Living on the Edge: The Winter Ascent of Kanchenjunga

Rating:
Summary: Haunting Tale
Review: Although it took me awhile to get into this book, by the last several chapters, I was riveted. The beginning is rather disjointed, and made me wonder where she was going with all this, but I suppose the author was just leading into her lifestyle "on the edge." Sometimes she tended to wander from the main plot when talking about meditation and other related subjects, which I found boring.

I really started to enjoy the book when it finally got to their winter ascent of Kachenjunga. I also appreciated Cherie's sensitive perspective on and involvement in the culture of the local people.

I was curious about the seemingly abusive relationship the author carried on with Chris Chandler. From what I gathered, he was not only very verbally abusive towards her (and others), but also physically abusive. Sounds like he had difficulty managing his emotions/temper. Notwithstanding this disturbing insight into their relationship, I also was able to understand the strength of their emotional involvement with one another. The last chapter was gripping and still haunts me. What a terrible thing to go through. Her portrayal of this tragic ending was wonderfully done, full of emotion. I am impressed by her strength in forcing herself to survive this awful event, and in getting herself and Mongol back down the mountain. What a sacrifice in the name of trying to climb the 3rd highest mountain!

If you can get your hands on this book (out of print), it is well worth the time. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: The perils of pushing too far
Review: I am sorry that this book is out of print. I read it shortly before embarking on my own, extremely modest Himalayan climbing career, and it was a powerful warning. An adventure idealist, Cherie Bremer-Kamp and her partner set out to climb the world's third highest-mountain, in the middle of the Himalayan winter. Eschewing the big-expedition approach to climbing, they attack the mountain alone apart from an inexperienced local guide. They did not lack for courage, experience, or skills. Cherie's climbing partner and lover had climbed Everest and was a medical doctor. They might reasonably have known as much as anyone about the dangers of the extreme cold and the effects of altitude. The final chapters are too gruelling to recount here - in fact the few sentences in which Cherie recounts the moment they realise they are in DEEP trouble are as gut-churning in their simplicity as anything I have read. Were they courageous? Were they ridiculously naive? My take is that they were people for whom risk was an essential ingredient in life - but it is not a risk until you stand to lose something, and they lost more than anyone should have to. A brave and painful book.

Rating:
Summary: PERSONAL , HARROWING ACCOUNT OF A WINTER HIMALAYAN CLIMB...
Review: The author, Cherie Bremer-Kamp, and her lover, Chris Chandler, a medical doctor, together with the assistance of an inexperienced Sherpa guide, attempted in the dead of winter to climb the north face of Kanchenjunga which, at 28,168 feet, is the third highest peak in the Himalayas.

That these two, Cherie and Chris, shared a deep bond is undeniable, depite allusions to some kind of abusive behavior underlying their relationship. She and Chris met during the 1978 American ascent of K2, while she was married to another climber on that expedition. Their palpable attraction to each other was not lost on other members of that expedition, which caused a huge rift. This issue is recounted at length in Rick Ridgeway's engrossing chronicle of that expedition "The Last Step". It was after that expedition that Cherie left her husband for Chris, her new found soul mate.

Here, Cherie, obviously embittered by Ridgeway's account, counters with her own reminiscenses of that expedition, describing the philosophical divide which had developed, an everyman for himself philosophy versus that of the brotherhood of the rope, in which one climber places his or her life in the hands of another. Cherie, as well as Chris, philosophically subscribed to the latter. It was that belief which made them foreswear large expeditions for the close communion available to those climbing in lightweight Alpine style.

Before telling of their 1985 winter climb of Kanchenjunga, the author describes a few of their other adventures, making it clear that living on the edge was a way of life for them. She and Chris were passionately devoted to each other. It was a passion that arose deep within them, cemented by their mutual love for the mountains and for adventure, a lifestyle that demanded a symbiotic relationship. It was a demand that they had no trouble meeting.

Cherie's account of their journey to Kanchenjunga is highly descriptive and quite engrossing. Her love of people and places is evident in the way she writes about the journey. It is always a very personal account, filled with feeling. One can almost taste the anticipation with which she and Chris looked forward to their climb. Yet, while Cherie and Chris were experienced climbers and appeared to have made adequate preparations, it seemed that the forces of nature were conspiring against them.

The rigors of the actual climb were grueling, as they were met head on with jet stream force winds which, when coupled with excruciatingly piercing cold, meant that they were exposed to an environment completely hostile to most living creatures. The forces of nature with which they collided, as they ascended Kanchenjunga, were literally enough to take one's breath away. It was so cold that the tensile steel posts on their crampons were breaking off. Yet, they persevered and continued climbing, driven on by their own inner resources, with tragic consequences.

In climbing Kanchenjunga, no two could have been better prepared, each having had prior Himalayan climbing experience. Moreover, with Chris being a medical doctor and Cherie being a nurse, it can be said that they were probably better prepared than most to recognize or address any medical emergencies while on the mountain. Yet, all their combined experience and knowledge was, ultimately, insufficient to forestall the death of Chris on that most cruel of mountains. With his death, Kanchenjunga had ultimately defeated them.

This poignantly told tale is one that will enthrall all climbing enthusiasts, as well as those readers who simply love a well told story. The many color pictures which accompany the text are beautiful and, in and of themselves, serve to explain the draw that such mountains may have for some.