Climbing Books

In 1939, an American climbing expedition came achingly close to summiting then-unclimbed K2, the world's second highest peak, only to lose four members during the descent. The expedition's failure had multiple causes. In 1992's "K2: The 1939 Tragedy", Andrew Kaufman and William Putnam put together the evidence, including the newly available diary of one of the key climbers, to try to lay to rest the resulting controversies.

The 1939 Ameican K2 Expedition was dogged by poor fortune almost from the start. Expedition leader Fritz Wiessner chose a large and capable team, only to have the best climbers drop out at the last minute. Upon reaching remote K2, both climbers and sherpas experienced injuries and illness. Bad weather delayed the team's advance and dampened morale on a rugged and even terrifying route that was probably beyound the climbing ability of all but Wiessner himself. The relentless Wiessner drove himself and a Sherpa climbing partner to less than 800 vertical feet from the summit, while the team fell apart without him in the lower camps. On the descent, one member was left behind at a high camp. He and a rescue party of three sherpas never returned. Acrimony among the team members lasted for years afterward.

Kaufman and Putnam's indepth examination of the expedition includes the diary of Jack Durrance, who did yeoman work in pushing the expedition up the mountain despite attitude sickness and poor gear, but who was later blamed by Wiessner for the failures. Kaufman and Putnam argue that Wiessner's team was inadequate to the task, and Wiessner himself took on too many responsibilities. Kaufman and Putnam further reasonably suggest that the effect of prolonged stay and supreme effort at high altitude may have affected Wiessner's judgement. Durrance is shown to have behaved responsibly and followed the guidance he was given. The deaths of four climbers becomes in this narrative the result of a chain of events involving actions by a number of people.

The book has its best moments in describing the exciting story of the climb itself. The prolonged discussion of the expedition's failure offers many useful learning points but tends to be repetitive. The authors spent overly much time speculating about a number of matters, including the relationships between certain key players, which at this remove of time are probably impossible to resolve.

"K2: The 1939 Tragedy" is highly recommended both as a lesson in expedition dynamics and as a cautionary tale of why K2 is such a deadly mountain to climb.

This book uses the Diary of Jack Dorrance as the principle (and only) truth. The amazing thing is this diary was NOT released to the public until 1989, just after Fritz Wiessner passed away in 1988. Coincidence? Or assurance that Jack's diary wouldn't be challenged?

This book tries to pass the blame from Dorrance to others, including Fritz for the tragedy, based solely on the diary. The authors state that the Diary showed that Dorrance was sane of mind in those critical days on Everest, yet how do the authors know this was indeed written on Everest and not written at some later date by Dorrance to defend himself? Yes handwriting analysis does show that Dorrance wrote it, but WHEN did he write it? Where's the proof to that?

The authors wave off the note that Fritz says he received from Dorrance based on the fact that no one else says they saw the note. (Which Fritz says he turned in to the American Alpine Club and never got back from them.) Yet they believe this diary that surfaced 50 years later which has only been seen by Dorrance, is true.

The authors are both past high ranking members of the American Alpine Club (past president and past vice president) who wrongly blamed Fritz for the Tragedy back in 1939... coincidence? Makes me wonder...

If you want an unbiased account of the events of K2 in 1939, look elsewhere. "High : Stories of Survival from Everest and K2 (Extreme Adventure)by Clint Willis" includes this K2 story from another viewpoint, check that out first.

If however you are a Jack Dorrance fan and are looking to erase blame from him and pass more of it to Fritz Wiessner, this is the book for you.

An absorbing review of the facts and circumstances surrounding the tragic 1939 K2 expedition and its aftermath. Weaving a newly discovered, first hand account by one of the expeditioners, with already known, heretofore, controversial historical data from others on the expedition, the authors masterfully reconstruct the events which led to the deaths of four individuals, three Sherpas and one American, on K2 in the wild Karakoram range.

After many weeks in the mountains, overcome by altitude sickness and inexperience, only three members of the expedition are physically able or willing to push on to the summit. The only ones so inclined are its expedition leader, Fritz Wiessner, the rich American who bankrolled part of the expedition, Dudley Wolfe, and the plucky Sherpa porter, Pasang Lama.

Dudley Wolfe, with whom Fritz Wiessner seems to have developed a client-guide relationship, is unable to continue past camp VIII, limited by his own inexperience. Fritz, a superb climber, continue along towards the summit with Pasang Lama. They set up Camp IX and continue on towards the summit, where they manages to make it up to within 8oo feet of the summit. There, the plucky Pasang Lama is unable to continue. They decide to return to Camp IX with the intention of resting and returning the next day for a new assault on the summit.

It was not to be. On their descent, they lost their crampons. After they rested in Camp IX, they realized that they needed more supplies, so they went down to Camp VIII. There they found Dudley, but no new supplies had been brought up from the lower camps. So, they all decide to go down to Camp VII to investigate and restock.

On the way down, Dudley's inexperience causes them to have an accident on the ropes. They fall but manage to survive. Pasang Lama, however, is seriously injured, and the sleeping bag and air mattress that Dudley carried is lost to the mountain. Fritz, having left his bedding in Camp IX, expecting to find some in the lower camps, is disappointed when they manage to reach camp VII, only to find it in disarray and stripped of all bedding and sleeping bags! Remarkably, both Dudley and Fritz had by this time spent nearly a month in the dead zone without supplementary oxygen. Therein lies the tale.

Read on! The account is at times mesmerizing. This remarkably well researched chronicle manages to paint a riveting picture of the the travails of this expedition from its confused beginnings to its tragic end. It shows what can happen when all members of the expedition are clearly not on the same page.

This book has an agenda: to once and for all clear the name of team member Jack Durrance of any negligence for the disastrous results of this expedition. Briefly stated, leader Fritz Wiessner was the only member of this six-man team who had any business setting foot on savage, unforgiving, unrelenting K-2. Yet Wiessner handpicked the team himself, except for one-Jack Durrance, who was a last-minute replacement. That is the crux of the controversy. Wiessner, who never admitted mistakes, was all too willing to make Durrance the fall guy. The odd part is with the exception of Wiessner; Durrance had the most mountaineering ability. The other members either had no experience, or only had climbed with the assistance of guides. After enjoying unusually good weather, Wiessner and the doomed Dudley Wolfe were within 800 meters of the summit. The mystery was why with two men at this level, were all the camps below stripped of tents and all equipment, leaving them totally exposed on the descent? Why did Wiessner leave the helpless Wolfe alone and unattended? Why were three Sherpas the only ones to attempt Wolfe's rescue? What happened to the four of them who were never seen again?

The book has some excellent photos depicting the team in their suits and ties, a luncheon served with great elegance in the heart of the Himalayas, and some very clear pictures of their primitive climbing equipment and clothing. It truly makes you realize what odds they overcame to be so high with leaky boots, soggy woolens, and waterlogged tents.

The authors have the advantage of Jack Durrance's diary, heretofore unseen and unknown. This is also a disadvantage because the Kaufman & Putnam seem to rely entirely on the veracity of this diary. It is given far too much weight in making their conclusions.

The book is maddeningly repetitious. Whenever Wiessner is faulted, the authors assure you (in detail) what a fine mountaineer Wiessner was---over and over again. Though the authors are not shy about projecting psychological insights onto the team members, they make no efforts to explore and recreate the violent disagreements that took place. Wiessner and first assistant Eaton (Tony) Cromwell started out as the best of friends. Yet in the aftermath of the climb, Cromwell bitterly attacks Wiessner as a "murderer." Why? What happened to the four men who disappeared? Were they ever found?

The book has merit for it's strong descriptions of the personalities involved and being able to interview living men. However, the style is stilted and the impartiality suspect. Recommended for die-hard mountaineering fans only.

I don't understand these Nit-Picky reviews by the grammar police. This is a good book and an excellent assembling of newly discovered information. The authors have answered the challenge to assemble this information in a way that both entertains and informs. Wiessner was a man driven by desire and motivation. And the stregnth he himself emanated drove and bolstered his entire team. As has happened all to often since 1939, poor weather, poor circumstance, egos, self-image and desire all played a part in this disaster. The fact that Weissner and Wolfe got as far as they did (within 800m) is simply amazing. They were all men of unbelievable stregnth and drive. There is alot of reality in this book and alot of adventure. Only drawback was too many footnotes which had me flipping back and forth to get "more" details throughout the entire read.

On the plus side, this is indeed a proper 'boys own' story and is very well written. Unfortunately, the reader becomes quickly aware of the arrogance of Hillary. Clearly he is a gifted climber who possesed endurance way beyond that of the average human. However, this is over-shadowed by the authors arrogance as he tells the reader how much better he was than those around him.

In a way i wish i had not read the book as it has shattered a romantic illusion I had of what Hillary was really like. It also made me very sympathetic of those who had to endure him in the ice packs of Antartica and the isolation of the death zone of Everest.

Unless Edmund Hillary can produce definitive evidence that A.) George Mallory and Andrew Irvine did not reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1924 or B.) that Tenzing Norgay was not actually the first to set foot on the summit, he cannot truthfully bill himself as "The First Person to Conquer Everest."

Sir Edmund Hillary was clearly a remarkable man with his life marked particularly by the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest. The descriptions of the climb to the summit of Everest along with Tenzing Norgay are particularly interesting, especially his discussion of the period immediately flowing the first ascent when immense pressure was brought on Tenzing to say that he had reached the summit first. However, Everest was not the only adventure for Hillary. Other trips to the Himalayas and to other parts of the world are described and give you an idea of Hillary's overall achievements.
The most meaningful parts of the book to me were Hillary's efforts to lead the way in helping the Sherpas by building schools, hospitals, and pipelines. Also, the chapters detailing his upbringing give you a good idea of how far he had come from his early days in a beekeeper's family. The chapter about the plane crash in Nepal that took the lives of his wife and daughter was extremely emotional.
However, the book does have its slow moments. I found the sections about the journey to the South Pole to be tedious and confusing. A good map would have helped. Hillary's writing style is fairly pedestrian, but he does give a number of examples of where he thought he fell short as a person, husband, and father. His extreme confidence in his own abilities shows through during the book.
All in all, the book is certainly worth reading if you are interested in Edmund Hillary or mountain climbing.

I found this book a pleasant surprise, after having read a few mountaineering adventure books. If you are looking for one, look elsewhere; Hillary climbed Everest, but did not have any major mountaineering accomplishments thereafter. Instead, we see the picture of a simple man, a very likeable and sincere one, with flaws and virtues.

We can see his sneakiness in going for the south pole despite orders not to, we can see his dedication to the people of Nepal, we can see his somewhat estranged relationship with Tenzing and the tensions that arose after Tenzing said he had reached the summit first. The discussion is a futile one, but it seems to put a damper on the relationship.

In this book we also follow his life, not just his great conquests. We see the backstage of the lecture circuit he went through after Everest, then the honors he received and his attempt to maintain some normalcy in his life. Overall, it is a very good life book, and despite it being filled with adventures, we see the character of a person that is much more than simply an adventurer.

I remember how exciting it was for those of us in London for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation (on June 2, 1953) to find out that Mount Everest had been climbed at last! And Sir Edmund Hillary's story of how he and Tenzing Norgay did it is terrific and even to my suspicious eyes seems sincere.

The portion of the book I was most curious about dealt with the Antarctic Expedition of 1957 to 1958. Hillary was the leader of the Ross Sea Party, which was to was to lay provisions between the Ross Sea and the South Pole to support the crossing of Antarctica by the Transpolar Party, starting from the Weddell Sea. The Transpolar Party was led by the overall expedition leader, Dr. Vivian (Bunny) Fuchs. The two parties reached the South Pole in January, 1958 after which they made it to the Ross Sea in less than six weeks. As the two parties neared the Pole, the telegrams between Bunny and Hillary were in all the newspapers. Vivian had told the story from his point of view in his 1958 book, "The Crossing of Antarctica," and even though that book also included eighteen pages written by Hillary, I was glad to see more of what Hillary had to say, especially with his perspective of writing about it so much later.

This entire book is worth reading and tells us plenty about the life of a successful adventurer.

I've read knot books by other authors and this is definitely the "BEST." I highly recommend this book!!!!!!!!!! It is well organized and easy to follow. All relevant knots are discussed with clear, concise, and easy to follow directions. Illustrations are very clear. Appropriate usage situations for each knot are discussed. I've read other books by Craig Luebben (Rock Climbing: Mastering Basic Skills and How to Ice Climb) and those were great as well.

This is a great book. Simple, clear, all the knots you want to know about without random ones that you don't want. It's got good illustrations, which is key with knots, and also has pictures of those knots in use which is helpful. If you want to learn the most important, basic knots - get this book.

I've just aquired this new edition "knots for climbers" and it is great! The descriptions are clear and easy to follow and the illustrations help to elucidate the procedures. I particularly like how the photos show a given knot in a relevant climbing usage. Other bonuses are: understandable explanations of the different ropes, fall factor, UIAA testing and other usually tough to grasp concepts regarding falls and one's safety gear. Of course the very resonable price doesn't hurt either. This manual, as is also "ADVANCED ROCK CLIMBING" (Long, Luebben), is a must have, indispensible TOOL for anyone who is serious about being a knowledgeable, safe, and self sufficient climber, rapeller or the like. I will use this in my personal climbing and reccomend it to others as well.

Excellent book for bringing along to the rock and practicing with friends.
It is thin enough to fit alongside your guide book in your pack.
It is concise enough so you don't get lost in lots of reading.
It covers all the knots I use and a few more.
Of course, you should practice the knots before you go up the rock.

Knots for Climbers has a few benefits. The basic knots are depicted in step by step procedures which is helpful for the beginning climber. Though the book is exhaustive it does give a good description of the "how to" and "why" of each knot that the book covers. Though with buying other books this one seemed very redundant because the basic knots covered in this book are also covered in other books (which contain a slew of other knots that this book doesn't cover).

For those of you who read "Into Thin Air" and were somewhat fascinated by the story of George Mallory's attempts to climb Everest in the 1920's and the later rumor of the discovery of his body by a Chinese climber in 1975, then this book will only heighten your interest.

I had thought about buying this book, but I came across it at the public library and checked it out. I'm kinda glad I didn't buy it, because the text isn't that well written--people are referred to by their last name and then formally introduced several pages later, some details are left out, other details are repeated, etc.--but the photographs from the 1920's expeditions and of the items recovered from Mallory's body are absolutely captivating. It just fascinates me to no end to think about these guys making the first attempts to climb Everest, experimenting with oxygen tanks, and reaching a height on Everest not surpassed until the 1950's.

I think the main problem with the book is this: the authors had made two expeditions to find Mallory's body in 1986 and 1995. They were unsuccessful. Another team was successful in 1999; this was documented in a PBS/NOVA documentary and they have their own book, which deals more with the discovery of the body. It seems like the authors of this book pulled out the material they had been working on and wrapped it up somewhat hurriedly to capitalize on the publicity (as another reviewer has also noted). So they don't talk much about their own attempts to find Mallory, and they don't talk enough about the successful team's discovery of his body (because they weren't there).

I bought this book thinking that it was written to accompany the wonderful television programme I saw about a 1999 expedition to Everest to discover what became of Mallory and Irvine. It is not.

The book is well presented book and nicely bound. The most attractive aspect of the book is the 1920's photographs; they are very evocative of a lost era when parts of the earth were distant and unexplored. However it is not particularly well written and the discussion of the mystery of Mallory and Irvine's fate is unclear and ineffective. It does not shed light on its subject, and I have had to look elsewhere for that. Poorly served by maps and diagrams it leaves the reader struggling to appreciate the terrain, routes and location of camps. It's weakest point is where the authors try to recreate the last climb by describing what was going through the head of Mallory; this is very unconvincing, not least because no attempt is made to take into account the character of men with English public school backgrounds (to my mind, a key factor). Thus the book fails at the point which is of most interest.

In conclusion, a nice book to browse through thanks to the photographs (hence the 3 stars) but otherwise unsatisfactory.

There are many books on the market dealing with the summit attempts of George Leigh Mallory. No one tome has yet encapsulated the adventures to stand out as the consummate work. It will be necessary to read several books to lay claim to being fully informed. The great strength of LAST CLIMB is in its wonderful collection of vintage photographs from the 1920's British Everest Expedition and its members. Its one thing to read of gentlemen climbers in tweed and quite another to see it, a picture being worth a thousand words and all that. The many dozens of photographs, some taken by Mallory himself, breath life into a much exhausted realm of discussion. Mallory was an aesthete and I believe he would not want his story to be told in the mere blandness of words but exhorted on the artistic level provided by the beautiful photography collected here. Hats off to MR. Breashears and Ms. Salkeld for presenting these heroes in all their glory.

I have read pieces of information about the legendary early expeditions of Mt. Everest and therefor really wanted to read this book. From the start to finish I found this book to be well researched and written. I very much enjoyed the photographs. Now I am curious about the other books written about George Mallory. This book made the men of the expedition come alive.

It states in the prologue that this book was started prior to the discovery of Mallory's body on Mt. Everest. With that said, after reading it; I'm of the impression that it was completed quickly and rushed into print after finding the body so it could sell the maximum number of copies.

I've now read what I think are all the post discovery expedition books. This is an excellent book. There are wonderful pictures of the early British expeditions which are not found in other books and the writing was concise and tried to cover all areas. After reading it, the historical aspects seems to be a greatly pared down version from Audrey Salkeld's previous book with Tom Holzel "The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine".

Overall this is a wonderful coffee table book. It covers Mallory's history with Everest; has plenty of 1920's photographs; a section on how he went into legend like he did: pictures of what was removed from the body and a section which reviews the clues based on where the body was found and what he had on his person. If you have a casual interest in the topic, this is a great book to choose. If you are looking for something a bit more involved, try the aforementioned "The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine" by Tom Holzel and Audrey Salkeld. Looking for a book on the history of the expedition to find clues on the disappearance? The exclusive team story is in "Ghosts of Everest". Conrad Anker's version is in "The Lost Explorer" (he's the one who actually found Mallory's body). My favorite of the expedition books however, was "Lost on Everest" by Peter Firstbrook. It covers historical background on Mallory and the early Everest expeditions in more of a conversational yet detailed manner, and this I found overall the most intriguing.

This book is a critical culture theory treasure. Typically, I would not make an effort to defend a book on Amazon, but in this case it seems necessary. Apparently, previous purchasers were expecting this book to be about Sherpa culture, which it clearly is to anyone who studies culture (perhaps say, an anthropologist, which is precisely what Sherry Ortner is). The commodification of culture by individuals in Western nations is unmistakably represented in these remarks. Obviously they were expecting some form of rationalization for the impact of middle class, white, adventure-seekers on the Sherpa culture. Needless to say, a critical reading of this book (in my opinion, what it was intended for) would isolate for these reviewers that the Sherpa culture is more dynamic than the reading of the first sentence might lead one to believe. I would suggest this book to anyone with the patience and intelligence to read it thoroughly and critically while setting their ethnocentric ideas of the world to the side. Sherry Ortner is, if not the most profound anthropologist of contemporary times, one of them. This book is amazing.

Note that this author who said this book characterizes the Sherpas as "exploited" said he didn't finish the book -- I doubt he read more than a few sentences b/c there's no way that his claim that the book views Sherpas as "exploited" can be sustained with evidence from the text. Ortner is arguing precisely the opposite point, that the Sherpas were able to resist and transform Himalayan mountaineering, and their role in it, to their advantage. Likewise, it's not a postmodernist book, it's a deliberately realist book, aimed at showing the influences of western climbers, Tibetan monks, and the internal dynamics of Sherpa society on the Sherpa-climber relationships and how they've changed over time.

The author is clearly an expert on Sherpas, having lived and studied among them as an anthropologist for over 40 years. She writes this book for the layman in a form of anthropoligical study. She misses the mark both in terms of layman interest, and in terms of an enlighting anthropoligical study. Ms. Ortner looks at several facets of Sherpa life with a view toward how and why Sherpas became involved in mountaineering. It was clear to me, despite all the research and academia, the answer as to how and why remains perfectly clear and not too profound. Carrying loads, establishing camps, and fixing ropes provide the Sherpa with an extremely high income (relative to their society), allowing the climbers to provide greater comfort and a better standard of living for themselves and their families. I was very disappointed in this particular book, and I do not recommend it as a means of insight into the Sherpas.

I bought this book in hardback and was looking forward to reading it. I thought that getting to know the climbing industry from the Sherpa perspective would be fascinating (and it would have been). However, the writing in this disappointing book is so wet with victimology and so heavily in the style of post-modern deconstructed feminist scholarship that it is actually painful to read. I could not finish it. There are too many good books that I will ever get to read. However, reading what I could slog through felt like I imagine climbing Everest without the extra oxygen to feel like.

Unless you are interested in viewing the sherpas as yet another of the endless victims of the western (male) world, stay far away and save your money. The one star is for those who are interested in such things and because I can't give it zero stars. I wish I could get my money back. I rarely pan books on Amazon.com because it makes people upset, but this is a special case for me.

It isn't that the author does a bad job for what she is after, but that I found it personally offensive. Take that for what it is worth.

Although Life and Death on Mt. Everest is a book with an identity crisis, it is nonetheless a fascinating work that should interest armchair adventurers and mountaineers alike. Despite the title, parts of the jacket flap blurb, and even the quotes on the back, Life and Death is really an anthropological examination of mountaineering and the Sherpa-Sahib (author's term) relationship, within the context of the history and culture of both groups. Most of the relatively minor problems with the book arise from the identity crisis; this book can't decide whether it is an academic or a popular work. I suspect, though of course I can't know, that Ortner wrote the book as an academic monograph, and her publishers then altered it superficially to capitalize on the resurgence of Everest interest.

The text itself will present a few problems to the lay reader. It has too much information on Ortner's theory, philosophy, and methods of anthropology if it is intended strictly for the layman. The academic-style footnotes are frustrating; Ortner uses copious end-of-text footnotes, mostly to give citations, but also to supply additional information, commentary, and anecdotes. In order to get that extra information, the reader has to refer back and forth constantly, breaking up the flow of the read. If this is intended to be, in whole or in part, a popular work, Ortner should have moved the added-data footnotes to the bottom of the page, and left the citations at the end. Also, the author is a little too inclusive - she includes more about Sherpa religion than is really necessary to provide cultural background; this distracts from the main theme of the book. It would also, of course, be uninteresting to laypeople interested solely in climbing. Finally, Ortner doesn't always cite authors of quotations in the body of the text. That would be fine for academics, but not so for armchair adventurers, who will be familiar with most of the sources and will always want to know who said what.

However, these are minor quibbles, really, considering the book's value. Although there are huge numbers of expedition accounts and life-of-a-climber memoirs available, there are relatively few books that examine climbing as a culture. And though Sherpas are mentioned in every book ever written about Himalayan mountaineering, the information is always one-sided and usually one-dimensional. Ortner, in one volume, manages to change both those things; she describes climbing from the outside and Sherpa culture from the inside, and in the process brings valuable insight to both. And despite the author's academic bent, the book is not dense or dull; it's a fast, light read, especially considering its depth.

This book is not for readers seeking an adrenaline rush or those with a short attention span, but it is for almost everyone else. Himalayan climbers will benefit from the perspective on both their hobby and their Sherpa partners. Armchair adventurers will finally find the answers to some of their persistent questions about Sherpas, and will also find the view of climbing illuminating. And those who are interested in anthropology or other cultures will be gripped by the descriptions of Sherpa life and acculturation. Basically, the book is an all-around winner.

This is not a travel guide, in the narrative sense. I was expecting a book that had many chapters dealing with their travels across the states. Because it is not, I would have given it 3 stars. However, even though I have several highpoint guides, this one is a welcome addition. I think the second edition of the Winger's book is still my favorite, but this one has some highpoints (pun intended). This book has more items for the family -- things to do in the area. It also has a good couple of chapters on the necessary preparations for highpointing. For that, I would give it 5 stars. However, some of the highpoints have very slim descriptions of the actual hike. For that, I give it 4 stars. Overall, 4 stars.

I disagree with the previous reviews except that this book is not a travel guide. Anyone fooled by the title be sure not to purchase it. The title is deceptive too, it is not a guide of the 50 states and their respective highpoints. Please be more specific!!!!

This book is a complete waste of your time. Totally filled with self-righteous gloating that makes me question the validity of their stories. Do us all a favor and throw this book and make room for something better on your shelf.

Actually, this book IS a guide to the 50 states--every one of them. It describes in detail the highpoint in each of the 50 states, in alphabetical order. Each listing gives all the info you would ever want: where it is, how to get to there, what you'll see when you arrive, the exact elevation, etc. A nice added bonus is information on places of interest near the highpoint, complete with driving directions. Also, the title does not say it is a "travel guide" but rather a "family guide." And that it is! For a book that easily fits in the glove compartment, it's packed with helpful tips and suggestions for highpointing with the kids. In fact, that's the story behind the book--it is written by three siblings who started highpointing with their parents at a very early age.

As a parent--and a beginning highpointer--I found it just what I was looking for. Not a boring useless narrative but an informative "guide" to highpointing the 50 states. Thanks to it, we're planning a multi-state highpointing adventure next summer. I think it delivers precisely what it advertises: a guide to the 50 highpoints in America for the family. Highly recommended.

It would be less of a waste of money to climb to the highest point in your state and throw all your money off the top! You and your family are better off climbing/hiking as much as you can and keeping a journal. The book is boring and pathetic in its ill attempts to be witty. And that's not mentioning the pathetic climbing advice. The amazon website documents that one of the authors is in college while the other two have graduated from Yale. I found this surprising as the caliber of writing made me assume that the Birrer children were much younger. Just save your money and have fun outside with your loved ones!

Yes, Bourneman and Lampert are good climbers. Too good! This is a text to consult after you have climbed your mountain. I suggest that you choose your route in "Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs" by Gerry Roach. Bourneman often selects routes that are not appropriate for those who are not up to his ability. I have learned the hard way. After, 37 successful Colorado 14er climbs, I recommend Roach. You should also check Edrinn's "Grand Slam", and Ormes' "Guide to the Colorado Mountains". Bourneman and Lampert salvage two stars but only because their historical information is interesting.

I have used this guide as well as Roach(99) to climb most of the Colorado Fourteeners. This book has some interesting historical data, but has poor maps and lists only one route on most peaks. Roach's 1999 edition is far superior.

This book is the definitive guide to Colorado 14ers. There are newer, flashier books available, but this is the one that goes in my pack before every climb and has for the last 20 years. It is a must have.

Yes, Bourneman and Lampert are good climbers. Too good! This is a text to consult after you have climbed your mountain. I suggest that you choose your route in "Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs" by Gerry Roach. Bourneman often selects routes that are not appropriate for those who are not up to his ability. I have learned the hard way. After, 37 successful Colorado 14er climbs, I recommend Roach. You should also check Edrinn's "Grand Slam", and Ormes' "Guide to the Colorado Mountains". Bourneman and Lampert salvage two stars, but only because their historical information is interesting.

Great Reference book. Includes maps and directions for the best way to do any of the Fourteeners. Excellent maps to show you physically what you will encounter. Another good reference is [online]where you can read and see photos from folks climbing to check current conditions after picking the one you want to climb from this book.

In response to previous reviews --

The hardcover 1st edition I am holding in my hand includes a sticker on page 18 (after the preface and intro) that reads:

"BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRY AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Mountaineers Books and the authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the valuable work of Robert M. Bryce in _Cook & Peary: The Polar Controversy Resolved_, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA (1997; 1133 pages) The work covers the life of Dr. Frederick A. Cook and is illustrated with photos, maps, and sketches, and fully annotated with over 2,000 footnotes. The authors relied on this seminal reference for important factual information not previously published about Dr. Cook's early life and his subsequent claims to have climbed Mt. McKinley. We regret the omission of proper credit and citation in the original bibliography for _The Dishonorable Dr. Cook_."

Pete did a wonderful job in this book, Cook clearly was a fraud. No more question in my mind. Hope Pete gets in touch with us soon, its been far to long. Great Work! Ron & Anita

Washburn is a thorough detective who leaves no doubt Cook was a fraud. His photography from airplanes, and the illustrations show the true scale of the mountains, peaks, glaciers, etc. surrounding McKinley. This makes it easy to understand why his companions back at camp immediately recognized Cook's claim as a lie. They knew he could not have covered all that distance, climbed that mother of all mountains, and then come back in so few days.

What fascinates me is how Cook got the public to believe it by working the media. His magazine stories and photos, books, lectures, all created the illusion that he had done something spectacular. But he had not! He only went camping ...

Washburn is a remarkable individual, a fine writer, and a photographer on a par with Ansel Adams. This work is a masterpiece from a mountaineering genius. It is too bad he had nothing more than Cook to use as a foil.

By the way - the publisher made a serious mistake using the smallest type font used for body text I have ever seen in a book. One could increase font size several points and still have generous margins. What were they thinking? This is tiny text! A flaw I'll try to overlook from this magnificent end to the Cook debate.

As interesting as this book is, it cannot be considered the definitive work on the controversial Cook. Bradford Washburn is one of the most important names in American mountaineering. His photographs rival Ansel Adams. However, in publishing this book at 91, with a co-author, he seems to have failed to source his material. Robert M. Bryce published several years ago an exhaustive treatment of Cook and his claims. He consulted Washburn, who wrote him a note warmly congratulating Bryce on his work when the book was published. However, when this book was published, which lacks footnotes, Washburn failed to credit Bryce in any way. This was a complete error, as his co-author admitted; he submitted a bibiography that identifies Bryce as a source. But when reached by the Washington Post, and asked to explain the omission of Bryce's book, Washburn told the Post, "I don't know Bryce" and "to the best of my knowledge I've never laid eyes on his book. But you've got to remember you're dealing with a 91-year-old guy here." The sad fact is that Washburn is probably telling the truth based on his present memory, but that memory is just not very good. Washburn's coauthor admits that he "naturally" drew facts and sequences from Bryce's book, since it was both the most comprehensive and the most recent biography of Cook. The entire controversy is well covered in a February 4. 2002 article in the Washington Post. Apparently the omission of any mention of Bryce was due to someone who lives at Washburn's retirement home retyping the bibliography.

There is no doubt that Washburn drew on a vast amount of his own research for this book, although how much he wrote and how much was written by his coauthor is not clear. It is also clear that he reached his conclusion concerning Cook's false claim to have climbed Mount McKinley long before Bryce started his work. This is not a case of deliberate plagarism, and it not clear that Bryce's text was copied. However, it is unfortunate, that such a distinguished career ends on this note.

Nevertheless, if you are really interested in this subject, and Cook is very interesting, you need to read Bryce's book. He has footnoted his sources, discussed the matter at greater detail and his conclusion seems irrefutable.

Late Bradford Washburn is no stranger to Mount McKinley, its history and its environment. So I am bit surprised that people don't give him his due credit when he came out with this book that centered around Dr. Frederick Cook and his false claims to be the first man to climbed Mount McKinley.

One previous reviewer wrote about the book Robert Bryce did on the same subject and how Washburn failed to credit him. It could be that maybe Washburn did forget. But then it could be that Washburn knew enough about the subject himself to come up with a book that centered strictly around Dr. Cook's fraud-ridden McKinley climb, using Cook's own photographs to discredit him completely.

This book is well illustrated to prove beyond the shadow of any doubt, that Dr. Cook faked his story about climbing Mount McKinley. Washburn uses Cook's own photographs and compared it with modern ones and pointed it out on the map to show where Cook was at each photograph. Authors also showed how Cook's photos were cropped to create a fantasy to support Cook's claims of conquering McKinley when he came no where close to it. The book is very clearly written, easy to read and follow.

I highly recommended this book to anyone who have any interest in the history of McKinley, plus the photographs inside, even Cook's, proves to be quite noteworthy as well. At least for me, this book settled all accounts on Dr. Frederick Cook's big hoax.

Peter Croft of Green Mountain Falls..a pioneer climber ..a phenominal artist
...a person who can immitate a cat immitating a squirel,
a person who could paint high towers in Florida..
and paint armadillos, aboriginees and grand canyons with equal ease..
unique doesn't even begin to touch this fella, I would
recomend reading him.

This book is very much dissappointing. The matieral covered is very shallow, and certainly doesn't have anything that isn't covered in Freedom of the Hills. The drawings and photographs are all very basic. He tells a few good stories, but none are deep or insightful enough to convey a lesson. Save you money towards FOTHs, John Long's Climbing Anchors, or Extreme Alpinism.

Croft is a legendary climber, and has contributed greatly to the sport and to its literature. However, this little book is not his best work. There is almost nothing here that isn't covered in "Freedom of the Hills", and if you want the graduate text, buy Mark Twight's "Extreme Alpinism". However, if you are a complete "newby" to the sport of alpinism, this will provide some useful information and entertain you for a few evenings. Experienced climbers will likely be disappointed in this rather unambitious book.

If you are very recent to climbing, you might like this book. Otherwise skip it.
No doubt Peter Croft is a climbing genius, but his book contains little insight for anyone other than novices. But I agree with the 13 year-old: the intro is great reading. This guy has done some great climbing.
Why 2 stars ? In this book, there is actually a drawing of a nalgene bottle and water filter with the caption "Water Filter and Bottle". He also informs us that a bivy sack is smaller and lighter than a tent. And that a headlamp is better than a flashlight because you can still use your hands. And that a map and compass are usefull items when in unfamiliar terrain. Wow. I can't wait to take this insight into the mountains.
There are a few tidbits of good info here - but surf the web and get better info for free.

I had the oppontunity to meet this amazing climber at a slide show in Truckee, CA.I was absolutely astonished at how much he has accomplished in both rockclimbing and mountaineering.I recommend anyone who has a passion for climbing or mountaineering to read everything he puts out..wealth of knowledge...plus he is a super nice guy and funny to boot.

Horribly inaccurate. Numerous anchors and rap stations not where described. On the positive side if you like moderate (5.7-10) X routes mr. colderone describes many in detail. These are routes he couldn't find any info on so he soloed them and gave himself credit for the FA. I think the only purpose of this book is to line his pockets and inflame his already giant ego.

What some people mistake for innacuracies is actually accurate information about previous inaccurately recorded information about the City of Rocks. Inaccurate information has been in print for so long that people have assumed it to be the truth. Calderone's guide is not without errors, but it is THE most accurate and up-to-date guide ever written to the area. Calderone gets a lot of flack for his bold first ascents and the people who die attempting to repeat them. I don't neccessarily agree with his staunch tactics, but climbers shouldn't be at odds with his environmental stance or confusing these issues with his writing. You won't be dissapointed with this guide!

The pictures, the comments, and the information in this book is top notch. The amount of information that is wrong in this book is minimal, and the same amount of wrong information can be found in all the other guide books for this area. I have climbed in the City of Rocks area for 5 years now, and this is definately a must have book for those new to the area, or exploring new sections of the area. As with any other guide book, the information is passed down from word of mouth most of the time, no focused group could ever hope to research the amount of information in this book. The pictures in here are awesome, and give the reader a much better idea what features to look for when hunting for a climb.

This book is very controversial due to the nature of the area. The Reserve management clearly has some personal issue with the author of this guide. I could care less about that, personally. Two other "comprehensive" guidebooks preceded Calderone's guide. Forkash's guide had several errors on every single page of the guide, from start to finish. Enough said. Bingham's guide was reasonably accurate, but was incomplete, difficult to understand, and contained no photographs, historical background, or geological information. The 10-page history section and clear photographs of 95% of the developed routes in the Reserve put this book on par with the best rock climbing guidebooks ever written to an area.

I've spent over 200 days climbing at the City of Rocks. I don't know if that qualifies me as an expert, but I do know a thing or two about climbing there. In all that time I've found one error in this book. A photo was reversed to an area that isn't even shown in any other guidebook (because nobody climbs there). I am a very discriminating and detail-oriented person, so that is pretty amazing. I happen to know a few of the old timers who climbed here before Forkash or Bingham. They are dumbfounded as to how calderone found out such things, but concur with his first ascent information. Amazing research! I don't know Calderone personally, but I saw him free-soloing routes on the Clamshell one day while I was climbing on the Lost Arrow. The guy is for real! As far as tact goes, the author doesn't get very high marks. You can tell the book is written from the heart. The guy is honest, if not a bit lacking in tact. Maybe he is full of himself, but I really don't care. To call this book "Top Notch" would not just be giving the author the break he probably deserves from the harsh sport climbing community. It is the truth.