I received it for Christmas. Just finished "The Boys of Everest" and ready to dig into the new book now. Looking forward to it.
PB
PB
New Ed Viesturs book
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DougPaul
Well-known member
Now read "True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent of Annapurna" by David Roberts...pudgy_groundhog said:
Annapurna, True Summit, and Himalayan Quest are all good reads, IMHO.
Doug
pudgy_groundhog
Active member
I had just looked up something about Maurice Herzog this morning and saw the mentions of the other books. Is there a synopsis of the controversy somewhere?
DougPaul
Well-known member
IIRC, all participants had to sign an agreement not to publish their own versions--a great shock to professionals who made part of their living by publishing accounts of their expeditions. Lachnal's personal diary came to light after his death revealing another side to the events. A number of things were prettied up (print the fantasy, etc). Hertzog was a talented amateur, Lachnal, Terray, (and others) were professional guides who ended up helping/taking care of an amateur who was out of his depth.pudgy_groundhog said:
Climbing Annapurna was a great achievement, but the expedition was not without controversies, frictions etc. (If you read accounts such as Bonnington's British expedition books, it is pretty obvious that when you put a large bunch of talented, motivated, and skilled people on a very stressing task such as climbing an 8K meter peak, there will be politicking, maneuvering, and friction going on as each tries to maximize his own chance of summiting.)
The book is worth reading, IMHO.
Doug
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pudgy_groundhog
Active member
I reserved the book at the library and plan to read it. Should be an interesting companion piece to Annapurna. In looking a little more on the web I did see the mention of the other members having to sign the form (that must not have been mentioned in Annapurna or I missed it, I'm guessing it's the former). One blurb I saw said that although Herzog lost many toes/fingers, he had much fame and opportunities to make money off the expedition, which was some consolation. The others didn't get the same opportunities, so it was almost that they lost toes/fingers and suffered for nothing. 
I was really impressed with the sherpas in Annapurna. I'm still surprised nobody died!
Thanks for the info!
I was really impressed with the sherpas in Annapurna. I'm still surprised nobody died!
Thanks for the info!
Rols
New member
I've finished the book and really enjoyed it. I appreciated his perspective on mountaineering. An excellent read and much to be learned from his insight.
hikehike
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"No Shortcuts To The Top" is a great read. This is an amazing book about Ed Viesturs successful quest of climbing all 14 of the 8000+ m peaks without supplemental O2. Mr. Viesturs and coauthor Dave Roberts give an amazing account this endavor. I found the book to be personally inspiring and I would say that it is a must read for anyone who likes to hike at any level. Whew!!! What a book!!!
Mongoose
New member
Ed's the man! That link about him being in Cambridge for a book signing isn't working. Is there an updated link somewhere? I'd like to go to that.
If you have $3850 to spare you can climb up Mt. Ranier with Ed and Peter Whittaker next year:
http://www.rmiguides.com/rainier/vw_climb.html
If you have $3850 to spare you can climb up Mt. Ranier with Ed and Peter Whittaker next year:
http://www.rmiguides.com/rainier/vw_climb.html
Mongoose
New member
Oops, I should have read a little more of the post...
Neil
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I'm a little late coming to this thread but I just read "No shortcuts to the Top".
What I particularly liked was the modest down-to-earth-tone used in the book. Viesturs comes across as an ordinary guy who does extraordinary (understatement) things.
All of us can easily find parallels between his peakbagging and our own much more modest endeavors. I got the impression that if you told him you were working on a list of 4000 foot peaks in the NE he would be genuinely interested and ask all sorts of questions.
I found the book deeply inspiring.
What I particularly liked was the modest down-to-earth-tone used in the book. Viesturs comes across as an ordinary guy who does extraordinary (understatement) things.
All of us can easily find parallels between his peakbagging and our own much more modest endeavors. I got the impression that if you told him you were working on a list of 4000 foot peaks in the NE he would be genuinely interested and ask all sorts of questions.
I found the book deeply inspiring.
I did Rainier this summer with RMI, which sells the book in the gift shop. None of the guides have read it, and they go out of their way to make it clear they haven't. It's very funny, in a sad sort of way. The egos involved in mountaineering can be enormous.
WinterWarlock
Active member
That is sad - Viesturs is one of the few who do not seem to have one of those egos.
Last fall a local Rochester 7 Summits climber, Kevin Flynn, gave a talk at the local EMS...he, too, was a down to earth guy who actually started in the ADK's. I haven't yet read his book, but it's in my pile!
Jay H
New member
WW: You'll like Flynn's book, it was an interesting read...
Jay
Jay
