Download or read book The Climb Up to Hell written by Jack Olsen and published by Crime Rant Books. This book was released on 1962 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the heart of the Swiss Alps stand the three majestic peaks of the Bernese Oberland, Europe's most famous mountain range. The highest, at 13,638 feet, is the Jungfrau. Next is the Mönch, at 13,465 feet. But it is the smallest, the Eiger, rising 13,038 feet above sea level, that is by far the deadliest. Called a "living" mountain for its constantly changing conditions-unpredictable weather, disintegrating limestone surfaces, and continuously falling rock and ice-its mile-high north wall is perhaps the most dangerous climb in the world. And that may be just what beckons elite Alpinists to scale the treacherous peak against the odds. In 1957, nearly forty years before the well-known Mount Everest tragedy, two teams of confident climbers set out to summit the north wall of the Eiger Mountain. Not long into their journey, onlookers could tell that the four men were headed for disaster. Soon rescue teams from all over Europe raced toward the Eiger-yet only one of the four climbers survived to face unfounded international accusations. In a story as fascinating as any novel, Jack Olsen creates a riveting account of daring adventure, heroic rescue, and one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of mountain climbing. KIRKUS REVIEW The forbidden, formidable north wall of the Eiger Mountain in the Bernese Alps, while it was first successfully climbed in 1938, has remained a supreme challenge to the most seasoned climber and in 1957 two teams of two Germans and two Italians again made the attempt with devastating results. while Corti, the only survivor, was perhaps talented- all were seemingly uninformed and ill-prepared, certainly for the wind and weather conditions which were to defeat them and make their rescue so difficult. Corti's partner, Longhi, was the first to entertain misgivings and was soon worn out, suffering frostbite as well; the Germans lost their food and were sustained chiefly by an innate, irrational mystique. Rescue crews were quickly organized, but only Corti, who ""looked like a live corpse"", was salvaged; his partner had been left lower down- to die, and the bodies of the other two ropemates were only found months later. In the avalanche of blame, resentment (against the guides as well as Corti) to follow, no true judgement could be reached although Olsen, a Sports Illustrated staff writer, does absolve Corti after a final interview... The folly and the fascination of "vertical Russian roulette", the courage compounded with stupidity, the doubts and recriminations which lingered on long after this disastrous ascent, all intensify the drama of this attempt and revive the furor it occasioned at the time. It will keep its readers on the ropes.

Download or read book Hangdog Days written by Jeff Smoot and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2019-03-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fast-paced history-cum-memoir about rock climbing in the wild-and-wooly ’80s Highlights ground-breaking achievements from the era Hangdog Days vividly chronicles the era when rock climbing exploded in popularity, attracting a new generation of talented climbers eager to reach new heights via harder routes and faster ascents. This contentious, often entertaining period gave rise to sport climbing, climbing gyms, and competitive climbing--indelibly transforming the sport. Jeff Smoot was one of those brash young climbers, and here he traces the development of traditional climbing “rules,” enforced first through peer pressure, then later through intimidation and sabotage. In the late ’70s, several climbers began introducing new tactics including “hangdogging,” hanging on gear to practice moves, that the old guard considered cheating. As more climbers broke ranks with traditional style, the new gymnastic approach pushed the limits of climbing from 5.12 to 5.13. When French climber Jean-Baptiste Tribout ascended To Bolt or Not to Be, 5.14a, at Smith Rock in 1986, he cracked a barrier many people had considered impenetrable. In his lively, fast-paced history enriched with insightful firsthand experience, Smoot focuses on the climbing achievements of three of the era’s superstars: John Bachar, Todd Skinner, and Alan Watts, while not neglecting the likes of Ray Jardine, Lynn Hill, Mark Hudon, Tony Yaniro, and Peter Croft. He deftly brings to life the characters and events of this raucous, revolutionary time in rock climbing, exploring, as he says, “what happened and why it mattered, not only to me but to the people involved and those who have followed.”

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.

Download or read book The Climb written by Anatoli Boukreev and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2015-09-22 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everest, the major motion picture from Universal Pictures, is set for wide release on September 18, 2015. Read The Climb, Anatoli Boukreev (portrayed by Ingvar Sigurðsson in the film) and G. Weston DeWalt’s compelling account of those fateful events on Everest. In May 1996 three expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Crowded conditions slowed their progress. Late in the day twenty-three men and women-including expedition leaders Scott Fischer and Rob Hall-were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disoriented and out of oxygen, climbers struggled to find their way down the mountain as darkness approached. Alone and climbing blind, Anatoli Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death. This new edition includes a transcript of the Mountain Madness expedition debriefing recorded five days after the tragedy, as well as G. Weston DeWalt's response to Into Thin Air author Jon Krakauer.

Download or read book The Impossible Climb written by Mark Synnott and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES MONTHLY BESTSELLER One of the 10 Best Books of March, Paste Magazine A deeply reported insider perspective of Alex Honnold’s historic achievement and the culture and history of climbing. “One of the most compelling accounts of a climb and the climbing ethos that I've ever read.”—Sebastian Junger In Mark Synnott’s unique window on the ethos of climbing, his friend Alex Honnold’s astonishing free solo ascent of El Capitan’s 3,000 feet of sheer granite is the central act. When Honnold topped out at 9:28 A.M. on June 3, 2017, having spent fewer than four hours on his historic ascent, the world gave a collective gasp. The New York Times described it as “one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever.” Synnott’s personal history of his own obsession with climbing since he was a teenager—through professional climbing triumphs and defeats, and the dilemmas they render—makes this a deeply reported, enchanting revelation about living life to the fullest. What are we doing if not an impossible climb? Synnott delves into a raggedy culture that emerged decades earlier during Yosemite’s Golden Age, when pioneering climbers like Royal Robbins and Warren Harding invented the sport that Honnold would turn on its ear. Painting an authentic, wry portrait of climbing history and profiling Yosemite heroes and the harlequin tribes of climbers known as the Stonemasters and the Stone Monkeys, Synnott weaves in his own experiences with poignant insight and wit: tensions burst on the mile-high northwest face of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower; fellow climber Jimmy Chin miraculously persuades an official in the Borneo jungle to allow Honnold’s first foreign expedition, led by Synnott, to continue; armed bandits accost the same trio at the foot of a tower in the Chad desert . . . The Impossible Climb is an emotional drama driven by people exploring the limits of human potential and seeking a perfect, choreographed dance with nature. Honnold dared far beyond the ordinary, beyond any climber in history. But this story of sublime heights is really about all of us. Who doesn’t need to face down fear and make the most of the time we have?

Download or read book Retail Hell written by Freeman Hall and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-09-18 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Act I: "I think you left these behind," I said, handing them to her. This happens all the time when women try to return bags they've used. Tampons, lipstick, coins, Tic Tacs, and condoms are the top treasures found. "Greasy" let out a sigh as if I were the problem. "I really don't see what the problem is here. It's none of your business what I keep in my handbag." It is when my commission is at stake! I'm not your Designer Handbag Rental Service! My name is not BagBorrowOrSteal.com! This is a place Freeman Hall, a twenty-year veteran "on the floor," knows well. While delivering side-splitting stories alongside brutally cynical commentary, Freeman recounts his most shocking experiences in Retail Hell. From the time he was attacked by a customer's four-year-old, who grabbed onto his leg like a poodle and wouldn't let go, to the day he found the fitting room walls covered in s**t, Freeman has seen and heard (smelled and felt) it all! Horrifying and hilarious, this behind-the-scenes look at what really goes on at the Big Fancy Stores is rollicking, ready-to-wear wisdom for readers everywhere.

Download or read book The Tower written by Kelly Cordes and published by Patagonia. This book was released on 2014-11-15 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Patagonia’s Cerro Torre, considered by many the most beautiful peak in the world, draws the finest and most devoted technical alpinists to its climbing challenges. But controversy has swirled around this ice-capped peak since Cesare Maestri claimed first ascent in 1959. Since then a debate has raged, with world-class climbers attempting to retrace his route but finding only contradictions. This chronicle of hubris, heroism, controversies and epic journeys offers a glimpse into the human condition, and why some pursue extreme endeavors that at face value have no worth.

Download or read book Some Hell written by Patrick Nathan and published by Graywolf Press. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wrenching and layered debut novel about a gay teen’s coming-of-age in the aftermath of his father’s suicide Colin’s family is dissolving in the aftermath of his father’s suicide. While his mother, Diane, retreats into therapy and cynicism, Colin clings to every shred of normal life. Awash with guilt, he casts about for someone to confide in: first his estranged grandfather, then a predatory science teacher. Shunned by his siblings and rejected by his homophobic best friend, Colin immerses himself in the notebooks his father left behind. Full of strange facts, lists, and historical anecdotes that neither Colin nor Diane can understand, the notebooks infect their worldview until they can no longer tell what’s real and what’s imagined. A novel of aching intensity, Some Hell shows how unspeakable tragedy shapes a life, and how imagination saves us from ourselves.

Download or read book Nothing Burns in Hell written by Philip Jose Farmer and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1999-11-15 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This one is for fans of Quentin Tarantino and of the ever-present gratuitous violence of Robert Altman. It is a direct descendant of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and the mystery action pulps epitomized by Black Mask. Philip José Farmer, now one of the great living SF writers, who has published many varieties of pulp fiction, who has written novels of Tarzan, Doc Savage, and Oz, now turns his hand to the detective novel, with colorful, violent results. A self-obsessed private detective married to a sincere wiccan is hired to witness an illegal transfer of money in a rainy cemetery that goes bloody wrong. Chasing the bad guys, he ends up the prisoner of a grusome threesome in their Dogpatchy cabin in the woods. His escape involves nudity, blood, death, and a terrible snapping turtle. That's how the mystery begins, leading him through all the levels of Peoria society, geography, and history. Absurdly funny things happen continually in the peripheral vision of the story. No violence is left out. Greed, venality and hatred are unleashed. Unpleasant family history is brought to light. All the sex is offstage. The body count mounts steadily, with occasional mutilations. Nothing Burns in Hell is pulp fiction at its most gorgeously excessive.

Download or read book The Push written by Tommy Caldwell and published by Michael Joseph. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dramatic, inspiring memoir by legendary rock climber Tommy Caldwell, the first person to free climb the Dawn Wall of Yosemite's El Capitan. On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell, along with his partner, Kevin Jorgeson, summited what is widely regarded as the hardest climb in history Yosemite's nearly vertical 3,000-foot Dawn Wall, after nineteen days on the route. Caldwell's odds-defying feat was the culmination of an entire lifetime of pushing himself to his limits as an athlete. This engrossing memoir chronicles the journey of a boy with a fanatical mountain-guide father who was determined to instill toughness in his son to a teen whose obsessive nature drove him to the top of the sport-climbing circuit. Caldwell's affinity for adventure then led him to the vertigo-inducing and little understood world of big wall free climbing. But his evolution as a climber was not without challenges; in his early twenties, he was held hostage by militants in a harrowing ordeal in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Soon after, he lost his left index finger in an accident. Later his wife, and main climbing partner, left him. Caldwell emerged from these hardships with a renewed sense of purpose and determination. He set his sights on free climbing El Capitan's biggest, steepest, blankest face the Dawn Wall.

Download or read book Climbing Into Eternity written by Michele Pulford and published by . This book was released on 2018-04-26 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I died twice and came back to tell about it." Michele flirted with death for six years, trying to numb her pain following a sexual pervert's attack. Attempting to protect herself, she allowed hatred of men to control her, and used mind control to manipulate others. Suffering with acute anorexia nervosa, she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital at age twenty-three. She woke up in hell, a place of eternal damnation, horror, torment, and fire. Rescued by the Savior whose soft, gentle voice she had rejected, Michele was given a new chance at life and turned wholeheartedly to the Lord. When her body was completely paralyzed from an anaphylactic allergy attack as a young mother, she found life leaving her body once again. "This time," she says, "I was ushered into the splendorous glory of Heaven--a place of almost indescribable light and love." Sent back to tell her story, Michele Pulford warns others of the horrors of the kingdom of darkness, and tells them of the glory of true abundant life in God's kingdom of light. This personal love story, as well as a story about death and eternal life, is both a warning and a promise, and ultimately an unforgettable account of the love of God that would not let a young woman go. Too many people, including many Christians, are totally unaware of the eternal dimension of life with a Heaven to gain and Hell to shun. I trust all those who read about her [Michele's] journey will be motivated to live a life that would assure them of a place in Heaven. --Bill Hollis, CEO, marketplace minister

Download or read book All Hell Breaks Loose written by J.C. Diem and published by Seize The Night Agency. This book was released on 2017-01-02 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Violet is now nearing the end of her harrowing journey, but she still has a lot to accomplish. She is in danger of turning to the dark side and needs to take drastic action to purge herself of the toxin. She will have to trust in Fate that her plan won’t go horribly wrong. Leo is still being held captive by the angels. Violet needs to rescue him and to retrieve Nathan’s grace as well. It will take skills that she doesn’t yet possess to pull this off. Once more, she will need to suffer before she can gain the abilities that she will need. When it comes to her friends, she is willing to do whatever she has to in order to keep them safe. Violet still has one final fragment of the object of power to retrieve, which means she will need to return to hell again. The Demon Princes warned her that disaster would fall once she killed them all. She will finally learn what they meant, but by then it will be too late. It will take power that is currently out of her reach to stop the apocalypse from wiping out humanity. urban fantasy, coming of age, young adult fantasy, new adult paranormal romance, angels and demons, teen romance, teen urban fantasy

Download or read book Sweet Hell on Fire written by Sara Lunsford and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A gritty, raw, and engrossing voice."—Publishers Weekly I was a bad mother, a bad daughter, a bad wife, a bad friend. Boozed out and tired, with no dreams and no future. But I was a good officer. Sara Lunsford helped cage the worst of the worst, from serial killers to sex criminals. At the end of every day, when she walked out the prison gate, she had to try to shed the horrors she witnessed. But the darkness invaded every part of her life, no matter how much she tried to immerse herself in a liquor bottle. She couldn't hide from the things that hurt her, the things that made her bleed, the things that still rise up in the dark and choke her. With a magnetic, raw voice that you won't soon forget, Sweet Hell on Fire grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. It's a hardscrabble climb from rock bottom to the new ground of a woman who understands the meaning of sacrifice, the joy of redemption, and the quiet haven to be found in hope.

Download or read book Climbing Higher written by Montel Williams and published by Berkley. This book was released on 2005-01-04 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Television icon and New York Times bestselling author Montel Williams reveals his true story of struggle and triumph in this frank and compelling memoir. In 1999, after almost twenty years of symptoms, Montel Williams, a decorated naval officer and Emmy Award-winning talk show host, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Like others suffering from the devastating disease, he was struck with denial, fear, depression, and anger—but he is battling back. Graced with strong values, courage, and hard-won wisdom, he shares his insights in this powerful book on the divergent roads a life can take, and recounts how he rose to meet the challenges he's faced. Surprising, searing, and deeply personal, Climbing Higher is as honest and inspiring as its author.

Download or read book The Boardman Tasker Omnibus written by Peter Boardman and published by The Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 1995 with total page 938 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collects four out-of-print classic climbing books: Tasker's Savage Arena and Everest the Cruel Way, and Boardman's The Shining Mountain and Sacred Summits.

Download or read book Climbing Glass written by Lyle Closs and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-08 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climbing Glass is a unique personal view of climbing, climbers and Tasmanian and Australian climbing and mountaineering from a personal perspective from the 1970s to 2010s. Coverings climbs and expeditions in Tasmania, Greenland, Australia, K2 and Antarctica from the 1970s on.

Download or read book Hell s Bay written by James W. Hall and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2008-02-05 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master of suspense James W. Hall's Hell's Bay sends Thorn deep into the wilds of South Florida, in a story with all the haunting atmosphere of Deliverance and the sheer terror of Cape Fear. Descended from pioneer stock, the Bateses are an aristocratic Floridian family with vast holdings in real estate and mining. When matriarch Abigail Bates is discovered drowned in the Peace River, a chain of events is set into motion, embroiling Thorn with a family he never knew he had and a fortune he doesn't necessarily want. Thorn is leading a fishing expedition into the isolated lakes and mangrove swamps of Hell's Bay when Abigail's son and beautiful granddaughter arrive, claiming Thorn as a long-lost relative and asking him to solve the woman's murder. Little do they know that the killer is already on their trail. Soon their houseboat becomes a precarious island of safety in a landscape of escalating violence. What does the killer want? And why is their predator so enraged, determined to kill them all no matter what the cost? As Marilyn Stasio said in The New York Times, "If violence can be poetic, Hall has the lyric voice for it." In this tour de force of fear and suspense, Hall shows how one family's dark past comes back to haunt its most remote member---and may ultimately cost him his life.