“The book gets four stars for the sheer tenacity of the author in climbing Mount Everest. While the narrative seems to drag and one often feels like Bear is repeating himself, it only represents the reality of life on the mountain, waiting for her to open her arms as "no one conquers Everest." She only allows certain people at very certain times to ascend. Being ignorant of the art and science of mountaineering, I learned much about the hardships of climbing the tallest peak in the world. I was almost shocked that acclimatizing takes so much time, having to climb up to Camp One, then back down to Base Camp, then back up to Camp Two, then back down, etc. One actually climbs the mountain four times to make an ascent, and, even then, the reality of death on the descent is even more probable than in ascent. Many a spiritual metaphor could be drawn from Bear's book, and he touches on them sporadically throughout the book. I'd recommend it for adventure readers and those who like to see what it takes to survive in an inhospitable environment.
(Speaking of - Watch Bear's show Man vs. Wild, it's great).”
batwood wrote this review Friday, August 10 2007.
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