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Snow in the Kingdom: My Storm Years on Mount Everest
Imagine climbing Mt. Everest with no Sherpa assistance. Purposefully abstaining also from bottled oxygen, computers, and radios, while establishing an historic new route. In 1988, American climber Ed Webster's 4-man team achieved this ultimate Everest ascent, years before the Into Thin Air tragedy. Now delve into Webster's 5-Star reader-rated Everest classic, Snow in the Kingdom, illustrated by 100 pages of stunning color photographs. ( Or sneak preview "Everest The Really Hard Way" at youtube.com/watch?v=zjAHkTHn4fA )Almost 30 years ago, in a climbing style never seen again on Everest, four partners from America, Canada, and England pioneered a super-dangerous new route (the Neverest Buttress) up the avalanche-blasted precipices of the remote, nearly forgotten Kangshung East Face of Mt. Everest in Tibet. Perhaps most remarkably, not wanting to endanger the lives of any Sherpas, the climbers carried every ounce of gear and food themselves. Only one person summited. This small team's indomitable willpower to succeed, their bravery, mutual trust, and teamwork have become legendary. But days without food plus severe frostbite were the painful prices of victory and survival.
580 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 31, 2023
Long but mostly good book on an Everest expedition
No matter which peak, which path, or how many are in the climbing party, there is always an element of danger is such an expedition. This book by Ed Webster brings to life one such trek, when he and three other climbers reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the spring of 1988. This was accomplished without bottled oxygen, assistance from Sherpas, or radios. Webster’s account of this expedition on a new path to the top, along with stories from before that Everest climb (it was his third attempt to reach the summit) that make the a very good read for the most part.
I say “most part” because there times the book feels like it is moving slower than a novice climber on their first Himalayan climb. This is especially true when Webster describes his previous climbs before his famous 1988 trekking. The book also moves along slowly at times durian the Everest climb although that helped readers to understand the slow pace, and the danger, these climbers faced.
Two parts of the book I really liked were the descent after reaching the summit and the photography. While reaching the peak for any climb is undoubtedly the goal and is often dangerous, often the descent back to Base Camp is just as risky. In Webster’s case, that was certainly true. The terrifying ordeal the team went through on the descent, with frostbitten toes and fingers that eventually were amputated as a result, was a more gripping account of climbing than the journey to the highest peak in the world was.
Even though I read this in e-book format, the photography was stunning, especially the color photographs. Whether it was the beauty of the mountains, happy pictures of Webster and others (including a few of Lauren, his girlfriend who was killed in a rock climb accompanying Webster) or photos of the climbers on the mountain or back in camp, they all help to tell the story of this very intriguing climb of Mt. Everest.
No matter which peak, which path, or how many are in the climbing party, there is always an element of danger is such an expedition. This book by Ed Webster brings to life one such trek, when he and three other climbers reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the spring of 1988. This was accomplished without bottled oxygen, assistance from Sherpas, or radios. Webster’s account of this expedition on a new path to the top, along with stories from before that Everest climb (it was his third attempt to reach the summit) that make the a very good read for the most part.
I say “most part” because there times the book feels like it is moving slower than a novice climber on their first Himalayan climb. This is especially true when Webster describes his previous climbs before his famous 1988 trekking. The book also moves along slowly at times durian the Everest climb although that helped readers to understand the slow pace, and the danger, these climbers faced.
Two parts of the book I really liked were the descent after reaching the summit and the photography. While reaching the peak for any climb is undoubtedly the goal and is often dangerous, often the descent back to Base Camp is just as risky. In Webster’s case, that was certainly true. The terrifying ordeal the team went through on the descent, with frostbitten toes and fingers that eventually were amputated as a result, was a more gripping account of climbing than the journey to the highest peak in the world was.
Even though I read this in e-book format, the photography was stunning, especially the color photographs. Whether it was the beauty of the mountains, happy pictures of Webster and others (including a few of Lauren, his girlfriend who was killed in a rock climb accompanying Webster) or photos of the climbers on the mountain or back in camp, they all help to tell the story of this very intriguing climb of Mt. Everest.
June 16, 2021
I truly enjoyed Ed's book. He is so down to earth and completely honest in his writing. He makes you feel exactly what he felt. You travel with him on his climbs in North America and his three times at Mt. Everest, his passion. He deals with death and his never ending love for the mountains. What an incredible journey! His story of survival is incredible. I loved the book from cover to cover.
July 4, 2021
This book was surprisingly good. It has a lot more detail and is a lot more technical than many of the climbing books I’ve read. I enjoyed that. The ending is a nail-biter even though you have some idea how it will turn out - after all, the author did write the book.
January 19, 2023
An engaging personal journey from early climbing career and personal tragedy through to an audacious new route up Everest's Kanchung face by a team of just 4 climbers without the aid of porters, radios or oxygen! The chapters leading up to the ascent set the scene well, describing the difficulties of organising a Himalayan project, sponsorship, permits, logistics, team dynamics etc. The final chapters are truly gripping ending in a will they won't they make it finale and the personal cost of such an undertaking.
January 18, 2023
Almost backed out of this one when I realized how long it is & the beginning had me thinking it was going to be more technical than story-telling. In the end, it reads pretty quickly plus has pages of photos and tells of a journey worth reading about! Saw this recommended in a NH hiking group with the news of Webster’s passing.
January 22, 2025
Well written, easy and compelling read, lots of beautiful photos. He told his story well, but aside from not understanding what drives a person to risk their life climbing mountains, I fail to see how it can be considered a personal triumph when invariably climbers hire dozens and sometimes hundreds of people to carry their equipment for them. 🤷🏻♀️
January 8, 2023
This was probably the best mountaineering book I've ever read. The writing is engaging and Ed's story is so fascinating and descriptive that I felt like I was climbing beside him on Everest. Highly recommended for those interested in mountain climbing.
April 3, 2025
Dreams come true!
This is an extraordinary book that kept me riveted to it's pages....... I admire the strength of character these men had to fulfill this dream...... What a magnificent awe-inspiring book about this mountain in the kingdom of snow.
This is an extraordinary book that kept me riveted to it's pages....... I admire the strength of character these men had to fulfill this dream...... What a magnificent awe-inspiring book about this mountain in the kingdom of snow.
March 7, 2020
Excellent!!!!
One of the best mountaineering books I have read. From start to finish, I could not put it down. Highly recommended.
One of the best mountaineering books I have read. From start to finish, I could not put it down. Highly recommended.
May 20, 2020
Very gripping
I found myself right along side these fantastic climbers. Very enjoyable writing style. I thank you for bringing us readers along with you.
I found myself right along side these fantastic climbers. Very enjoyable writing style. I thank you for bringing us readers along with you.
August 14, 2020
A good engaging look at what it takes to try to summit the tallest mountain in the world. A lot of names and things to keep straight, but it is what it is.
February 17, 2021
Great book! Enjoyed the stories and photographs!
January 17, 2022
Captivating. Enjoyed joining him and his team on his journey, happy to be in a cozy place reading about it and not experiencing the danger with him.
November 7, 2024
Very well written, spectacular photos, great adventure story.
October 8, 2015
The author of this literally heavy tome Snow in the Kingdom: My Storm Years on Everest is coming to the South Berwick Public library to talk, and that is why the book was chosen. It was a fascinating but still difficult book to slog through .. although if you are an extreme mountaineer as Ed Webster is, then the huge amount of technical vocabulary might be more engaging. Thank goodness I had a college course (albeit in 1966!) in geology, so at least I had a fair recognition of some of that terminology, but all the vocab surrounding climbing was tough going. THe book is full of pictures, and that of course was cool, even if I couildn't always see what he thought I could see!! His story is daunting. I truly had no idea what is involved in an expedition to climb the tallest peak in the world. THe story begins quite grimly some years before when Ed's girlfriend and climbing partner falls and dies right on the mountain with him. That event both inspires him to continue and haunts him constantly. Most of the book is the third trip he makes to Everest with only three other companions to attempt the first ever summit via the Kangshung face, which is reached by going through Tibet. And they do it without extra bottled oxygen and without sherpas. Although Ed reaches the South Col at some 28,00O feet, he doesn't quite make it to the actual highest point (only one of the four does). And the price is steep, as they all suffer frostbite necessitating amputations of fingers and toes. Ed undergoes over two years of surgeries and physical therapy and much mental suffering, too. But he is back to climbing. It was all awe inspiring enough to enter my dreams regularly for the past week, but nothing even in my younger days I would ever have been tempted by.... flirting deliberately with death, which he talks about constantly, would not drive me up a mountain or much else! Some of Ed's friends do die, such as Roger Marshall, quoted as saying during time spent with Ed : "No sport except mountaineering calls for such patience, exertion, and the ability to withstand suffering... You know, I've often heard people compare marathoning with Himalayan climbing. But that's ridiculous! A marathon ends in three hours--in only a fraction of a single day. A Himalayan climb means months of daily living in the cold, plus coping with changing situations that are stressful and dangerous, and frequently life-threatening." Later we have the short list of these conditions: rock and ice fall, avalanches, hidden crevasses, frostbite, high=altitude sicknesses, cerebral edema, pulmonary edema.... and I have enough trouble dealing with severe arthritis!!!
September 12, 2011
I met the author of this fascinating book when shopping at the Kittery Trading Post in Maine... there his book was on a display table for all and everyone to peruse and question and enjoy... and I started doing just that and off we went, chatting away, - about his trips and frostbitten fingers(mostly amputated!), his fellow climbers both alive and dead, his adventures and mis- and then my husband came back with his own chopped off finger and he and Ed just carried gleefully and happily along, each with their own tales to tell and so much more!
Richard devoured Ed's book over the course of that weekend and now I have done the same... what an exciting, fascinating, thrilling and grueling adventure!! How I envy him his opportunities to visit those extra-ordinary high reaches of mountain meadows and kingdoms, and to see and experience the wondrous beauty of the vistas therein and around. The photographs of the mountains that he took convey an exhilarating glory and beauty I can only imagine... I loved the way he details the arduous and grueling climbs and the experiences of enduring the excruciating higher-to-highest reaches, while feeling the thrill and exhilaration of the same.
I never realized how hot and strong the sun and heat would be at such high reaches and I never thought about how brutally and deadly the cold and devastating the altitude/oxygen issues... but then, I'm a sea level girl so so much of his challenges in life are beyond the scope of my thoughts... 'til now. I know about the thinness of the oxygen at high elevations and have physiological problems with oxygenation. So for my entire life, I've been cautioned against going to even nominal heights, however to read about the brutal realities of oxygen deprivation was really really frightening. While the frostbite experiences and imagery are horrid and ghastly, it was the suffocating effects of the oxygen shortage that truly terrified me...
And yet... what an experience in life for those whose passion it is. I admire him and his friends tremendously just for doing it as they did, small group, no fan-fare, no great palava or circus for their climb. Even the 'no supplemental oxygen'...
Richard devoured Ed's book over the course of that weekend and now I have done the same... what an exciting, fascinating, thrilling and grueling adventure!! How I envy him his opportunities to visit those extra-ordinary high reaches of mountain meadows and kingdoms, and to see and experience the wondrous beauty of the vistas therein and around. The photographs of the mountains that he took convey an exhilarating glory and beauty I can only imagine... I loved the way he details the arduous and grueling climbs and the experiences of enduring the excruciating higher-to-highest reaches, while feeling the thrill and exhilaration of the same.
I never realized how hot and strong the sun and heat would be at such high reaches and I never thought about how brutally and deadly the cold and devastating the altitude/oxygen issues... but then, I'm a sea level girl so so much of his challenges in life are beyond the scope of my thoughts... 'til now. I know about the thinness of the oxygen at high elevations and have physiological problems with oxygenation. So for my entire life, I've been cautioned against going to even nominal heights, however to read about the brutal realities of oxygen deprivation was really really frightening. While the frostbite experiences and imagery are horrid and ghastly, it was the suffocating effects of the oxygen shortage that truly terrified me...
And yet... what an experience in life for those whose passion it is. I admire him and his friends tremendously just for doing it as they did, small group, no fan-fare, no great palava or circus for their climb. Even the 'no supplemental oxygen'...
April 5, 2013
Snow in the Kingdom: My Storm Years on Everest
Ed Webster
I recently finished this massive tome while on vacation in NY's Adirondack Mountains. I use the word "massive" deliberately since despite its normal physical dimensions, "Snow in the Kingdom" is printed on such heavy paper that it felt like a brick in my hands and actually bothered me when I tried to read in bed with the book propped up on my stomach. This isn't a complaint - I like a book that imposes a definite physical presence.
"Snow in the Kingdom" falls into what I call the "introspective" category of climbing book where we find out as much about the author's personal feelings, motivations, and the inner dialog in his or her head as we do about the mechanics of various climbs and expeditions. Similar examples include Rebuffat's "Starlight and Storm" and Royal Robbins' recent "To Be Brave". The very subtitle, "My Storm Years on Everest", reflects this.
Could this volume have used an editor? Perhaps, but when push comes to shove, I vastly prefer the true and idiosyncratic product of an actual individual human mind as opposed to the vapid ghost written crap that comprises so much of today's autobiography. Ed Webster definitely gives us the former. Oh, and as others have mentioned, tons of great photographs.
Recommended to anyone interested in Everest, Himalayan climbing, or the inner motivations that lead people to climb.
Ed Webster
I recently finished this massive tome while on vacation in NY's Adirondack Mountains. I use the word "massive" deliberately since despite its normal physical dimensions, "Snow in the Kingdom" is printed on such heavy paper that it felt like a brick in my hands and actually bothered me when I tried to read in bed with the book propped up on my stomach. This isn't a complaint - I like a book that imposes a definite physical presence.
"Snow in the Kingdom" falls into what I call the "introspective" category of climbing book where we find out as much about the author's personal feelings, motivations, and the inner dialog in his or her head as we do about the mechanics of various climbs and expeditions. Similar examples include Rebuffat's "Starlight and Storm" and Royal Robbins' recent "To Be Brave". The very subtitle, "My Storm Years on Everest", reflects this.
Could this volume have used an editor? Perhaps, but when push comes to shove, I vastly prefer the true and idiosyncratic product of an actual individual human mind as opposed to the vapid ghost written crap that comprises so much of today's autobiography. Ed Webster definitely gives us the former. Oh, and as others have mentioned, tons of great photographs.
Recommended to anyone interested in Everest, Himalayan climbing, or the inner motivations that lead people to climb.
October 22, 2014
I have the privilege of living close enough to this author that I have heard him speak twice, once of his amazing climbing adventures in the United States and Asia, the subject of this book. He is a dynamic speaker in person and his written story did not disappoint. Ed Webster has known and climbed with some of the most accomplished mountaineers in the world. His own story is one of someone who developed this passion from an early age. He has come close to death while pursuing his drive to meet the most extreme challenges of ice and mountain climbing on many occasions and lived to tell the story, in particular through amazing photography which has also caused him some tragedy. He is also a man who cares deeply about his friend and family. This comes through loud and clear in his dealings with his fellow team members, the women in his life and people he encounters along the way. If you marvel at and admire the extreme motivation and stamina of these men and women of the mountains, then you will fully enjoy this book.
November 20, 2010
Ed Webster gives a detailed account of his bid to summit Mount Everest without all of the people and support most mountaineers' have the advantages of. They went without oxygen, without the usual host of sherpas to set up all of the camps before their bid, and included history pertaining to climbing Everest. He also gave an incredible account of the challenges they faced, personal and physical, the prices they paid...including fingers and toes. He wrote candidly about the internal battles he faced before and after the climb, the challenges of getting life back and the joys in succeeding!
November 12, 2016
If you are interested in the human drama that is mountain climbing, this is a terrific book. It covers three different attempts to summit. The third is with a 4 man group of experienced climbers attempting an uncharted route to the top of Mt Everest with no oxygen. It gives the reader a better perspective of the trials and tribulations of hiring locals to transport your gear, to the government regulations and ever present danger inherent with this sport.
March 20, 2008
Great read. Beautiful picture of a side of Everest not normally seen.
Webster's style of story telling brings you into the conditions and you get to experience the climb as more than just words in a book.
I also like the background information and the story of how he and his group arrived at this mountain.
Highly enjoyable book. Recommend it to anyone who enjoys sports "documentaries"
Webster's style of story telling brings you into the conditions and you get to experience the climb as more than just words in a book.
I also like the background information and the story of how he and his group arrived at this mountain.
Highly enjoyable book. Recommend it to anyone who enjoys sports "documentaries"
October 23, 2013
What a great mountaineering book. The descriptions are incredible (yet not too verbose) and the photos are amazing. Ed captured all the feelings I have ever felt mountaineering...the exhilarating to the painful. I never keep books on my shelves - always like to sell them to make room for new ones - but this book as secured a permanent place on my shelf.
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October 17, 2011I would recommend this book to anyone who likes non-fiction stories. I met the author of this book, and by the looks of his fingers and face, it was a rough journey for him up Mt. Everest.
March 11, 2012
I love almost all books about Everest, but this one is really good - very thorough and surprisingly poetic.
Ed Webster is a cool guy, and he shows it through his story!
Ed Webster is a cool guy, and he shows it through his story!
August 16, 2012
Wonderful book. Exquisite photographs.
January 19, 2014
One of the best Everest book, great photos.
July 6, 2014
If you want to experience the beauty, history and perils of the high risk adventure of Everest without actually being there, try this book!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews