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High: Stories of Survival from Everest and K2 (Adrenaline) | 
 enlarge | Creator: Clint Willis
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $0.25
You Save: $16.70 (99%)
New (38) Used (64) Collectible (1) from $0.25
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 459093
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 360
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1560252006
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.522095496
EAN: 9781560252009
ASIN: 1560252006
Publication Date: December 22, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Editor Clint Willis collects some of mountaineering's finest writing in these tales from storied expeditions to grails like Everest and K2. Included are classic accounts of early American attempts on K2, by consensus the most daunting and ruthless peak to summit. Frank Smythe's telling of his 1933 attempt and Charles Houston and Robert Bates's from 1938 typify the wooly-knickered bravado of pre-war climbing. As counterpoint, Willis serves up Galen Rowell's sad and unadorned journal from the tempestuous 1975 failed expedition. But there are other angles as well. Tucked in the middle of High is a gem told by an Everest widow, Maria Coffey, who traveled to the base of the mountain that took her husband and his partner: "I could pick out the ridge where Joe and Pete were last seen. The image blurred, tears were washing down my face and collecting in the jacket collar pulled tightly around my chin." In a collection of writing that soars it is a moving--and grounding--reminder of mountaineering's risks. --Tipton Blish
Product Description
In this pioneering anthology, Clint Willis presents 75 years of great writing -- from Neil O'Dell to Jon Krakauer -- on the fabled peaks. Here are stories of two British expeditions to Everest in the 1920s; a piece on the 1939 K2 attempt that claimed four climbers' lives; a firsthand account by the Sherpa who reached the summit of Everest in 1953 with Edmund Hillary; the story of the first successful American assault on K2 in 1978; a British photographer's view of the calamitous 1996 storm on Everest; and many more -- a cornucopia of mountaineering thrills for adventurous readers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Once you start, you can't stop. March 9, 1999
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Willis has selected well-written and exhilarating stories and assembled them in the fashion of a great short-story anthology. This book takes the reader through the entire range of human emotions, showing humans at their very best--as well as their worst. You might, at times, wonder why these people put their lives on the line, but you won't wonder why you bought this book.
I can see why they call it the Adrenaline series. October 5, 1999
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
You should read this book if you like stories that you never know whats going to happen at the end, it really gets you thinking. If you like climbing this book is for you, its almost like it inspires you to go and be a pioneer of Everest, it has mixed stories not only concentrating on the climbers but the well known sherpas of the Himalyas, who are are the real heroes of climbing, the stories will make you think about respect for nature, for nature's fury can suprise any of us, at any time.
Unputtdownable March 21, 2000
saliero (NSW Australia)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Even if you have never been anywhere near a mountain, this is aterrific book. Actually, I did put it down....had to when I got towork, or occasionally to turn the light out at night. The short story format makes it an excellent companion volume for dipping into.I found some of the K2 stories especially 'breath-taking' and the edge-of-the-seat drama present everywhere. I agree with the review that says the piece by widow Maria Coffey is a gem - another perspective on the mountain climbing experience. I also liked the older, more historical tales, contrasting some of the worls views about climbing with more modern attitudes evident in some of the newer books, especially now focussing on the commercial aspects of climbing especially Everest. Am I alone in thinking that mountain climbing to the point of summiting used to be a more collective, comradely pursuit, and now it is 'everyone for themself' ? I know there is a lot of bunk that could be said - and I don't hold that the class-ridden older (especially Bristish) school of mountaineering in the days of Mallory et al was some kind of 'golden age'. But on the other hand, there was something in the spirit of the times then lacking now...and the difference is not just money. The old Siege-like expeditions required vast amounts of sponsorship....but it was aimed at the collective effort, whereas now it is anyone who can stump up $65 000 of their own wealth. I might be wrong, but I think there is something different now. Not being an expert, I'm interested to continue exploring this. This volume is a good place to start reflecting on some of those issues.
 Unbelievably monotonous June 25, 2000
5 out of 13 found this review helpful
I ready Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" before this book. I was mezmorised and enthralled by that book. Based on my experience with that book, I thought this book would be cool. It wasn't. I found out that if you've read one book about this topic, you've read them all. Every story in this book was just like the one before it. I stopped 85 pages short of finishing this book (I HATE not finishing a book but I just couldn't stand it anymore). I threw the book in the recycle bin. What a complete waste of money. If you've never read a book like this, read "Into Thin Air" and stop there.
The best from the best June 29, 2000
E. Clarke
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book becuase it allows the reader a chance to experience many different stories from some of the best high altitude mountaineering books around. The best thing is that just when one story comes to an end the next one starts right again in the middle of the action. You just want to keep reading because you never come off the edge of your seat. The reader also gets to read about a myriad of expeditions from different routes up the mountains through several different decades. The different perspectives about the two mountains are really overwhelming when you step back to consider the dedication these climbers put in and how much they are risking everything all the time. Pick up this book if you crave the thrill of human conquest and the limits of the human spirit.
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