The Climb

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, Overwhelming... A Must Read
Review: As both a writer and amatuer climber, this book overwhelmed me with the depth of details and factual accounts. At no time during this book did I feel as though Boukreev wrote this as a mere rebuttal to "Into Thin Air." Instead it included the hard facts of climbing Everest, the mistakes made, and the efforts to save lives. Unlike other reviewers, I did not feel Boukreev pointed fingers at anyone else. He simply said these other climbers were spent, too broken or out of it to help. Much much different from Krakauer's attempts to portray the others in a poor manner.

This book gives everyone a chance to experience, through writing, what goes on during an expedition such as this. I commend the writers for their strong attention to detail and their use of multiple sources to clarify information. I read both "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" at different points in my life. While "Into Thin Air" succeeds in the American way of trumped up passion, much like the movie... "The Climb" succeeds in telling readers the whole story and gives readers the chance to truly consider the lives lost and reasons why.

I'll never climb a mountain like these men have, but I will also never forget Anatoli Boukreev, the words from this book, and his memory in my endeavors.

Rating:
Summary: It jumps right up and grabs you by the throat
Review: From the moment i picked up this book i could not put it down. In 4 hours of non stop reading i had completed a story of untold courage and bravery by a man who was wrongly condemed for so long by his accuser.A must read if you seek the truth of the tragedy and the legacy of of the greatest rescue effort by an individual on Everest."

Rating:
Summary: Oh, that Everest
Review: I enjoyed "The Climb." I do think that the book would be more convincing if not a direct rebuttal to "Into Thin Air." I would rather hear Boukreev's side of the story unfettered from contensting the other book. It would have made for stronger tale. In both of these books, the authors focus on every little contributing factor that led to the incident. Boukreev's Indonesian ascent in '97 had similar hangups, which leads me to belive that the biggest cause to the carnage on the mountain was the number of climbers on the mountain in one day, not the experience level, etc. That aside I enjoyed a different perspective on the '96 Everest disaster.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, that Everest
Review: I enjoyed "The Climb." I do think that the book would be more convincing if not a direct rebuttal to "Into Thin Air." I would rather hear Boukreev's side of the story unfettered from contensting the other book. It would have made for stronger tale. In both of these books, the authors focus on every little contributing factor that led to the incident. Boukreev's Indonesian ascent in '97 had similar hangups, which leads me to belive that the biggest cause to the carnage on the mountain was the number of climbers on the mountain in one day, not the experience level, etc. That aside I enjoyed a different perspective on the '96 Everest disaster.

Rating:
Summary: Egos Clash At 8000 meters
Review: I found The Climb to be a good companion to Krakauer's Into Thin Air. While I don't believe Krakauer singled out Boukreev (he cast a pretty wide net including himself), I can understand the defensive posture taken in The Climb. After all, Boukreev didn't make his living by pointing fingers. Guiding was his livelyhood.

I think that in the final analysis, Boukreev didn't leave the summit too early; everyone but Krakauer left too late. Had he known the clients were gonna dilly-dally on their way to the summit, perhaps he would've used supplemental oxygen. Since he didn't and they did, I suspect he had little choice but to go down 'early.'

I'm glad Boukreev took the time to defend himself. I found many of the details he provides fascinating. I found him fascinating. I'm sorry that he's gone, and I'm sorry he felt it necessary to co-author this book.

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars!
Review: I read this in probably the reverse order most people do. Most people pick up Into Thin Air and then read The Climb. Anyway, it worked out well and I would recommend doing it that way. I thought Anatoli did a much better job in taking in what probably happened on the mountain that day. It becomes pretty evident after reading both books he wasn't at fault and who were at fault, if anyone. But in the end after u let in soak in you understand Krauker motivations and Anatolis reaction. 5 Stars Hands Down!!

Rating:
Summary: The Climb: Great Book
Review: If you love to read the opinion page in the newspaper then you'll love this book. This book is nothing more than a rebuttal to the Masterpiece "Into Thin Air". Anatoli Boukreev explains throughout the entire novel why he is not at fault for the 1996 tradgedy on Everest. He tells the side of only one expedition, his own.

Jon Krakauer gives an indepth account of the politics within each expedition party. He is clear not to place blame on any one person but more or less scatters it around. For example, he covers the actions of the Taiwanese team which had no business climbing to the summit the very day the tragedy occurs.

There is no ONE person to blame. It is a complicated story and I feel that "Into Thin Air" does an exceptional job of telling it. "The Climb" is even more narrow. I personally feel that Anatoli Boukreev should have been with the bulk of the clients myself. The clients paid good money for him to be there holding their hands and he wasn't. Anatoli Boukreev even states in his book that he had no respect for those that needed help up the mountain.

Rating:
Summary: He missed his chance to be a hero
Review: Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air is one of my favorite books and got me reading a great deal of books on high-altitude climbing...on Mount Everest as well as elsewhere. I looked forward to The Climb as being a different point of view of the tragedies on Everest in May of '96. Sadly, Bookreev is more obsessed with refuting Krakauer's claims than painting an honest picture of what happened. Had he simply told his story, I believe that he would have been seen for the flawed hero that he was. Instead, he comes off as anti-American and defensive. He refuses to admit that he could have done anything differently. Problems were always with other people, not him. The sad part is that I never came away from reading Into Thin Air thinking that he was a "villian". I thought that Krakauer questioned some decisions made in hindsight for the purpose of learning and discussion...and he praised Boukreev when praise was warranted. Krakauer wasn't afraid to blame himself for poor decisions that he had made, and Boukreev was not the only person whose judgement he questioned. I think Boukreev would have had a lot more peace in his own heart as well as admiration from the American public had he not been so obviously obsessed with refuting Krakauer's claims. I also take issue with the reference to himself as the "Tiger Woods" of high-altitude mountaineering. He certainly deserves accolades, but there are many, many strong mountaineers (Ed Viesturs comes to mind) who are or have been just as accomplished.

A true hero is one who can admit their weaknesses and learn from their mistakes. Jon Krakauer is not the only one who criticized Boukreev's actions. Many respected mountaineers pointed out that a guide on Everest has no business guiding without oxygen no matter how strong they are. Boukreev needed only to have conceded that point, need only have told his story instead of worrying constantly about another book, and he could have come across as a true hero to me. How sad to his memory now that he missed the mark.

Rating:
Summary: Another Gripping Account Of The 1996 Mt Everest Tragedy
Review: Nine climbers lost their lives in the same out-of-control storm on Mount Everest in May of 1996. This Everest tragedy has yielded many excellent books which go into the details of the climb to the top of the highest mountain in the world. This book and another, Into Thin Air, as well as some other books tell the same story with different perspectives. The reader is fortunate to have more than one book available.

During this period on Mount Everest there was so much adventure, bravery, courage and survival for many, but not all. The Mount Everest Climbing books are wonderful to read. The reader will feel as if he were on that Mountain along with the other climbers, step by step. This book is a must read for adventure lovers and hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: Egos Clash At 8000 meters
Review: This book seems to be an attempt to defend the indefensible. Boukreev is an incredible mountaineer but an incompetent guide. He obviously had no concept of what Scott Fisher meant by being a responsible guide, and had Fisher lived, I'm sure Boukreev would never have been asked to work for him again, particularly considering the enormous sum of money he was paid to be a guide. Having neglected his duties repeatedly, and ensured he was in safe quarters while others were in danger of dying on the mountain, this book is an attempt to explain away his lack of understanding of what a guide is supposed to do when on a commercial expedition. Despite his supposed ability to operate without supplemental oxygen, he doesn't explain why he didn't co-ordinate rescue attempts with the doctor who was on Hall's team when he had been told where the people who were in trouble were located. The doctor was clearly hypoxic, but so was Boukreev; that's the only reasonable excuse which can be offered for this failure. A certain arrogance comes through in the book, which is probably his personality anyway and I'm sure why some clients just didn't trust Boukreev. The book is a well written novel and worth reading, but don't take him too seriously.