The Mammoth Book of Climbing Adventures

by Jon E. Lewis (Editor)

In the spirit of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and Anatoli Boukreev's The Climb, The Mammoth Book of Climbing Adventures takes the reader into the oxygen-scarce zones of extreme mountaineering. Presenting twenty firsthand accounts of climbs on the great peaks and ‘big walls' of five continents, from the "new alpinism" of the 1930s to the present, this collection explores the furthest reaches of human daring and endurance. Prolific editor Jon E. Lewis assembles a who's who of mountaineering's most intrepid heroes, including Sir Edmund Hillary, Fritz Bechtold, and Ed Drummond, among others. There are the examples of Sebastian Snow, who scaled the twin summits of Ecuador's remotest mountain range, and Eric Shipton, who lived out his old age climbing Patagonia's peaks. There are also such accounts of courage and catastrophe as Reinhold Messner's successful scaling of Nana Parbat and the loss of his brother in an avalanche on the descent, Walter Bonatti's tragic attempt on Mont Blanc that forced him to leave half his party dead in the snow, and Jack Longland's terrifying ordeal of being trapped in a blizzard on Everest. And in one of climbing's epics of perseverance and peril, Maurice Herzog describes his unstoppable ascent of Annapurna and the ordeal of his disaster-plagued return—in a testament he had to dictate after frostbite had claimed his fingers.

Genres: Mountaineering, Adventure, Climbing, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Biography

512 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 2001

About the author

Jon E. Lewis is a historian and writer, whose books on history and military history are sold worldwide. He is also editor of many The Mammoth Book of anthologies, including the bestselling On the Edge and Endurance and Adventure.

He holds graduate and postgraduate degrees in history. His work has appeared in New Statesman, the Independent, Time Out and the Guardian. He lives in Herefordshire with his partner and children.

From: Constable & Robinson

Reviews

[Craig Herbertson]

I love reading about climbing possibly because the very thought of going near a cliff terrifies me. this collection of harrowing and awful experiences on the mountains reminds me of the reason for that fear - Mountains are dangerous places and even the most experienced can die horribly through bad luck or simple chance. Nevertheless it makes great reading from the safety of your armchair

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and awe inpiring, especially the older stories - how they conquered mountian without all the modern gadgets and clothes that we have today. Makes me want to go out and do

[Karen Van Riesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jam packed with extremely scary stuff! Wonderful true adventures of some of the best climbers in the world.

[James Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The description I read here on Goodreads was excellent. It is an excellent book on the early days before everyone and their brother were climbing Mt. Everest. Great stories of life and death adventures.