Read Everest Alone at the Summit The first British ascent without oxygen Adrenaline eBook Stephen Venables John Hunt
Download As PDF : Everest Alone at the Summit The first British ascent without oxygen Adrenaline eBook Stephen Venables John Hunt
In 1988, Stephen Venables became the first Briton to summit Everest without oxygen. Everest Alone at the Summit is the story of his thrilling journey. Near-impossible challenges are conquered with determination and strength, and the experience of an expedition on the world’s highest mountain is recounted in a refreshingly honest light.
The Kangshung Face remains the least frequented of Everest’s flanks due to its narrow gullies, hanging glaciers and steep rock buttresses. This, however, did not deter Venables and his team of three international climbers, Ed Webster, Robert Anderson and Paul Teare, who not only attempted this dangerous route, but did so without the use of supplementary oxygen – testing boundaries, exploring the unknown and pushing the limits of human endurance.
‘ … I forced my mind to concentrate on directing all energy to those two withered legs. The effort succeeded and I managed six faltering steps down the slope, sat back for a rest, then took six steps more, then again six steps. It was going to be a long tedious struggle, but I knew now that I was going to make it.’
Venables’ account of survival and success is fully immersive. He details the highs – the unique bonds made on the mountain, the stunning scenery, and the triumph of reaching the summit – as well as the lows the threat of deadly high-altitude illness, turbulent weather and the exhaustion-induced hallucinations. Throughout it all, Venables’ drive to keep going amidst hardship and his willingness to succeed is powerful – readers will find themselves invested in this extraordinary narrative from the start.
As Lord Hunt, the leader of Everest’s 1953 expedition, observes in the foreword ‘People who, in this age of ease and plenty, pause to reflect upon the reason why some prefer to do things the hard way, could hardly do better than read this book.’
Read Everest Alone at the Summit The first British ascent without oxygen Adrenaline eBook Stephen Venables John Hunt
"Very well written and very enjoyable. If you love high altitude climbing books, this one is s keeper! Loved it!"
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Everest Alone at the Summit The first British ascent without oxygen Adrenaline eBook Stephen Venables John Hunt Reviews :
Everest Alone at the Summit The first British ascent without oxygen Adrenaline eBook Stephen Venables John Hunt Reviews
- Initially published as Everest Kangshung Face. This book starts off almost as a guide book for the trek to the little known and little climbed Everest East, or Kangshung face. The trek is spectacular, with the culmination being the best mountain view in the world in my opinion Chomolonzo, Makalu, Kangchungtse, Petangtse, Shartse, Lhotse Shar, Lhotse, the South Col, and the dramatic snow covered Everest East Kangshung Face.
The 1988 climb itself is dramatic and dangerous, illustrated with spectacular photos, like one showing a Tyrolean traverse across an enormous crevasse. Stephen Venables reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 12, 1988, only the second summit from the Kangshung East side. Venables descent from the summit in a blizzard is as chilling and frightening as Maurice Herzog's Annapurna, with Stephen having to bivouac just below the summit. At one point in his descent, he sits in the snow and considers just staying there and dying.
The story is very exciting. The photos are excellent. - Very well written and very enjoyable. If you love high altitude climbing books, this one is s keeper! Loved it!
- Venables is one of my favorite writers/experts on all things mountaineering. Haven't read anything he's written that I didn't enjoy.
- Stephens Venables has a writing style that expresses his personality...carefull, exact and disciplined. He makes you feel his experience as if you are with him.
- I gave this book as a gift to an outdoor sportsman. I'm sure he will enjoy reading it very much.
- There are a few types of mountaineering expedition books, and to me, this falls in with a lot of great ones that tell the good and bad of the expedition, but not in order to generate or take advantage of controversy. Stephen Venables doesn't hold back describing his mistakes, or the petty squabbles or even selfishness that is involved with t a group of ambitious climbers wanting to summit Everest - especially a first ascent of a new route.
But the occasional uncharitable thoughts or words he shares with us in no way reflect how he feels about his teammates. He genuinely respects and likes his three teammates, as well as the support crew and Sherpas aiding the team. So we have a very detailed blow-by-blow description of the expedition. Sometimes the narrative runs a little slower, but never to the point where you want to set the book aside, and the adventure works up to a crescendo of excitement and drama as they work towards their summit push..
We even get a good look at what is celled "summit fever" and the realities of it sometimes being every man for himself while under duress and near exhaustion at high altitude.The pictures are all black and white and some of them weren't very illuminating for me, perhaps because I am unfamiliar first hand with mountain landscape, but there are a lot of them that work.
So I think this book joins the canon of excellent mountaineering expedition books, up there with Tasker and Boardman and many others. - Many of the reviews of this book berate it because the author got injured and had to be rescued from the base of the mountain. Well, I assume many of these people havn't done much mountain climbing.
The whole lure of mountain climbing is the risk involved. If nothing could ever go wrong when climbing a mountain, then what's the point of doing it? It's the thrill of danger and the challenge of staying a live that makes it so attractive. Stephen Venables met this challenge head on. He had to fight through injuries, exhaustion and the elements to get down the mountain alive and so did his friends. That's nothing to put down, that is what happens when mountaineering. And this was down the East face, the hardest part of Everest to climb.
I thought this was a great book. The author really shows what pushing yourself to the limits in life threatening conditions feels like. This book will go on the shelf with my other top adventure books.
I must add that the author was not rescued at the top of the mountain as people seem to be saying. He was rescued at the base of the mountain in the valley, after climbing down the mountain himself. There's a big big difference there. - "Alone at the Summit" is a fantastic book about a team of four climbers on the tallest mountain in the world. Against all odds, this team pioneered a route that was one of the last "frontiers" of mountaineering. Much has been said and written about the author's actions and the way he describes the events on Everest. First of all, read the book and you will be pleased to find that Venables WAS NOT rescued at the summit of Everest-the ending has not been spoiled. Second, he and the other members of his team overcame a great deal of adversity on this climb-including Venables' bivouac that has kiled a great number of people on Everest. Lastly, everyone involved in mountaineering (climbers, rescuers, etc.) is aware of the great risk involved in the activity. Individuals make a concsious decision to strap on their crampons and head up the mountain. There is no excuse for adding unneccesary risk in this sport, nor is there much room for hubris. "Alone at the Summit" fulfills these requirements. Venables has the right mix of self-responsibility, humor and frustration to make this a balanced book. This one of a few books I recommend for dealing with the power of determination in overcoming adversity.
