Rating: 
Summary: Don't Try This at Home, Kids...
Review: This book would be a joke if it were not dangerous. There's nothing wrong with being guided on a mountain...in fact, it may be a comparatively safe way to enjoy an outdoor experience (and it keeps many climbers employed. There's also nothing wrong with writing about the experience of being guided...David Roberts, Jon Krakauer, and others have done that entertainingly and tastefully. But to title it "the extreme...true courage...death-defying survival...a quest" shows serious signs of self-delusion. I am most concerned that some innocent will pick this book up, enjoy it, and do something really stupid.Hint: If you liked this book...if you really found it exciting...stay home! (1 star, in honor of the book's value as kindling, and because there is no lower rating.)
Rating: 
Summary: A CHILLING STORY ... BY A TALENTLESS WRITER
Review: This book, though poorly written, has a story to tell, though it could have been better told by someone who knows how to write. It is, however, an easy, quick read and moderately interesting. It does have some merit, in as much as it chronicles the author's ascent of Denali. Most of the book is spent recounting the time during which she and her team mates were trapped on Denali at 14,000 feet, caught in one of the most severe storms on record which saw eleven people perish. Her description of the horrendous weather conditions and sub zero temperatures which pinned her team down for a period of about two weeks is graphic, though repetitious. She was lucky to have been with two experienced guides who knew what they were doing. This is undoubtedly one of the main reasons she and her team mates survived their ordeal. Disconcerting are her repeated racist references to Asian climbers. Her comments are unworthy and make her sound ignorant. It cannot help but affect one's opinion of her, and that opinion is unflattering. This is unfortunate, as she is a person one might otherwise admire for her pluck and stamina.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Story; A Bad Book
Review: This is an as-told-to tale of enduring a ferocious storm for almost two weeks on North America's highest peak, Mt. Denali (Mt. McKinley). It is a tale worth telling for Denali, while not a technically difficult mountain to climb, is known for the worst storms on earth. The first problem is Ms. Kocour's exaggerations and misinformation diminishes the very story she wants to tell. The second problem is Ms. Kocour herself. Her own words make her sound like an arrogant, bigoted,self-satisfied, braggart. Her lack of charity toward her teammates and fellow climbers is breathtakingly insensitive. She has a fawning regard for her professional guides and an almost girlish awe of chance meetings with elite climbers Jim Wickwire and John Roskelley, but a rare good word for her fellow amateurs. The author continually refers to being trapped in the "Death Zone," a height where humans cannot acclimate to the altitude, and the human body deteriorates. This "Zone" is above 26,246 feet. The camp where the author was stranded was 8,000 feet below this extreme. To give a comparison, Everest's base camp (the beginning of the climb) is higher than the camp at which Ms. Kocour was stranded. The entire route her party took has fixed lines, and they were roped to their guides at all times during their climb. It was not what anyone would call an intrepid, daring ascent. The "ledge" where her team bivouacked accommodated six tents, a ranger hut and a large medical station, more resembling a mall parking lot than a ledge. The descriptions of the storm are good, and it is easy to imagine the fear, the claustrophobia, and the boredom of being confined to such close quarters in the monstrous elements for such an extended period of time. It is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks Denali is a walk in the park. It is not. I awarded the second star for Ruth Anne's self-portrayal of a lady you'd love to see get her comeuppance. Makes you want to see a book by one of her teammates describing the trials and tribulations of climbing with Ruth Anne.
Rating: 
Summary: Extreme Ruth Ann
Review: This is an as-told-to tale of enduring a ferocious storm for almost two weeks on North America's highest peak, Mt. Denali (Mt. McKinley). It is a tale worth telling for Denali, while not a technically difficult mountain to climb, is known for the worst storms on earth. The first problem is Ms. Kocour's exaggerations and misinformation diminishes the very story she wants to tell. The second problem is Ms. Kocour herself. Her own words make her sound like an arrogant, bigoted,self-satisfied, braggart. Her lack of charity toward her teammates and fellow climbers is breathtakingly insensitive. She has a fawning regard for her professional guides and an almost girlish awe of chance meetings with elite climbers Jim Wickwire and John Roskelley, but a rare good word for her fellow amateurs. The author continually refers to being trapped in the "Death Zone," a height where humans cannot acclimate to the altitude, and the human body deteriorates. This "Zone" is above 26,246 feet. The camp where the author was stranded was 8,000 feet below this extreme. To give a comparison, Everest's base camp (the beginning of the climb) is higher than the camp at which Ms. Kocour was stranded. The entire route her party took has fixed lines, and they were roped to their guides at all times during their climb. It was not what anyone would call an intrepid, daring ascent. The "ledge" where her team bivouacked accommodated six tents, a ranger hut and a large medical station, more resembling a mall parking lot than a ledge. The descriptions of the storm are good, and it is easy to imagine the fear, the claustrophobia, and the boredom of being confined to such close quarters in the monstrous elements for such an extended period of time. It is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks Denali is a walk in the park. It is not. I awarded the second star for Ruth Anne's self-portrayal of a lady you'd love to see get her comeuppance. Makes you want to see a book by one of her teammates describing the trials and tribulations of climbing with Ruth Anne.
Rating: 
Summary: page turner, artisit's eye, captures elements
Review: This was a real page turner. AND it came as close to an explanation I expect I'll ever get, as to why anyone would want to climb a mountain in the first place. The descriptions are terrific. The author sees with an artisit's eye and captures for the reader the raw beauty of Denali. She also captures the feel of the elements. Reading late into the night, I went out to walk my dog in a down parka, hat, gloves, etc....and folks, I live in California where it was 54 degrees outside. Ah, the power of the written word. This is a very different approach to climbing than portrayed by Krakauer's book, very team oriented. I never would have read either book, except I have a friend who climbs and have been trying to understand why for years, Kocour's book helped me do that whereas Krakauer's made me think I should reevaluate my friend's sanity. I am glad that I read both, but I think FACING THE EXTREME has by far the most to offer.
Rating:
Summary: High Mountain but a flat book
Review: What an amazing accomplishment! I wish she could had written the book better! I admire mountaineers but this book was frustrating to read. She sounds so arrogant in this and just not a nice person. I can understand being on a team with some annoying or inexperienced people but that is the chance you take being part of a team. If she didn't want to listen to someone talk all the time or deal with someone that didn't have her experience she should have hired a private guide to take her up the mountain. She always mentioned her compliments and her achievements and how she triumphed eventhough she was a girl-and how the guys on the team would make comments- OH PLEASE. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. If you want a really good book read Into thin Air or Seven Summits.
Rating:
Summary: To Be Strictly Fair:
Review: Yes the writing is terrible, (high school essay level I'd say). The dialog is appalling and I definitely could have lived without all the little detours into her personal past. What were her ghost writer and editor thinking? I am also quietly amazed her fellow clients didn't sue for defamation of character. However Ruth Ann's comments on Asian mountaineers merely reflect a widespread and often justified perception that Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese climbers take reckless chances - and all to often pay the price - not personal racism on her part. She also makes it quite clear that her expedition, dispite a close call or two with crevasses and running short on food, was never in serious danger - merely cold, hungry and generally miserable. Still, however safe one may be personally, it isn't pleasant to find oneself surrounded by death and disaster as she did. 'Facing the Extreme' is not a great addition to the literature of mountaineering. I dont plan to reread it and don't recomend it.
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