Everest, Revised & Updated Edition: Mountain without Mercy

by Broughton Coburn

David Breashears, the first American to scale Everest twice, was a veteran of nine previous Himalayan filmmaking expeditions when he agreed to lead what became his most challenging filmmaking experience. The expedition was organized by large-format motion picture producer MacGillivray Freeman Films and comprised an international team of climbers. Their goal was to carry a specially modified forty-eight-pound IMAX motion picture camera to the summit of Everest and return from the top of the world with the first footage ever shot there in this spectacular format.A stunningly illustrated portrait of life and death in a hostile, high-altitude environment where no human can survive for long, Everest invites you to join Breashears, his climbers, and his crew as they make photographic history. Author Broughton Coburn traces each step of the team's progress toward a rendezvous with history--and suddenly you're on the scene of a disaster that riveted the world's attention. Everest incorporates a first-person, on-the-scene account of the most tragic event in the mountain's history: the May 10, 1996, blizzard that claimed eight lives, including two of the world's top climbing-expedition leaders. It is a chronicle of the courage and cooperation that resulted in the rescue of several men and women who were trapped on the lethal, windswept slopes. Everest is also a tale of triumph. In a struggle to overcome both the physical and emotional effects of the disaster on Everest, Breashears and his team rose to the challenge of achieving their goal--humbled by the mountain's overwhelming power yet exhilarated by their own accomplishment.Includes a bonus PDF with photographs

1 pages, Audio CD

First published August 18, 2015

Reviews

[Dr. Kshitija · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brings forth the bone-chilling events of the May 1996 Everest disaster. Though I knew about the incident, as I had read the book "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer, this was a comprehensive overview. It was like a third-person's account of the incident. The IMAX team, with excellent climbers like Ed Viesturs, was there for filming Everest. They helped with the rescue efforts. The book dives deep into the geography and culture related to the Everest. I read about the highest fault line, the landmark yellow line, and also about Sherpa culture and beliefs about the mountain. Also, there is a detailed analysis of what went wrong leading to the disaster.