What do you think?
Rate this book
Winter 8000: Climbing the World’s Highest Mountains in the Coldest Season
2020 Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalist in Mountain Literature While you wouldn’t expect climbing an 8000-meter peak in winter to be a popular activity, there have been 178 expeditions (as of 2019) to the Himalaya and Karakoram during the cruelest season to do just that. Polish alpinist, Voytek Kurtyka, termed the practice the "art of suffering." The stories here range from the French climber Elisabeth Revol’s solo winter attempt of Makalu, to American Cory Richards and his dramatic effort on Gasherbrum II with famed Italian alpinist Simone Moro and Kazakh hard man Denis Urubko. Award-winning author Bernadette McDonald traveled extensively to interview many of the climbers featured in this book--including Revol, the climbing partner of Tomek Mackiewicz, and Anna Mackiewicz, his widow, meeting them just a few months after Mackiewicz’s death on Nanga Parbat. McDonald’s many personal relationships with profiled climbers and her ability to tap into emotions and family histories lend Winter 8000 an intimacy too often lacking in mountaineering histories.
These accounts prove the Nature is not subservient to man.
These accounts prove the Nature is not subservient to man.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 12, 2020
50 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
February 20, 2023
Synteza najważniejszych wypraw zimowych. Skupia się na faktach bez dywagacji, plotek, moralizatorstwa czy zmyślania wewnętrznych przeżyć. Jednocześnie pełna emocji i wrażeń.
August 13, 2024
najlepsza książka wysokogórska, jaką do tej pory czytałam. dosłownie ją pochłaniałam, a sama książka obudziła we mnie wewnętrzny patriotyzm od dawna gdzieś zakopany…
5/5
5/5
August 5, 2021
Невероятна книга. Трудно ми е да напиша ревю за нея, тъй като тя е смесица от вдъхновяващо перо, описващо свободата на човешката душа и порива й към непознатото, заедно с трагедията на алпинизма. Най-трагичният спорт, но и най-вдъхновяващият за мен. За запалените планинари - препоръчвам горещо.
December 17, 2021
L’ultima spettacolare creazione di Bernadette McDonald (la canadese che ha praticamente creato il BANFF festival, oggi IL punto di riferimento mondiale per la cultura delle montagne e centro non solo di esposizione ma anche di formazione per aspiranti scrittori di montagna o filmaker o altro attinente con la montagna) narra delle tredici conquiste invernali himalayane (la quattordicesima è avvenuta a libro concluso), in ordine cronologico, dall’Everest al Nanga Parbat, dal 1980 al 2016. Cima per cima, la McDonald, come spiega nei suoi ringraziamenti, ha scelto di dedicare la sua attenzione sulle vicende umane più che sul dettaglio tecnico della salita – per cui in fondo c’è già tanto materiale reperibile ovunque (mia aggiunta). E così, partendo da una constatazione di fondo, che cioè parlare di alpinismo himalaiano invernale è parlare ancora una volta di alpinismo polacco, ci conduce tra una tempesta e l’altra, tra una prova di resistenza e l’altra, tra un’ossessione e l’altra (da quella di Berbeka per il Broad Peak a quella di Tomek e di Nardi per il Nanga), dall’orgoglio polacco che ha dominato la scena invernale himalayana allo shock dell’arrivo di Simone Moro che li ha messi in crisi (perché è stato l’unico competitor a livello mondiale che gliene abbia “sfilati” ben quattro) nella storia di questo altro grande capitolo dell’alpinismo. Grande appassionata di alpinismo, di quello polacco in particolare, donna estremamente preparata, brillante e versata nella scrittura, alpinista anche lei (anche se solo amatoriale) Bernadette McDonald firma un altro capolavoro della storia dell’alpinismo: la lettura scivola con passione, affanno e in alcuni punti persino dolore nel leggere di questi alpinisti, chi alla ricerca di un senso alla propria vita (Tomek o Bielicki), chi di energia vitale (Wielicki), chi del riscatto personale, chi più gioiosamente alla ricerca dell’apprezzamento femminile, che avvampa davanti a grandi prodezze (vero. Verissimo).
Leggetelo. Leggetelo. Leggetelo.
Leggetelo. Leggetelo. Leggetelo.
January 1, 2024
I have said this before but it needs repeating. Bernadette McDonald is the best mountaineering writer. She extensively researches her books through interviews and written sources and then tells the story not only of the climbs but of the climbers, their families, and their countries in the historical context of the times. Whether your are a mountaineer or one that likes to read of men and women who that risk their lives in cold, thin air for what is often considered inconsequential, this book —as are all of McDonald’s— is a must!
April 8, 2021
Almost reads as a page turner. Amazing stories of the hardships of the Himalayan winters and the strength that humans are capable of. The dedication and drive of these individuals is hard to even grasp, leading some to sacrifice it all. Definitely inspiring to find one's passion and pursue it aggressively.
February 2, 2023
4,5
Ciężko byłoby znaleźć lepszą pozycję na początek literatury górskiej. Czytając normalnie czułam ich emocje, ciężki oddech i przeszywające zimno.
Oprócz rzetelnych opisów (które wcale nie były nudne!) świetnie opisani bohaterowie i ich upór, no motywacja fest! Aż bym sobie na jakieś Kilimandżaro wskoczyła XD
W momencie gdy ja kończyłam czytać to Wojtek atakuje rekord swiata i zdobywa szczyt na boso! To on narobił mi ochoty na taką literaturę, wiec oby zakończyło się to tak dobrze jak zaczęła się moja faza na lit. górską 🤞🏻
Ciężko byłoby znaleźć lepszą pozycję na początek literatury górskiej. Czytając normalnie czułam ich emocje, ciężki oddech i przeszywające zimno.
Oprócz rzetelnych opisów (które wcale nie były nudne!) świetnie opisani bohaterowie i ich upór, no motywacja fest! Aż bym sobie na jakieś Kilimandżaro wskoczyła XD
W momencie gdy ja kończyłam czytać to Wojtek atakuje rekord swiata i zdobywa szczyt na boso! To on narobił mi ochoty na taką literaturę, wiec oby zakończyło się to tak dobrze jak zaczęła się moja faza na lit. górską 🤞🏻
April 4, 2024
Jedna z lepszych książek o górach, jakie kiedykolwiek przeczytałam. Czasem wzruszająca, czasem ciężka, przenikająca chłodem. Pokazująca trochę zaplecze tego świata, emocje, decyzje i to, jak nic nie jest czarno-białe. Jak góry nie są 0-1.
Bardzo polecam.
Bardzo polecam.
January 18, 2023
An excellent contribution to mountaineering literature. Gets at some of the emotional issues underlying 8000 ft. climbing.
September 25, 2022
Someone was bound to write this book and we are blessed that it was by Bernadette McDonald. Winter 8000 is a near-complete retelling of all first attempts and ascents of theworld’s fourteen highest peaks, except K2, which was the only summit where the winter ascentionists had not yet reached.
At publication, the chronicle Bernadette McDonald starts in her latest book published in 2020, Winter 8000: Climbing the World’s Highest Mountains in the Coldest Season, was only a little over 90 percent complete. Who could blame her? No One expected the last domino piece, less-than-a-tenth of the saga, to fall so soon.
WINTER CHALLENGE
There are 14 peaks in the world that are over 8,000 meters above sea level and all of them are in the Himalayas and Karakoram across Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet. Climbers made their way to their summits for the first time between 1950 and 1964. After the first ascents, the climbers sought other challenges, such as more difficult routes, or in the case of Andrzrej Zawada, an alpinist from Poland, harsher conditions to make their names. Polish climbers, who were blocked by Soviet travel restrictions and lacked resources, had more access in the late 1970s and wanted to have an impact on climbing history. Zawada lead the way for winter warriors, first from Poland, to climb in the colder and darker months.
From Bernadette McDonald’s other books, particularly Freedom Climbers (2011) and Alpine Warriors (2015), I was familiar with the attraction to winter ascents by the Poles and Slovenian alpinists as well as by other climbers. And even then, Alpinist Magazine filled me in on other stories about climbing the 8,000-meter peaks in winter, including the more recent attempts, mishaps, and successes McDonald’s earlier books didn’t or couldn’t cover.
Winter 8000 is a compendium of the ascents. She pulled the essential facts from that year’s ascents records from the various alpine journals, and then went deeper with interviews with the key actors and even family, like the widow of Tomek Mackiewicz, Anna Mackiewicz. McDonald traveled extensively to bring the stories and a tactile feel to the experience, from the wind on skin from fallen mittens, to the inner turmoil of the little decisions at high-altitude, where the brain and body only growing weaker. The result was a book I eagerly anticipated, but at first was dismayed at it’s format. I was, of course, worried for no reason.
STRAIGHTFORWARD YET DEEP
With the book in hand for the first time, flipping pages to see how it was organized it didn’t look like McDonald’s typical compelling page turner. It looked like a textbook or a guide. There were 14 chapters addressing each of the 8,000-meter peaks, one chapter at a time. And the titles were the subject mountain, without more description or characterization.
However, the writing is true to the style McDonald always employs, presenting mystery and a facet deserving of awestruck. Once you start Winter 8000, McDonald presents a mystery, through the introduction of a noteworthy figure, on the very first page and you are compelled to read on. The prose is asking the obvious, Why climb in winter? In this case, she starts with an exchanged with Zawada when McDonald at a mountain festival in Katowice, Poland. His response was terse, and amusing for an old, veteran alpinist (just read it, and keep reading.)
Despite the simplicity of fourteen chapters for fourteen peaks, the climbers McDonald profiles spill from one peak and chapter to the next, giving her retelling of these ascents the sense of a generational or family saga. At first one Pole set off to be a supporting climber on an attempt, only to grow into a weathered veteran and lead an expedition in winter a few years later. And, in the more recent attempts, the alpinists would cross the stories of ascents, such as when Adam Bielevki, Denis Urubko, Piotr Tomala, and Jaroslaw Botor left their attempt on K2 to rescue Tomek Mackiewicz and Elisabeth Revol on Nanga Parbat that same winter in 2018. The book is a proper history, which could be a student’s textbook, but it is immensely readable.
EVENTS WE CANNOT CONTROL
Winter 8000 was released four years after thirteen of the world’s fourteen highest peaks were topped out. K2 was elusive. It was all that remained and no one knew which winter season would bring success. From a publishers standpoint, this was the moment, when a general audience could focus on the final step in one of humanity’s grand quests of adventure; write the book that explained the significance better and everyone would want to read it. How would anyone know when K2 would fall so soon afterwards?
A mere seven months later, K2 was summited in winter, in January 2021. It was done in historic fashion. On that climb, ten alpinists, native from Nepal, made the summit together. They waited ten meters below the summit until the group could coalesce and reach the pinnacle together. It was a historic moment for the Nepalese, including Sherpa, to not support a climb, bit lead themselves into history.
Winter 8000 could already be considered required reading for anyone seeking to climb one or all of the fourteen peaks in winter. Yet now, after a brief interval, it has a knowledge gap on K2. In a way, the last chapter of the book is dated and anchored to the years between 2016 through 2020. Of course, McDonald must have accepted that this would be the case. Clearly, The Mountaineers Books, the publisher did too. Readers could go Online to access the news. But considering the immediate timing, could the next edition provide this critical update?
McDonald concludes Chapter 14: K2 by writing the obligatory “as of this writing, K2 in winter is still waiting…” We waited seven months. Perhaps a year since she penned those words. Even if McDonald is satisfied with the outcome and unwilling to do the research and interviews to share the K2 outcome, perhaps another writer, or an alpinist, could contribute an addendum or afterward to the second edition.
Of course, the Winter 8000 is complete. It is accurate as of its printing. An analogy with another book is applicable here: Golfer Bobby Jones, out of popularity and public interest, wrote an autobiography in 1927 after he won the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open Championships in the same year, an incredible and unheard of feat at the time. He was just 25 years old. He proved that his book was a set in time when he outdid himself by winning those same tournaments plus the British Amateur and the British Open Championships, the first ever so-called Grand Slam of golf in 1930. He never wrote another autobiography.
I can live with it. But should we be as content?
This review was originally published on SuburbanMountaineer.com.
At publication, the chronicle Bernadette McDonald starts in her latest book published in 2020, Winter 8000: Climbing the World’s Highest Mountains in the Coldest Season, was only a little over 90 percent complete. Who could blame her? No One expected the last domino piece, less-than-a-tenth of the saga, to fall so soon.
WINTER CHALLENGE
There are 14 peaks in the world that are over 8,000 meters above sea level and all of them are in the Himalayas and Karakoram across Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet. Climbers made their way to their summits for the first time between 1950 and 1964. After the first ascents, the climbers sought other challenges, such as more difficult routes, or in the case of Andrzrej Zawada, an alpinist from Poland, harsher conditions to make their names. Polish climbers, who were blocked by Soviet travel restrictions and lacked resources, had more access in the late 1970s and wanted to have an impact on climbing history. Zawada lead the way for winter warriors, first from Poland, to climb in the colder and darker months.
From Bernadette McDonald’s other books, particularly Freedom Climbers (2011) and Alpine Warriors (2015), I was familiar with the attraction to winter ascents by the Poles and Slovenian alpinists as well as by other climbers. And even then, Alpinist Magazine filled me in on other stories about climbing the 8,000-meter peaks in winter, including the more recent attempts, mishaps, and successes McDonald’s earlier books didn’t or couldn’t cover.
Winter 8000 is a compendium of the ascents. She pulled the essential facts from that year’s ascents records from the various alpine journals, and then went deeper with interviews with the key actors and even family, like the widow of Tomek Mackiewicz, Anna Mackiewicz. McDonald traveled extensively to bring the stories and a tactile feel to the experience, from the wind on skin from fallen mittens, to the inner turmoil of the little decisions at high-altitude, where the brain and body only growing weaker. The result was a book I eagerly anticipated, but at first was dismayed at it’s format. I was, of course, worried for no reason.
STRAIGHTFORWARD YET DEEP
With the book in hand for the first time, flipping pages to see how it was organized it didn’t look like McDonald’s typical compelling page turner. It looked like a textbook or a guide. There were 14 chapters addressing each of the 8,000-meter peaks, one chapter at a time. And the titles were the subject mountain, without more description or characterization.
However, the writing is true to the style McDonald always employs, presenting mystery and a facet deserving of awestruck. Once you start Winter 8000, McDonald presents a mystery, through the introduction of a noteworthy figure, on the very first page and you are compelled to read on. The prose is asking the obvious, Why climb in winter? In this case, she starts with an exchanged with Zawada when McDonald at a mountain festival in Katowice, Poland. His response was terse, and amusing for an old, veteran alpinist (just read it, and keep reading.)
Despite the simplicity of fourteen chapters for fourteen peaks, the climbers McDonald profiles spill from one peak and chapter to the next, giving her retelling of these ascents the sense of a generational or family saga. At first one Pole set off to be a supporting climber on an attempt, only to grow into a weathered veteran and lead an expedition in winter a few years later. And, in the more recent attempts, the alpinists would cross the stories of ascents, such as when Adam Bielevki, Denis Urubko, Piotr Tomala, and Jaroslaw Botor left their attempt on K2 to rescue Tomek Mackiewicz and Elisabeth Revol on Nanga Parbat that same winter in 2018. The book is a proper history, which could be a student’s textbook, but it is immensely readable.
EVENTS WE CANNOT CONTROL
Winter 8000 was released four years after thirteen of the world’s fourteen highest peaks were topped out. K2 was elusive. It was all that remained and no one knew which winter season would bring success. From a publishers standpoint, this was the moment, when a general audience could focus on the final step in one of humanity’s grand quests of adventure; write the book that explained the significance better and everyone would want to read it. How would anyone know when K2 would fall so soon afterwards?
A mere seven months later, K2 was summited in winter, in January 2021. It was done in historic fashion. On that climb, ten alpinists, native from Nepal, made the summit together. They waited ten meters below the summit until the group could coalesce and reach the pinnacle together. It was a historic moment for the Nepalese, including Sherpa, to not support a climb, bit lead themselves into history.
Winter 8000 could already be considered required reading for anyone seeking to climb one or all of the fourteen peaks in winter. Yet now, after a brief interval, it has a knowledge gap on K2. In a way, the last chapter of the book is dated and anchored to the years between 2016 through 2020. Of course, McDonald must have accepted that this would be the case. Clearly, The Mountaineers Books, the publisher did too. Readers could go Online to access the news. But considering the immediate timing, could the next edition provide this critical update?
McDonald concludes Chapter 14: K2 by writing the obligatory “as of this writing, K2 in winter is still waiting…” We waited seven months. Perhaps a year since she penned those words. Even if McDonald is satisfied with the outcome and unwilling to do the research and interviews to share the K2 outcome, perhaps another writer, or an alpinist, could contribute an addendum or afterward to the second edition.
Of course, the Winter 8000 is complete. It is accurate as of its printing. An analogy with another book is applicable here: Golfer Bobby Jones, out of popularity and public interest, wrote an autobiography in 1927 after he won the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open Championships in the same year, an incredible and unheard of feat at the time. He was just 25 years old. He proved that his book was a set in time when he outdid himself by winning those same tournaments plus the British Amateur and the British Open Championships, the first ever so-called Grand Slam of golf in 1930. He never wrote another autobiography.
I can live with it. But should we be as content?
This review was originally published on SuburbanMountaineer.com.
April 6, 2022
Świetna książka na początek przygody z literaturą górską. Wciąga totalnie i jest świetnie napisana. Bardzo polecam
October 4, 2023
Absolutely epic!
Precise historic account, with an intimate connection with the emotions of the alpinists. Much to reflect upon.
Precise historic account, with an intimate connection with the emotions of the alpinists. Much to reflect upon.
January 24, 2023
Plenty of dry, boring, factual content to accompany these epic tales. If you can get through all the painstaking details, the stories themselves are incredible.
December 4, 2020
This is a captivating read, certain to quickly become a classic of mountaineering literature.
Even reading this during lockdown, it is a struggle to imagine isolation more complete than that experienced on the 8,000ers in winter. It’s difficult to understand what could compel someone to willingly and repeatedly venture into the deep suffering of climbing in winter, to take on so high a risk with such a slim chance of success. Winter 8000 highlights the sheer difficulty of these ascents, and the single-mindedness and drive of those who choose to go despite – or perhaps because of – the risk.
McDonald threads together the stories of those pulled towards these places – towards the cold, the loneliness, the harshness – and weaves a visceral narrative. The history of these mountains in winter is a vast one, and a difficult one to tell sensitively, balancing the triumphs with the tragedy. McDonald navigates the reader through it with skill and compassion, celebrating the heroics and incredible feats of human strength.
Perhaps unusually for a book of this scope, each chapter is utterly compelling, if sometimes harrowing, with easily enough material to turn each one into a separate book. It perfectly captures the obsession and the sacrifice needed to climb in these conditions, and the cruelty of winter so high up – the huge amount of luck needed for any successful ascent.
On every expedition, the thinnest of lines hovers between survival and tragedy. McDonald’s real skill is in how human she makes these stories: not robotic heroes, but men and women who pay the very real cost of climbing in such unforgivable conditions, and families left with an emptiness after tragic accidents. Mountaineering books often paint the occasional death as an unavoidable consequence of pushing the boundaries in the mountains, but here each death is counted and felt individually.
There’s a fascinating thread running through these accounts as technology develops over the years: the tension between the relief of being able to access regular and reliable forecasts, versus the pressure of constant access to social media even on the mountain. The technical discussions of what officially counts as a winter ascent are a refreshing pull back from the rawness of each ascent, and I enjoyed the glimpses into how each expedition team is pulled together behind the scenes, with a quick discussion of the negotiations and complex logistics required to set each one up.
Reading this was an incredible insight into what Revol calls ‘the great Himalayan solitude’. It’s an incredible tale of heroism and tragedy, friendships and rivalries played out over an immense scale. Will definitely be returning to this for a re-read!
Read
October 7, 2020Winter 8000: Climbing The World’s Highest Mountains In The Coldest Season
This was the first book of the three that I read. To be honest, it’s not a subject of particular interest, not a book I’d normally have been attracted to. Winter climbing per se can be enough of a sufferfest without seeking out the 14 highest peaks on earth then attempting them in winter.
Despite my initial lack of interest, the book was totally compelling, gripping me compulsively right from the word go. I read it enthusiastically over a couple of evenings. Whilst a compelling read, it only confirmed the sufferfest nature of this genre of climbing. Mega high winds, mega low temperatures, long hours of darkness, weeks of waiting for a weather window.
No surprise that the Poles were at the forefront of this exploration and did the vast majority of first winter ascents of 8000m peaks. Voytek Kurtyka coined the phrase “the art of suffering” and Poland’s “Ice Warriors” were at the forefront of this winter climbing.
A potentially boring history has been vividly written by author Bernadette McDonald and as mentioned it makes for compulsive reading. The 14 8000m peaks are covered in chronological order of their ascent and what could have been dry facts and statistics are leavened into highly readable account filled with annecdotes, biographical data.
It’s an epic tale brilliantly captured. Reading the book, you feel along side the heros and villains as 150 kilometer per hour winds do their best to tear them from the icy slopes. The mountains bring out the best and worst in people and there are definitely heros and villains featured, controversy over tactics, jockeying for position between the leading climbers as they race to be the first to do all 14 8000m. Spare a thought for the wives and children left at home whilst husbands devoted many months per year to their quests. Triumphs and tragedies, summits reached but a high body count.
To many of us the winter ascents of these peaks may seem pointless but it’s a fantastic epic and a book well worth reading. The writing is spot on and my only fault would be that the book could easily have been produced as a sumptuous version more akin to Hard Rock. More photos and larger ones would have been fantastic but I’m aware the book may have ended up being prohibitively expensive. Not really au fait with the routes on the 8000m peaks, it would have been really useful, especially to the layman, to have included photo topos of the routes on each peak.
All in all, a stunning read and I for one will be checking out Bernadette’s other books including “Freedom Climbers” and “The Art of Freedom.”
This was the first book of the three that I read. To be honest, it’s not a subject of particular interest, not a book I’d normally have been attracted to. Winter climbing per se can be enough of a sufferfest without seeking out the 14 highest peaks on earth then attempting them in winter.
Despite my initial lack of interest, the book was totally compelling, gripping me compulsively right from the word go. I read it enthusiastically over a couple of evenings. Whilst a compelling read, it only confirmed the sufferfest nature of this genre of climbing. Mega high winds, mega low temperatures, long hours of darkness, weeks of waiting for a weather window.
No surprise that the Poles were at the forefront of this exploration and did the vast majority of first winter ascents of 8000m peaks. Voytek Kurtyka coined the phrase “the art of suffering” and Poland’s “Ice Warriors” were at the forefront of this winter climbing.
A potentially boring history has been vividly written by author Bernadette McDonald and as mentioned it makes for compulsive reading. The 14 8000m peaks are covered in chronological order of their ascent and what could have been dry facts and statistics are leavened into highly readable account filled with annecdotes, biographical data.
It’s an epic tale brilliantly captured. Reading the book, you feel along side the heros and villains as 150 kilometer per hour winds do their best to tear them from the icy slopes. The mountains bring out the best and worst in people and there are definitely heros and villains featured, controversy over tactics, jockeying for position between the leading climbers as they race to be the first to do all 14 8000m. Spare a thought for the wives and children left at home whilst husbands devoted many months per year to their quests. Triumphs and tragedies, summits reached but a high body count.
To many of us the winter ascents of these peaks may seem pointless but it’s a fantastic epic and a book well worth reading. The writing is spot on and my only fault would be that the book could easily have been produced as a sumptuous version more akin to Hard Rock. More photos and larger ones would have been fantastic but I’m aware the book may have ended up being prohibitively expensive. Not really au fait with the routes on the 8000m peaks, it would have been really useful, especially to the layman, to have included photo topos of the routes on each peak.
All in all, a stunning read and I for one will be checking out Bernadette’s other books including “Freedom Climbers” and “The Art of Freedom.”
October 28, 2020
For any mountaineer any ascent of an 8000m mountain in winter is considered with awe, the harsh brutality of winter in extreme environments is unimaginable.
Winter 8000 tells the stories of the teams who pioneered ascents on the worlds highest mountains in the harshest season.
Of course it begins with Everest and the mental strength of the polish team who got the first ascent in winter in 1973. That this has only been repeated 5 times despite the commercialisation of the Everest summer season indicates both the severe difference in weather and the radical difference in mental and physical strength needed for the feat.
Each chapter covers the first ascent and subsequent attempts, success and failures of each mountain. The history of these climbers, often unknown outside the mountaineering community, is fascinating and their dedication to their ascents is inspiring. Facing harsh winter winds, snow storms and subsequent frostbite and death - it’s hard to imagine having such determination.
The book neither glamorises mountaineering nor fails to paint a realistic portrayal of the battles and challenges faced by those who attempt to climb the mountains in winter. The Polish climber known as Jurek, epitomises this determination when he joined two winter teams in the same season to speed up his attempt to be the first to complete the all 8000s. Weaving his story and that if the polish ice warriors across chapters adds to the sense of personal ambition of climbers and also the frequent tragedies of mountaineering.
Winter 8000 is a great book of adventure and achievement and epitomised the art of suffering that is winter mountaineering.
Winter 8000 tells the stories of the teams who pioneered ascents on the worlds highest mountains in the harshest season.
Of course it begins with Everest and the mental strength of the polish team who got the first ascent in winter in 1973. That this has only been repeated 5 times despite the commercialisation of the Everest summer season indicates both the severe difference in weather and the radical difference in mental and physical strength needed for the feat.
Each chapter covers the first ascent and subsequent attempts, success and failures of each mountain. The history of these climbers, often unknown outside the mountaineering community, is fascinating and their dedication to their ascents is inspiring. Facing harsh winter winds, snow storms and subsequent frostbite and death - it’s hard to imagine having such determination.
The book neither glamorises mountaineering nor fails to paint a realistic portrayal of the battles and challenges faced by those who attempt to climb the mountains in winter. The Polish climber known as Jurek, epitomises this determination when he joined two winter teams in the same season to speed up his attempt to be the first to complete the all 8000s. Weaving his story and that if the polish ice warriors across chapters adds to the sense of personal ambition of climbers and also the frequent tragedies of mountaineering.
Winter 8000 is a great book of adventure and achievement and epitomised the art of suffering that is winter mountaineering.
January 9, 2021
Bernadette narrates the attempts for the first winter ascents of the fourteen 8,000m peaks, with a chapter for each mountain. The book is the result of extensive research of first hand accounts from the climbers, interviews with surviving family members, club records and archives. Bernadette threads these accounts together to deliver balanced yet enthralling tales of athletic achievement.
Unlike many mountaineering books, Bernadette adds no hyperbole or unnecessary drama; indeed these sometimes come from the quotes of the climbers themselves, particularly from the more recent attempts as social media creeps in. The focus on the characters, particularly the Polish, dedicating their lives to the winter summits, brings colour and life to a rather bleak pursuit. The “art of suffering” gets its own entry in the index list.
The chapters are ordered by the date of the first successful winter summit, which include accounts of earlier, unsuccessful attempts. This can cause some confusion when in one chapter you read about the death of a climber attempting a summit, who then reappears in subsequent chapters for their earlier attempts of different mountains. A reflection on the death tolls and motivations of the endeavours is provided in an epilogue.
Recommended if: You want to hear about feats of mountaineering from a more balanced perspective than the usual disaster porn.
Unlike many mountaineering books, Bernadette adds no hyperbole or unnecessary drama; indeed these sometimes come from the quotes of the climbers themselves, particularly from the more recent attempts as social media creeps in. The focus on the characters, particularly the Polish, dedicating their lives to the winter summits, brings colour and life to a rather bleak pursuit. The “art of suffering” gets its own entry in the index list.
The chapters are ordered by the date of the first successful winter summit, which include accounts of earlier, unsuccessful attempts. This can cause some confusion when in one chapter you read about the death of a climber attempting a summit, who then reappears in subsequent chapters for their earlier attempts of different mountains. A reflection on the death tolls and motivations of the endeavours is provided in an epilogue.
Recommended if: You want to hear about feats of mountaineering from a more balanced perspective than the usual disaster porn.
January 19, 2021
Bardzo ciekawe kompendium wiedzy o zimowym himalaizmie!
Książka w dużej mierze o Polakach, którzy zdominowali zdobywanie ośmiotysięczników zimą. 10 z 14 szczytów to realizacja misji Andrzeja Zawady - niezłomnego Lidera wypraw. Do tej pory każda z wypraw została bardzo dobrze opisana i opowiedziana, ale zgromadzenie całej historii zimowych pierwszych wejść, to bardzo dobry pomysł.
Pamiętam jak czytałam „Ucieczkę na szczyt” i wtedy wyczułam, że dla Bernadette McDonald polscy wspinacze są ważni i bliscy. I teraz miałam bardzo podobne odczucia.
Każdy rozdział to jedna z gór - opis pierwszego wejścia oraz scenariusze dalszych prób. Jest to bardzo uszeregowane i usystematyzowane - bardzo dobra reporterska praca 😊
Co ciekawe - premiera książki zbiegła się z zapisaniem ostatniego rozdziału - K2 już nie jest czystą kartą bez finałowego wejścia.
Czytając o wyprawach i śledząc poczynania na K2, wszystko idealnie się zgrało i atmosfera tej sztuki cierpienia była aktualizowana na bieżąco.
Aktualnie został zamknięty rozdział zimowego himalaizmu - ciekawe jakie teraz cele zostaną wyznaczone i czy nadal będziemy się emocjonować zmaganiami w Karakorum i Himalajach 😎
Książkę warto przeczytać - jest ważną lekturą, która pokazuje, jakimi motywacjami kierowali się Lodowi Wojownicy i jak wiele dokonali.
Okładka jest piękna! Bardzo mocno przyciąga wzrok.
Książka w dużej mierze o Polakach, którzy zdominowali zdobywanie ośmiotysięczników zimą. 10 z 14 szczytów to realizacja misji Andrzeja Zawady - niezłomnego Lidera wypraw. Do tej pory każda z wypraw została bardzo dobrze opisana i opowiedziana, ale zgromadzenie całej historii zimowych pierwszych wejść, to bardzo dobry pomysł.
Pamiętam jak czytałam „Ucieczkę na szczyt” i wtedy wyczułam, że dla Bernadette McDonald polscy wspinacze są ważni i bliscy. I teraz miałam bardzo podobne odczucia.
Każdy rozdział to jedna z gór - opis pierwszego wejścia oraz scenariusze dalszych prób. Jest to bardzo uszeregowane i usystematyzowane - bardzo dobra reporterska praca 😊
Co ciekawe - premiera książki zbiegła się z zapisaniem ostatniego rozdziału - K2 już nie jest czystą kartą bez finałowego wejścia.
Czytając o wyprawach i śledząc poczynania na K2, wszystko idealnie się zgrało i atmosfera tej sztuki cierpienia była aktualizowana na bieżąco.
Aktualnie został zamknięty rozdział zimowego himalaizmu - ciekawe jakie teraz cele zostaną wyznaczone i czy nadal będziemy się emocjonować zmaganiami w Karakorum i Himalajach 😎
Książkę warto przeczytać - jest ważną lekturą, która pokazuje, jakimi motywacjami kierowali się Lodowi Wojownicy i jak wiele dokonali.
Okładka jest piękna! Bardzo mocno przyciąga wzrok.
February 1, 2021
Gripping, informative, very well researched, beautifully written. A fascinating topic and a fascinating read.
Just out, and already something of an 'old' book, because the Nepalese expedition finally succeeded in being the first to climb K2 in winter just barely two weeks ago, but don't let that fool you: now it's gone short of a few pages at the end of the last chapter, but the whole massif body of this whole book still holds, and still stands strong.
Perhaps less introspective or philosophical than other mountaineering works and more focused on a comprehensive historical account, it nevertheless still moves deeply, and still brings up the usual baffling questions: why? what for? and in the end? and now what?
It also duly provides some answers, too –the whole range of them, actually, in a commendable effort– although the true real answers are likely individual and possibly not bound to be put in words.
PS Please don't let me read more than one mountaineering book per month! I get so sucked into this real life, epic, ultimate adventure narrative I can hardly get anything else done.
Plus I'm stuck at home with the pandemic and without crampons so I mean, come on!
Just out, and already something of an 'old' book, because the Nepalese expedition finally succeeded in being the first to climb K2 in winter just barely two weeks ago, but don't let that fool you: now it's gone short of a few pages at the end of the last chapter, but the whole massif body of this whole book still holds, and still stands strong.
Perhaps less introspective or philosophical than other mountaineering works and more focused on a comprehensive historical account, it nevertheless still moves deeply, and still brings up the usual baffling questions: why? what for? and in the end? and now what?
It also duly provides some answers, too –the whole range of them, actually, in a commendable effort– although the true real answers are likely individual and possibly not bound to be put in words.
PS Please don't let me read more than one mountaineering book per month! I get so sucked into this real life, epic, ultimate adventure narrative I can hardly get anything else done.
Plus I'm stuck at home with the pandemic and without crampons so I mean, come on!
February 3, 2021
To dzieje zimowego wspinania na najwyższe szczyty w Himalajach i Karakorum.
Ale ta książka to coś więcej niż tylko rzetelny opis wypraw wspinaczkowych.
To sylwetki największych "Lodowych Wojowników" .
To wyczerpujące ataki szczytowe, przerażające chwile, ogromny wysiłek fizyczny, ból, przeszywające zimno, strach.
To dramaty ludzkie, tragiczne finały i sukcesy, które zostały zapisane na kartach historii zimowego himalaizmu.
To "sztuka cierpienia".
I warto podkreślić kolosalny wkład polskich wspinaczy w zapisywaniu się tej historii. Zresztą czuć tu bez wątpienia ogromną sympatię i szacunek autorki do polskich lodowych wojowników.
McDonald kończy swą opowieść nie wiedząc jeszcze, że już za chwilę napisze się finał tych zmagań i zostanie zdobyty ostatni zimowy szczyt, niepokonany K2.
Szkoda tylko, że tym razem w tym sukcesie nie zapisze się żadne polskie nazwisko.
Ale, czy to musi być ostateczny koniec? Wydaje się, że jednak nie, czas pokaże do czego zdolny jest jeszcze człowiek, którego pasją są majestatyczne, piekne, ale surowe i okrutne góry. Człowiek, który zaprzedał swoją dusze i serce tej potędze i żądny jest przekraczać strefę śmierci, aby poczuć to, że żyje, że jest wolny i szczęśliwi.
Ale ta książka to coś więcej niż tylko rzetelny opis wypraw wspinaczkowych.
To sylwetki największych "Lodowych Wojowników" .
To wyczerpujące ataki szczytowe, przerażające chwile, ogromny wysiłek fizyczny, ból, przeszywające zimno, strach.
To dramaty ludzkie, tragiczne finały i sukcesy, które zostały zapisane na kartach historii zimowego himalaizmu.
To "sztuka cierpienia".
I warto podkreślić kolosalny wkład polskich wspinaczy w zapisywaniu się tej historii. Zresztą czuć tu bez wątpienia ogromną sympatię i szacunek autorki do polskich lodowych wojowników.
McDonald kończy swą opowieść nie wiedząc jeszcze, że już za chwilę napisze się finał tych zmagań i zostanie zdobyty ostatni zimowy szczyt, niepokonany K2.
Szkoda tylko, że tym razem w tym sukcesie nie zapisze się żadne polskie nazwisko.
Ale, czy to musi być ostateczny koniec? Wydaje się, że jednak nie, czas pokaże do czego zdolny jest jeszcze człowiek, którego pasją są majestatyczne, piekne, ale surowe i okrutne góry. Człowiek, który zaprzedał swoją dusze i serce tej potędze i żądny jest przekraczać strefę śmierci, aby poczuć to, że żyje, że jest wolny i szczęśliwi.
December 24, 2024
This is quite an interesting book, but starts to feel a tad repetitive. It turns out that a LOT of the people responsible for attempts on climbing the mountains in Winter are a smallish group, so the same names do crop up repeatedly.
The book is also outdated already, it ends with K2 and the fact it had yet to be climbed, but one of the people referenced as 'potentially' wanting to climb it (Nims Dai) did so in 2021. I know this book ws published the year prior but it means it feels oddly incomplete.
I've read a fair few books on Everest, some on K2 and I think at least one about Annapurna and Nanga Parbat, but I've not read about the others, something I'll look to rectify in the coming years as I think they could be very interesting, at least based on the histories as told here.
I'm not sure if this is one of the books I would re-read, but it was very interesting and definitely added to my knowledge around mountaineering.
The book is also outdated already, it ends with K2 and the fact it had yet to be climbed, but one of the people referenced as 'potentially' wanting to climb it (Nims Dai) did so in 2021. I know this book ws published the year prior but it means it feels oddly incomplete.
I've read a fair few books on Everest, some on K2 and I think at least one about Annapurna and Nanga Parbat, but I've not read about the others, something I'll look to rectify in the coming years as I think they could be very interesting, at least based on the histories as told here.
I'm not sure if this is one of the books I would re-read, but it was very interesting and definitely added to my knowledge around mountaineering.
November 12, 2021
A great book about Polish climbers climbing the worlds 14 highest peaks IN WINTERTIME! From 1950-1980 when the worlds highest mountains were being climbed the Poles were locked behind the iron curtain. So once they were able to leave the country and travel again the only way to get in the history books was the be the first people to do these mountains in winter. So that's what they did.
Alpinism books are a little predictable, the same thing always happens. Get to the mountain, establish the base camps, final push to the summit takes longer than expected and they have to do an unexpected bivy in -30 degree weather. Shiver all night and hallucinate. Then at the summit they take their gloves off to take pictures and immediately get frostbite. Come down, lose a few toes and some fingertips and then off to the next mountain.
Alpinism books are a little predictable, the same thing always happens. Get to the mountain, establish the base camps, final push to the summit takes longer than expected and they have to do an unexpected bivy in -30 degree weather. Shiver all night and hallucinate. Then at the summit they take their gloves off to take pictures and immediately get frostbite. Come down, lose a few toes and some fingertips and then off to the next mountain.
March 4, 2021
A history of winter mountaineering on the 8000 meter peaks of the world. Largely dominated by Polish mountaineers, the winter ascents require extreme abilities to survive in hostile environments. Temperatures are usually minus 40 and winds frequently exceed 100 kph.
Many climbers die as their drive exceeds their ability to deal with the weather. McDonald closes with a chapter examining the reasons that various mountaineers give for their dangerous ventures. Some just love the challenge, others are motivated by patriotism and competition, and for some beauty of the mountains is an important factor.
Many climbers die as their drive exceeds their ability to deal with the weather. McDonald closes with a chapter examining the reasons that various mountaineers give for their dangerous ventures. Some just love the challenge, others are motivated by patriotism and competition, and for some beauty of the mountains is an important factor.
October 5, 2020
Winter 8000 is a very well written and immersing read. I just wanted to keep reading to find out what the climbers would do next, and where they would go. All of the climbers in the book are clearly very tough and resilient, but as the book shows they have different motivations for keeping on pushing themselves. It was fascinating to read about the adventures the Ice Warriors undertook, to achieve so many first winter ascents of the 8000 m peaks. Although I'm not about to tackle an 8000 m peak anytime soon, it was a very inspiring read.
December 28, 2020
The title may be a bit predictable but this is a well researched book that chronologically goes through each of the 8000m mountains and tells its winter story. At time this can be a bit bit predictable, so the book may be best approached as a collection of essays rather than a single narrative. McDonald is very good on the Polish connection, as you would expect given her brilliant previous book Freedom Climbers. A great read for anyone interested in mountaineering history and/or expeditions, or indeed human endeavour in general.
May 12, 2022
Całe akapity powtórzone z "Ucieczki na szczyt". Rozumiem, że autorka pisze miejscami o tych samych ludziach i ich wyczynach, ale tak się chyba nie robi, żeby się aż tak powtarzać?
Research wydaje się pobieżny a historyjki wzięte z pojedynczych książek - czyli komu zaufam - wspinaczowi czy jego biografowi?
Liczyłam, że dowiem się o innych przebiegach wspinaczek (Japończycy? Koreańczycy?), bo polskich lodowych wojowników już ogarnęłam. A tu tylko powtórka, w dodatku upstrzona poetyckimi wstawkami. Ała...
Research wydaje się pobieżny a historyjki wzięte z pojedynczych książek - czyli komu zaufam - wspinaczowi czy jego biografowi?
Liczyłam, że dowiem się o innych przebiegach wspinaczek (Japończycy? Koreańczycy?), bo polskich lodowych wojowników już ogarnęłam. A tu tylko powtórka, w dodatku upstrzona poetyckimi wstawkami. Ała...
October 26, 2020
An amazingly well written and engaging piece of writing. It doesn't disappoint from start to finish with triumph and tragedy going side by side from start to finish.
I only knew a few of the stories as many of the protagonists aren't household names but that wont put you off .
Its the closest most of us will ever get to this level of climbing and I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
I only knew a few of the stories as many of the protagonists aren't household names but that wont put you off .
Its the closest most of us will ever get to this level of climbing and I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews