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    The Climb
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    The Climb
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    The Climb
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Climb

    Written by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston De Walt

    Narrated by Nelson Runger and Richard Davidson

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Anatoli Boukreev's first-hand account of the worst human disaster in the history of Mt. Everest will hold listeners spellbound. A top-rated guide and high altitude climber, Boukreev dictated the raw and powerful details of this ill-fated trek from memories and notes recorded just five days after the catastrophe. In May of 1996, 33 people went up the mountain, but only 28 returned. As two commercial expeditions climbed the world's highest peak, poor planning, miscommunication, and an unpredictable blizzard conspired to defeat them. Although the author made it back to the safety of his tent, he defied his own pain and exhaustion to go back up the mountain. His rescue attempt saved the lives of three climbers. The events of those two fateful days prompted researchers at MIT to develop new technology that could prevent the recurrence of such a disaster. Narrators Richard M. Davidson and Nelson Runger sensitively convey the full scope of a drama and a tragedy the world hopes never to see again.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books Audio
    Release dateNov 25, 2011
    ISBN9781456125134
    Author

    Anatoli Boukreev

    Anatoli Boukreev was (with G. Weston DeWalt) coauthor of The Climb and a world-renowned high-altitude mountaineer. Twenty-one times he reached the summit of the world's highest mountains. For his heroic actions on Mount Everest in May 1996, he was awarded the American Alpine Club's highest honor, the David A. Sowles Memorial Award.

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    Reviews for The Climb

    4/5

    308 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I read The Climb immediately upon completion of Jon Krakauer's award winning memoir, Into Thin Air. Anatoli Boukreev's book is oft referenced as a counterpoint to Krakauer's work and in it he defends many of decisions that were questioned in Into Thin Air. This book also describes the Mt. Everest climbing disaster in May of 1996, but this time the story shifts from that of client to that of guide. Boukreev serves as a climbing leader for Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness and his memoir tells the story from this angle.Observing the same people and places from another vantage point is fascinating and educational, but I lost interest towards the end of the book when the novel switches from a tragic yet heroic tale of Everest to a 100+ page diatribe on why Krakauer was incorrect. I do understand wanting to keep your name clean, but I think the actions spoke strongly throughout the text and did not need a 100+ pages of bonus material to ensure you wore the "Team Boukreev" T-shirt. Aside from the last bit, this is a very well written novel that I would highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      Not as well written as Krakauer's Into Thin Air, this book is important for providing a different perspective of the 1996 disaster on Mount Everest.
    • 4/5
      A must read for all those INTO THIN AIR fans. If Boukreev believed he had to leave his clients to go back down and make tea, why not? It's fun to second-guess people at 28,000 feet, especially when you are sitting confortably in your arm chair.
    • 5/5
      The Climb is a great book - Boukreev's story of the tragic 1996 Everest expedition is very human - more so IMO than Krakauer. The personalities of the guides and the planning of the expedition ring true and Boukreev's account of the night in which 2 clients and 3 guides died is matter of fact - as he was rescuing a small group of stranded climbers and trying to reach more till exhaustion took over. His frustration at not being able to rouse more rescuers is obvious and had there been more help it is possible he could have gotten to scott Fisher or Rob Hall who died after a night of exposure high above Camp IV.I just ordered his other book - which includes some of his diaries from that night. He died one year later in an avalanche.
    • 5/5
      If you have Read Into Thin Air you will want to read this book. While not as good the story is still gripping and it is very interesting to see the differences in how two people view the same situation. This disaster on Everest is well documented both on TV, IMAX and in these books. Its a must read in my list.
    • 5/5
      Excellent first-hand account of the 1996 Everest tragedy. As a mountain climber myself, I was riveted to every detail described by the author, who was probably the best high altitude climber that ever lived. If you enjoy hiking & climbing in the mountains, and also enjoy piecing together information as to how or why a tragedy occurred, you will enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      Intense and absorbing story of the dangers of climbing Everest. Very well written.
    • 4/5
      This is almost the exact opposite as Anotoly”s portrayal in “Into the Air”. He was just a guide. I don’t believe he almost single handily rescued everyone, or that he was the only voice of reason.
    • 5/5
      Anatoli was a true hero. He was a great man and this book gave him the dignity he deserved.
    • 5/5
      A different account from what we have been hearing and/or seeing about this fateful climb
    • 5/5
      Very good description of what happened there and most importantly why.
    • 4/5
      A good book on the tragic May 1996 Everest tragedy in which 12 individuals perished. I would recommend this work along with Jon Krakuer’s “Into Thin Air”
    • 5/5
      When I first read Krakauer's book I found it an interesting story; but the author himself came across as a jerk, constantly praising himself for his abilities to out-perform the more experienced members of his team. It wasn't until later that I heard of the controversy over his portrait of Boukreev. So I read "The Climb." Krakauer speaks of things he was in no position to know, and when his errors were pointed out to him, he stubbornly refuses to correct his mistakes. Clearly Scott Fischer was out of his league in trying to organize an expedition. Not only was he absent from camp at times Boukreev needed to consult with him but he was plagued with illness he wouldn't own up to. Essentially Krakauer accuses Boukreev of not doing things he wasn't hired to do in the first place. But what the heck. Everyone else is dead and Krakauer isn't; plus he's backed by a big publisher, so it's unlikely things will ever be corrected. Boukreev comes across as a disciplined, kind, and caring man. While Krakauer slept in his tent, Boukreev heroically risked his life saving others.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is Anatoli Boukreev’s first-hand account of the worst human disaster in the history of Mt. Everest taking place in 1996. This book was written in 1999 and is as spell-binding as ever. It is the same disaster written about in, ‘Into This Air,’ by Jon Krakauer, but from the perspective of Boukreev and the Mountain Madness team.
    • 2/5
      I found the narrative to be fairly hard to follow, especially in comparison to Krakauer's work. It was mostly written to salvage Boukreev's good name. It's quite likely that Krakauer was unfair in his portrayal of Boukreev—it wouldn't be Krakauer's last time. But, not having a stake in the dispute myself, it was hard for me to care much. The writing is awkward, with DeWalt pasting together his own descriptions with short segments from Boukreev. While he does admit a few foibles and mistakes, I still found myself annoyed a few times that Boukreev is nearly always right. This doesn't help his case. > For some reason I cannot explain I did not share Rob Hall’s optimism, and I thought it highly unlikely the weather would stabilize. My intuitions continued to bother me, and I fully expected that we would not climb the next day.
    • 3/5
      This book should be read with Into Thin Air. Then the reader should go watch the National Geograhic Imax film.
    • 4/5
      4.25 stars.This is an account of the climb up Mount Everest in 1996 that resulted in tragedy when a storm came up during the descent from the summit. Anatoli Boukreev was a guide with Scott Fischer’s group, and in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air, he was not portrayed favourably.Boukreev’s account of what happened gives an explanation for his actions on the mountain, so it helps fill in some blanks. It is definitely a worthwhile read to see another side of what happened and to balance out Krakauer’s book. I wish I had read it closer to the time I read Into Thin Air, so I could compare it a bit more, but I think for anyone who has read Into Thin Air, The Climb is another that should be read in order to learn more. I’m not sure it is quite as compelling as Into Thin Air, but still a very good account, from another perspective. Or a good place to start, even for those who haven’t read Into Thin Air.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Anatoli Boukreev's response to Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer about the events of the 1996 spring Everest expedition.Boukreev has some additional information that Krakauer couldn't have known (or didn't know, or, according to Boukreev, knew and ignored) that helps to shed some light on the events of May, 10 1996. Specifically, some of Boukreev's decisions and some of the issues that Mountain Madness was dealing with. It was definitely interesting to see the expedition from a guide's POV rather than a client's (see Into Thin Air).As other reviews have said, it is not as well written as Krakauer's story, and it doesn't provide as much information from other climbers and guides. It is primarily Boukreev's story of his successful rescues and the events that led to him being able to do them.Overall, it is a good companion to Into Thin Air, but I doubt it has much stand-alone value for anyone looking for the story of what happened. However, for someone looking for a rescue story as opposed to a tragic story, this would probably be a good place to start.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is yet another perspective on the events that unfolded on Everest on the 10th May 1996. Anatoli Boukreev was the villian of Jon Krakuer's "Into Thin Air" and in this book Boukreev sets out his side of the story and West DeWalt takes the time to point out some of the inconsistencies in Krakuer's story. Having also read Matt Dickinson's book which tells the story of the storm from on the north face of Everest (The Death Zone) I am still really glad that I took the time to read this book as it balanced out some of the omissions in Krakuer's story and raises the question. What would have happened if Boukreev had climbed on oxygen that day, and stayed high on the mountain with the client climbers - the answer is that most likely Boukreev and the client climbers he later rescued would have died, as Matt Dickinson comments Boukreev was "The only climber with the strength to push himself out into the white-out blizzard to try and guide in the lost climbers." Whatever happened or didn't happen on Everest that day the sad fact is that several very experienced and some not so experienced climbers died due to one or more misjudgements which may not have had such tragic results on any other day.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Ten stars. This is a must read for any fan of Krakauer's 'Into Thin Air'. Boukreev is a genuine hero.When he mentioned that he hated small talk and trying to motivate others in an unfamiliar language I was so sympathetic. In the translation of Boukreev's Russian you can tell how eloquent he really was. Of course the transcript of his attempt to explain things in English does not reflect this. I so understand.The difference between Hall's and Fischer's philosophies of guiding were emblematic of an ongoing debate between practitioners in the adventure travel industry. The camps of belief can be roughly divided between the "situationalists" and the "legalists." The situationalists argue that in leading a risky adventure no system of rules can adequately cover every situation that might arise, and they argue that rules on some occasions should be subordinated tounique demands that present themselves, the legalists, believing that rules can substantially reduce the possibility of bad decisions being made, ask that personal freedom take a backseat.Mr. Krakauer...never paints the big picture of one of the most amazing rescues in mountaineering history performed single-handedly a few hours after climbing Everest without oxygen by a man some describe as the Tiger Woods of Himalayan climbing.And on the reason why so many died on that climb;To cite a specific cause would be to promote an omniscience that only Gods, drunks, politicians, and dramatic writers can claim.Amen. It was hubris, youth, greed, arrogance, audacity and the nature of the beast the allowed so many to die on Everest in '96. IMHO.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I found this book a fascinating follow-up to Krakauer's Into Thin Air. I don't think that I would have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I had read it before Into Thin Air. The Climb is not written in a style that I found as engaging as Krakauer's, though I found that I prefer this telling of the events. The Climb has much more technical descriptions, attention to detail as to the source of information, and a more objective explanation of the uncertainty and disagreements surrounding the details of the events described.
    • 3/5
      The other side of the story writen by Jon Krakauer in "into thin air".
    • 3/5
      Pæan to the late mountaineer Anatoli Boukreev and his role in the calamitous 1996 season at Mt. Everest. Stylistically, it's not nearly as well-written as Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Substantively, it attends mainly to the details of one particular teamʻs activities, while Krakauer's book takes a broader perspective. After reading both books, I'm not sure I understand why anyone did what they did, or even in some cases what anyone did, which is probably the point of the whole story: think Rashōmon.This book's illustration of the Everest massif provides a better sense of vertical scale for the ascent of the glacier leading up to Mt. Everest than does Krakauer's, and the regional map includes towns at lower elevations than on Krakauer 's (doesn't really affect the story; I just like knowing geographical details). Krakauer's text provides more geological detail about the climb route.I read Krakauer's book first; I wonder what I would think had I read Boukreev's first. But I will say this much: Krakauer admitted to very poor decisions of his own, whereas in this book everybody, and I mean that literally, is accused of poor decision-making – except Boukreev (I first noticed this about a third of the way through, before the summit attempt, and then started watching for mention of poor decisions by Boukreev. There were none). Fair or not, such a "Teflon ʻToli" portrayal does him no favors.