreeing with his own philosophy. He then glanced at me, and asked, "Why are you doing this pilgrimage?"

Book Two at the Top

    Book Details:
  • Author : Uma Krishnaswami
  • Publisher : Groundwood Books Ltd
  • Release : 2021-10-01
  • ISBN : 1773066226
  • Pages : 36 pages

Download or read book Two at the Top written by Uma Krishnaswami and published by Groundwood Books Ltd. This book was released on 2021-10-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary each tell their story, culminating in their thrilling ascent of Mount Everest. Tenzing Norgay grew up in Nepal, herding yaks in the shadow of Chomolungma, the mountain also known as Everest. He has always dreamed of climbing to the top. He becomes a guide, leading treks through the Himalayas, and finally attempts the highest mountain himself, but doesn’t make it. Across the ocean, in New Zealand, Edmund Hillary grew up tending his father’s bees. He climbed his first mountain at sixteen and has climbed all over the world ever since. He tries Everest, with no success. In 1953, the two men set out on the same expedition to climb Everest. Their party numbers four hundred, counting all the guides and porters. But the climb is grueling, and eventually Norgay and Hillary are the only two determined to continue. They tramp over windswept glaciers, crawl across rope bridges, hack footholds in the ice ... until finally they reach the top of the world! This remarkable true adventure story, told in a dual narrative, includes illustrated backmatter rich in geography, history and science. Key Text Features author’s note bibliography facts further reading historical context illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Book Into Thin Air

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jon Krakauer
  • Publisher : Villard
  • Release : 1997-04-22
  • ISBN : 0679457526
  • Pages : 318 pages

Download or read book Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer and published by Villard. This book was released on 1997-04-22 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated. Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996. Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement. Into the Wild is available on audio, read by actor Campbell Scott.

Book Blind Descent

Download or read book Blind Descent written by Brian Dickinson and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2014 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Former Navy rescue swimmer Brian Dickinson was roughly 1,000 feet from the summit of Mount Everest ... when his Sherpa became ill and had to turn back, leaving Brian with a difficult decision: should he continue to push for the summit, or head back down the mountain? After carefully weighing the options, Brian decided to continue toward the summit ... Four hours later, Brian solo-summited the highest peak in the world, but the celebration was short-lived ... Suddenly, his vision became blurry, his eyes started to burn, and within seconds, he was rendered almost completely blind"--Amazon.com.

Book The Himalayan Database

Download or read book The Himalayan Database written by Elizabeth Hawley and published by Amer Alpine Club. This book was released on 2004-10-01 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historical archives of Elizabeth Hawley-for more than 40 years the meticulous chronicler of mountaineering expeditions in Nepal-are now available on this searchable CD.

Book Everest

    Book Details:
  • Author : Reinhold Messner
  • Publisher : Vertebrate Publishing
  • Release : 2014-11-15
  • ISBN : 1910240214
  • Pages : 413 pages

Download or read book Everest written by Reinhold Messner and published by Vertebrate Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-15 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Everest by fair means - that is the human dimension, and that is what interests me ... In reaching for the oxygen cylinder, a climber degrades Everest ... a climber who doesn't rely on his own strength and skills, but on apparatus and drugs, deceives himself. In May 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler became the first climbers in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the use of supplementary oxygen - an event which made international headlines and permanently altered the future of mountaineering. Here Messner tells how the and Habeler accomplished the impossible - and how it felt. He describes the dangers of the Khumbu Icefield, the daunting Lhotse flank, two lonely storm-filled nights at 26,247 feet, and finally the last step to the summit. Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate is a riveting account of the exhaustion, the exhilaration and the despair of climbing into the death zone. The book also includes a history of the mountain, successful ascents and Messner's reflections on recent tragedies on Mount Everest. Reinhold Messner was the first to climb all fourteen peaks higher than 8,000 metres. The author of more than a dozen books on his adventures, he lives in a castle in northern Italy.