In the Ghost Country 1st (first) edition Text Only

by Peter Hillary

A memoir of extraordinary depth and searing honesty, In the Ghost Country is the story of Peter Hillary's physical and emotional journey across the icy wastes of Antarctica. A place where the thoughts and memories of a lifetime were called forth by the blank slate of the Antarctic snows -- so real that the ghosts of lost friends and loved ones walked with him in the white maelstrom.In the Antarctic summer of 1998-99, Peter Hillary and two companions skied to the South Pole -- each man pulling a 440-pound sled 900 miles across some of the most forbidding country on earth. The plan was to complete the tragic journey of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, to the Pole and back. But under the pressure of a relentless media spotlight, fatal team chemistry, and food and fuel stores, the expedition fragmented into hostile isolation. Instead of completing Scott's journey, they found they were repeating it.For Peter Hillary, this was the loneliest trek of his life. Estranged from his companions, tortured by the sensory deprivation of "the great white everywhere," Hillary's journey became a hallucinogenic pilgrimage through a country where "he could see the dead and the places of the dead": the ghosts of too many friends who had perished at his side in the mountains; and most powerfully, the ghost of his beloved mother, who it seemed "had turned up on the ice to keep me company."In the Ghost Country is the story of that trip, a chronicle of profound isolation, grief, and loneliness. It is a meditation on a lifetime spent on the edge. Told here are the on Ama Dablam in Nepal, a near perfect climb until its shocking finish with an unexpected death; on Makalu where half the party was wiped out; on Everest where two more were lost, including a great friend; and later on K2, in 1995, where Hillary barely survived the storm that killed seven people.But here also are the "marvelous times": Growing up in New Zealand, where the family's holiday adventures were turned into documentaries; first seeing Everest at seven years of age; the near-fatal teenage adventures; working on the schools and hospitals that Sir Edmund built for the Nepalese people; traveling with his father and Neil Armstrong to the North Pole; summiting Everest twice.Informed by a strong literary sensibility, In the Ghost Country is compelling contemplation of adventure and a joyful tribute to "the rapture" of getting "out there" on the edge.

Genres: Adventure, Biography, Travel, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

Hardcover

First published December 30, 2003

About the author

Peter Edmund Hillary is a New Zealand mountaineer, philanthropist and writer. He is the son of adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. When Peter Hillary summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Hillary has achieved two summits of Everest, an 84-day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, and an expedition guiding astronaut Neil Armstrong to land a small aircraft at the North Pole. He has climbed many of the world’s major peaks, and on June 19, 2008, completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents, when he summited Mount McKinley in Alaska.

Reviews

[Chana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes trips just don't work out. The team made it to the South Pole, barely. I can't imagine how hard it must have been, this trip, how determined the three men. But how awful the trip was. It had none of the joy he describes in his foolhardy teenage escapades with Nigel Lewis in the Southern Alps. This polar expedition was a bummer of an adventure. As a reader I didn't enjoy reading about it, but what I did enjoy was Peter's memories when he was young before losses and age beat him down. I feel like there was never a good vision for this trip and the three men were not in sync. It almost seemed pointless to suffer all that when planes can fly you in and out. But, they did suffer and they did, rather heroically considering everything, make the South Pole despite all the obstacles.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story of the horror of trying to get to the South Pole. Peter Hillary, son of the great but cuckoo Edmund, decides to recreate a failed trip to the Pole, except that he, of course, expects to succeed. The story is told in two interwoven parts: one by a standard writer and the other as Peter shares his terrible memories of the trek. I was fascinated by the account of what happens to the mind when one is surrounded by an unbroken white landscape. The trials and tribulations of the group, which include slow starvation and hauling impossibley huge loads of supplies, as well as the dreadful things that happen to them psychologically, is gripping. However, at the end, you wonder, "Who the hell would want to do this?"

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different kind of extreme explorer book. Peter Hillary walks on the Antarctic ice with friends and family (mostly dead) conjured to reality in the extreme loneliness of this adventure. Interesting take on friendship, leadership and group dynamics.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1998, exploreer adventurer Hillary (son of Sir Edmund) set off on skis with two ill-chosen companions to retrace the South Pole route that killed Robert Falcon Scott in 1912. Like Scott, Hillary and company hit horrendous barriers. Though the physical hardships were severe, the mental trials were equally challenging. This book really examines the forces that propel explorers through godforsaken places.

[Shirley Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read giving great insight into the effect of total lack of colour in the landscape and how the human brain deals with remoteness, lonliness, pain, exhaustion and the overriding will to live.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the chance to meet Peter and listen to him talk about why he wrote the book. It is a personal account of the many challenges he's undertaken and how they have influenced his life. He's a very engaging and sensitive man. It was a real privilege to sit with him as he signed my copy.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Goodreads synopsis. "In the Antarctic summer of 1998-99, Peter Hillary and two companions skied to the South Pole - each man pulling a 440-pound sled 900 miles across some of the most forbidding country on earth. The plan was to complete the tragic journey of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, to the Pole and back. But under the pressure of a relentless media spotlight, fatal team chemistry, and food and fuel stores, the expedition fragmented into hostile isolation. Instead of completing Scott's journey, they found they were repeating it."



I lost interest going into part two, page 82, made myself finish it. Trying to keep up on who was telling the story while not liking anyone was a task itself. I am all about adventure, testing your limits and bad things happen but good grief.

What I got out of this whole book, careful who you pick to go with you when going on a journey that was not completed by another person.


Loneliness is a two-sided thing, the ones left at home while you are on adventures and dealing with your torture and loneliness were dealing with their tortures and loneliness too.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book by Peter Hillary (Son of Sir Edmund Hillary) in which he recounts his experiences during a trek to the south pole in 1998. While on his polar adventure he remembers several other expeditions climbing mountains like Everest. He remembers people that died and people that almost died.

This book was ok. It was interesting to see a little bit of what it is like in these extreme places of the world. He sure made it seem like all those big mountains must just be littered with bodies of dead hikers who didn't make it, though.

Also, he had a friend help him write the book. And his friend was way to artsy and metaphoric- to the point where it was often hard to know what was really going on. The book lacked factual and informative information. And there really was no climax to the story.

Another problem I encountered with the book was that it was written by two New Zealanders who are both adventurers. This meant that it used lots of slang from down under that I didn't understand. It also meant they used lots of technical terms for the conditions of the ice and snow that I also didn't understand.

So, in the end, I really wouldn't recommend this book. I would find some other book about one of the other great polar adventurers. The metaphors and digressions weren't really worth reading in order to get to the interesting tidbits (which were too few and far between).

So, one and a half thumbs down. Half of a thumb up for the interesting glimpse at weirdos who like to put themselves in deadly conditions and then work hard to barely survive.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got sucked in by the endless good reviews to be overwhelmed by a poorly written and uninteresting book. The switch between the author and Hillary's voice became confusing and often took place in the middle of thoughts without connection. The style of writing also differed too much making the whole read choppy. Then they added in dream sequences and back stories that did nothing to progress the book nor give any information of interest to the reader. The narrator tried to be artful to the extreme causing me to lose the point and consider his poor use of metaphors. Then comes the fact of how unprepared these three supposed professional adventurists are. They don't have the proper equipment, nor the proper training, nor the proper mindset. I assume Hillary's purpose for this book is to make money for some new ill-fated attempt.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

a haunting journey by peter hillary (son of sir edmund) and two others across antarctica. sad to read about all the friends and family he's lost. well written though...the stories are pretty engaging.

[Mikeverville]

Book about the journeys and travails of Peter Hillary to the South and North Pole and also to Mt. Everest. Good insight into his inner thoughts and feelings during times of loneliness, despair, and of immensity of what he was embarking on for each journey.

[Kelly Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a very moving story about the isolation that can exist in the extremes. Left with nothing other than his own thoughts and connections to the past, the daemons certainly made their impact on the outcome of this journey!

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book, engaging, moving, accessible, brilliantly written, thought provoking, inspiring, and yet normalizing of a wide range of human experience and emotion in the context of adventure in harsh environments and extreme conditions. Well worth reading.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grim narration of a grim trip across Antartica.

[Hannah Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such an amazing story but the style overwhelmed, and ultimately ruined it. Plus very unsatisfactory ending!

[Sharonh · Rating 1 out of 5]

The format it was written was so confusing I had a hard time following the book.