Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a WOMAN goes to the summit, and tells her story.
Review: Only a woman could capture the art of the summit. This a refreshing change from the "conquering" storyline. Rather it's the story of one woman's endurance, physical and mental, and her singleminded focus and survival and summit. As a male reader, who genetically relates to "beating" the mountain, this book captures what wilderness experience is all about. In the end, it's the elements who are in charge, and we are "granted" windows to this world. A must read for those who own boots, and for those who don't!
Rating: 
Summary: Spiteful and mean
Review: Poor Ruth Anne. She is bitter and unnecesarily contemptuous in many of the passages about her fellow climbers and I found her attitude to be nasty at best, not to mention immature. At one point, when describing the first time she met one of her teammates, she insulted his looks and called him "ugly." How shallow can a grown adult get? At any rate I gave it two stars because it is fairly interesting in that it is an account of the terrible storm she had the misfortune of being a part of. The writing is bad but then you have about twenty other reviews here which delve into this so I'll leave it alone. If you want to read some truly inspiring mountaineering stories check out some of these books: Minus 148 Degrees: The First Winter Ascent of Mt. McKinley by Art Davidson; Alaska Ascents, edited by Bill Sherwonit; Seven Summits by Dick Bass, Frank Wells, with Rick Ridgeway; High Exposure by David Breashears; The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2 by Rick Ridgeway; Everest: Southwest Face by Chris Bonington. There are many others but these are a great start.
Rating: 
Summary: The "Plan 9 From Outer Space" of climbing literature
Review: Reading this book is like witnessing an accident: terrible but you just have to look (or keep reading). Ms. Kocour is certain to become the Ed Wood of mountaineering authors. Her book is so bad that it is ipso facto quite entertaining--Plan 9 From Outer Space on Denali! The author, who fancies herself a world-class mountaineer when she was in fact a paying guest on a guided climb, has absolute contempt for anyone other than herself and her guides. This includes nearly all other climbers and guides on Denali that season. She uses a broad brush to paint a particularly contemptuous picture of Oriental climbers on Denali, past and present. My disbelief in the fact that this book was ever published gave way to merriment midway through the read as I alternately laughed and screamed at the author and read the most outrageous passages to my wife. Of course, this book will be a source of amusement among my climbing and skiing companions for years to come. So for good laughs, rate this book five stars. For good mountaineering literature, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A whos who in the climbing world
Review: Ruth Anne Kocour, the greatest female climber of all time documents her extreme valor in saving all souls on the mountain. Climbers live by a certain code, we help each other. Ms. Kocour apparently believes she is above and beyond helping the sick and dying climbers. She believes that "the best thing mountaineers can do for others is to take care of themselves". When sitting in camp, not even a particularly high camp at that, climbers help one another. The summit is the goal but it is not what is most important. Ms. Koncour could not find the time to help out a climber who was in need of medical attention because she was busy clearing snow from her tent, something she did every few hours. she could not help this wretched soul? Remember she is only at 13,000 feet. While this may sound high, it really is not. Conditions in a storm of the magnitude experienced that half week on denali are not fun, but the situation is not like K@ or Everest where medical help and resupply may be an impossobility depending on ones altitude. THe height that Ms Koncour refers too is still well within range of airplane and helicopter support. What we learn from this book and Ms. Koncour is that if ever we are on a climbing team with her, find another team, you wont regret it. Based on rep alone, i would not climb with her.
Rating:
Summary: Best lesson learned
Review: Scrolling through the reviews of Facing The Extreme, it is easy to pick out, from their words, the type of climber I would choose to climb with and those I would not. Kocour's mean-spirited book clearly gives climbers and women a bad name In fact, the best lesson to be gleaned from the chronicle of this arrogant and self-serving woman is: choose your team members as carefully as possible whenever possible. The most insightful comment made by any of the reviewers was the one who said he would not want to be roped up to Ruth Anne Kocour. Who would?
Rating:
Summary: A very realistic, moving, and exciting story
Review: The author lets you in on her personal life just enough to appreciate her feelings and reactions as she scales this mountain--she details the survival and lets the viewer in on very personal views, actions, and the suffering they endured as well as the other human qualities of the climbers.
Rating: 
Summary: Practical Examples of a Positive Attitude
Review: The author was part of a team that spent ten days on an ice shelf on Mount McKinley, trapped by a storm that packed 110 MPH winds, minus 47 degree air temperatures. The team of nine mountaineers (2 professional leaders and seven amateurs) became the first group that reached the summit in 1992. When reading this book, you feel like your friend is sittling beside you telling their dramatic story.What makes this book unique is the candid descriptions of the author's thought processes and sensations. I read many books about how to succeed and reach goals and most of them suffer from vagueness. This book does not have a single platitude about attitude. It describes clearly and practically what she does to keep herself on track. For example, when food got scarce, one of the team members lined up for seconds before everyone had eaten first. The author tells her reaction. "I looked away to hide my growing rage from Craig and anyone else who might be looking my way. I worked to focus on the beauty that surrounded me instead of Jack's selfishness. All around, hues of pink washed the sky and melded into the soft blue shadow of the earth against the atmosphere....." She is illustrating an important success principle- that each of us determines where our attention goes. Through controlling our attention and thoughts, we can change our emotional state. She shows this to us- here and throughout the book. Her descriptions of conversation make for interesting and gripping dialogue, although she does come through as overly critical of others at times. She tells her motivations for mountaineering, the dynamics of the team, and the actions of the two professional guides that made them effective leaders. For example, at one point, she has trouble with a weak and exhausted teammate who is roped behind her. The leader asks her what is wrong and puts that team member behind him, taking the hardest task on himself. She conserves energy, turns inward, has a great sense of humor, and solves problems. This book would help management consultants and seminar leaders for examples of success principles.
Rating:
Summary: Practical Examples of a Positive Attitude
Review: The author was part of a team that spent ten days on an ice shelf on Mount McKinley, trapped by a storm that packed 110 MPH winds, minus 47 degree air temperatures. The team of nine mountaineers (2 professional leaders and seven amateurs) became the first group that reached the summit in 1992. When reading this book, you feel like your friend is sittling beside you telling their dramatic story. What makes this book unique is the candid descriptions of the author's thought processes and sensations. I read many books about how to succeed and reach goals and most of them suffer from vagueness. This book does not have a single platitude about attitude. It describes clearly and practically what she does to keep herself on track. For example, when food got scarce, one of the team members lined up for seconds before everyone had eaten first. The author tells her reaction. "I looked away to hide my growing rage from Craig and anyone else who might be looking my way. I worked to focus on the beauty that surrounded me instead of Jack's selfishness. All around, hues of pink washed the sky and melded into the soft blue shadow of the earth against the atmosphere....." She is illustrating an important success principle- that each of us determines where our attention goes. Through controlling our attention and thoughts, we can change our emotional state. She shows this to us- here and throughout the book. Her descriptions of conversation make for interesting and gripping dialogue, although she does come through as overly critical of others at times. She tells her motivations for mountaineering, the dynamics of the team, and the actions of the two professional guides that made them effective leaders. For example, at one point, she has trouble with a weak and exhausted teammate who is roped behind her. The leader asks her what is wrong and puts that team member behind him, taking the hardest task on himself. She conserves energy, turns inward, has a great sense of humor, and solves problems. This book would help management consultants and seminar leaders for examples of success principles.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and disturbing
Review: This book is a great companion read to "Into Thin Air" and the lesser books from that 1996 moment because it, in a refreshing and unique way, exposes the folly and incredible stupidity of some of the people climbing mountains now days. Kocour gives unforgettable and near-comical insights into some of the characters she found herself among on a serious mountain expedition. But this is not a light-hearted book. You'll forever remember the fellow-climber who claimed to have been a tour guide on a particurally famous mount, only to accidentally reveal later, while lacking oxygen, that he'd only been a tour-guide at a recreation of the mount at DisneyLand.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and disturbing
Review: This book is a great companion read to "Into Thin Air" and the lesser books from that 1996 moment because it, in a refreshing and unique way, exposes the folly and incredible stupidity of some of the people climbing mountains now days. Kocour gives unforgettable and near-comical insights into some of the characters she found herself among on a serious mountain expedition. But this is not a light-hearted book. You'll forever remember the fellow-climber who claimed to have been a tour guide on a particurally famous mount, only to accidentally reveal later, while lacking oxygen, that he'd only been a tour-guide at a recreation of the mount at DisneyLand.
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