Ascent into Hell

by Fergus White

There is but one aim: the summit, the summit of Mount Everest.

What starts with a trouble-free trek into the Nepalese highlands explodes into a gripping tale of hardship, peril, and adversity. Pushed beyond their physical and mental limits, climbers drop by the wayside. Their primal instincts for survival battle with their dogged resolve to drag themselves to the top of the world. But the focus remains: battle to the summit, and if successful, somehow get back down again.

White plunges the reader into a land of subzero temperatures, asphyxiating air, and ever increasing danger. Base Camp life and the world above it come to life in this riveting, true novel. The inner workings of an Everest expedition team and what it takes to climb the highest mountain in the world are laid bare. Some return from the death zone injured. Some do not return at all.

Success and failure vie for supremacy throughout.

This personal, day-by-day chronicle takes the reader along every step of an Everest climb. A must for climbing enthusiasts, lovers of adventure, and adrenaline junkies; the closing chapters will leave you breathless.

Alternate cover edition.
ASIN: B07763H6D7

Genres: Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Adventure, Survival, Travel, Climbing, Audiobook

1 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Fergus White, from Dublin Ireland, had wondered for some time how far he might be able to push himself. He pondered if the grand adventures he’d seen on TV and read about in newspapers and books were for some reason off-limits to him. Were feats of daring-do only open to certified explorers, round the world yachtsmen, and ex special-forces?

There was only one way to find out, and clocking in and out of banks as an IT consultant was not going to answer that question.

He travelled to the Himalayas to train as a mountaineer. He returned the following year to attempt Everest. His book, Ascent in Hell, published in 2017, details that adventure.

Reviews

[Nancy Sajban · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best book I have ever read about climbing Everest. I've read quite a few books about it, but most of the books I've read don't talk about the physical demands of the climb. Fergus does just that and not only the physical demands, but also the psychological. He does it so well that you feel his pain and his thirst! I had no idea, before reading this, of the struggle for even the most fit. I knew it would be hard, but most books only talk about the cold, and nothing else. Not only that, I didn't realize that it could get so hot up on the mountain. That was a shock for me.
I recommend this book for everyone who wants to read about climbing Everest, but especially for those who are planning to do so. It is an honest account and will prepare you so you make an educated decision.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m obsessed with Everest. I don’t want to climb it but the mindset of the people who do interests me. I also believe in respecting nature.

I’m sure Fergus White is a lovely bloke to have a drink with however he comes across as dripping with Western privilege. He doesn’t seem to respect the fact that the Sherpas put their lives on the line for the sake of privileged peoples’ hobbies- and they do it for the survival of their families. He seems to forget that the Sherpas do all the real work on Everest. Who does the actual putting up of ropes and ladders? The Sherpas. Who takes the actual risks? The Sherpas. And then the rich climbers move in and just follow the path. I’m not saying it’s not hard- but far less people would even think about climbing this mountain if it wasn’t for the Sherpas risking their lives to make it easier for the rich playboys of the West. And these Sherpas barely get any respect that they deserved.

The author is also everything wrong with climbing Everest. An ego driven Male who feels the need to settle down after 40 decides to climb the world’s biggest mountain and a year later he is at base camp. The reason so many people die is too many novices and too many people climbing it. His climbing experience would have put others in danger... most likely the Sherpas. And then he has the audacity to treat it like an all inclusive holiday- getting mad at poor food (that the Sherpas carried up the mountain, not him) expecting the trail leader Angel to make him water (even though Angel had been on the mountain supporting another climber for six hours while Fergus was at camp resting). Getting annoyed about the potential of loosing his toes to frostbite when he’s described people dying on the mountain. I feel that the author was probably suffering from high altitude sickness but this wasn’t clear enough- it just came across that he was poorly treating the Sherpas.

The style was also quite repetitive; Conversations were reported where both participants were mansplaining each other, and it was all quite “laddy” in the bonding.

A lot of my anger at this book is not personal towards the author, it’s an anger that the commercialism has made Everest just another thing to tick off the list of things to do- and while doing this the climbers are disrespecting cultures; leaving horrendous amounts of litter and it’s not even “pure” climbing because so many support workers are essential for every person who summits. The author here is part of that commercial culture that I dislike so much.

It’s my first Everest book where the focus hasn’t been on a dead climber or a disaster. the photos were a nice inclusion and the descriptions were interesting, but I left the book with the same amount of respect that the author appeared to give to the Sherpas.

[Tabatha Stirling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary

Read this in two sittings. Excellent detail & prose that is almost poetic at times. Utterly authentic - no pizazz - just a bucketload of courage, friendship & achievement. Loved this book. Bravo.

[Rose Kronsperger · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm exhausted--feeling like I've taken every step with Fergus. Usually technical details cause me to skim but Mr. White made them come alive and they enhanced the drama. I was spellbound and riveted to every word, especially once they got to Camp 2 and things started getting "real." One doesn't realize what it takes to even get to Base Camp: all the walking! I'd never considered how absolutely remote Everest is. Personally, I really can't figure out why anyone would want to climb Everest with the danger and overwhelming hardship . But if there are people out there who are compelled to do the insane I'm more than happy to read about it. Fergus White presents a wonderfully detailed account--sometimes humorous and sometimes heartbreaking, but always fascinating. A fantastic read I literally couldn't put down. Well done, Fergus.

[Denise Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read! A narrative of this author’s journey to the summit of Mt Everest, he wrote every thought, every symptom, every pain, every conversation he had on the way up and back down. It was in such detail that I felt like I was taking the same slow steps he was taking, without the oxygen deprivation, the brain malfunction, the dehydration, the food shortages, or the sheer pain he was forced to endure to succeed.

Then at the end he writes an epilogue of life after returning back home and reuniting with his mountaineering friends. I felt as if they were my friends too!

Highly entertaining! Very technical sometimes on the subject of mountain climbing, but worth it!

[Lynne Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this a gripping tale of a fairly normal person pushing himself to the edge and beyond. It was different to many similar stories by telling it from a very personal point of view vividly describing all the highs, lows and fears during the experience. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to experience adventures and trials vicariously.
He feels himself lucky to have undertaken the task and survived it more or less intact.
The interactions with other climbers is also well described.

[Gerrit Winkelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like being there

A very realistic and visceral description of what the body and mind must overcome to achieve the summit of Everest. Not everything goes as expected, honest mistakes are made and mostly overcome, and gut wrenching decisions have to be made, balancing safety and the desire to stand on the summit. This was a real-world, experiential read that transported me back to my own attempts to climb lesser peaks and deal with the self doubt and anxieties of pushing oneself to the maximum for the achievement of standing on a really high spot. There is no zen-like transformation, heroism takes a smaller form, such as the giving of essential body heat to warm another climber’s hands at 7500 m, and the realization that once the top has been reached, you are only half way there.
For anyone who wants to know what it is really like to climb at high altitude and wants to live the experience vicariously, this is the book for you.

[Betty Wink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finley written and exciting adventure

I have read dozens of books In this genre. This is by far among the top unforgettable ones. The author is an exceptionally good writer and puts you right there. Every gasp he took fighting for air , every pain in every single place in his body, his doubts, his despair ,his determined struggle .- I felt all of it right along with him. He has a rare talent for writing brief but succinct and beautifully worded descriptive passages put you right there! I loved this book and might read it again just to enjoy such fine writing.

[Blue Ridge Land Conservancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed story of an average guy’s ascent to Everest

This was a enjoyable first-person account of an Average Fergus and his trip to Everest. Unlike other books on Everest, this one provided great detail of the trip and breathed new life into places like the Khumbu Ice Fall. I left with a new understanding and appreciation for the terrain and a better understanding of just how hard it is to summit Everest.

[Mrs Sarah Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Read

This is a great book for all armchair mountaineers or anyone else who has ever dreamed of climbing Everest. It’s a funny warts and all account of the tenacity and human suffering required to climb this great mountain. Fergus writes with great humour and honesty about what it really takes to stand on top of the world. It’s not often I’ve read a book and been genuinely concerned for the authors safety. Having read this book it’s made me realise that I stand no chance at climbing Everest and I salute anyone that has made it to the top. A cracking read.

[Dermot Thornberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

FaIntastic Read

I could not put this down. Ironing has mounted up, beds unmade, meals discarded. I felt as if I was on the mountain. So well written, so beautifully documented. I felt those grey toes. I felt the pain but I rejoiced when Fergus
wrote of their healing! Love, loved, loved this book!

[Sharon Watkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know those books and long form articles by or about accomplished high altitude climbers - think Ed Viesters or Russel Brice or Jon Krakauer - and how they almost always decry the outfits who guide inexperienced climbers up to the summit of Everest, taking unnecessary risks and putting lives in danger? Don't you generally wonder what kind of narcissist signs up for that kind of expedition? Well, meet Fergus White. A woefully inexperienced climber whose only other high altitude effort had been a failed attempt to scale Pumori, which tops out fully 1000 meters lower than the Everest summit, White shows up and immediately begins to bitch about the level of effort and discomfort. And I mean on the trail to Base Camp. White indicates little curiosity about the journey and in fact actually says that for him it is all about the destination, and the journey is beside the point. He is equally incurious about the Sherpas who do the lion's share of the work, congratulating himself on giving them work. He appears to regard them as little more than servants at best, beasts of burden at worst . He seems utterly unaware of how little of this accomplishment is attributable to the men who carried almost everything up to the higher camps - even his sleeping bag - and made sure he was fed and hydrated (to the extent that he was - he sets out on almost every leg of the climb with insufficient water and food).

Worst, he expressed virtually no gratitude to the Sherpa guide he did not even bother to introduce himself to before the summit attempt - and who goes unnamed in the narrative and even in the thanks and acknowledgments at the end, even though that man dragged his ass to the summit and back down again, having go so far as to do all the clipping and unclipping of White's jumar for him.

The expedition leaders are just as appalling. Neither of the guides who are to take the paying customers to the top have ever summited before themselves, and they seriously entertain the possibility of trying to get them up and down the mountain during a brief respite in a major storm instead of waiting for the weather window that every other expedition has identified. It's a small miracle that everyone in this group survived.

Finally, White is unbearably smug. He constantly brags that "few have ever done" what he is doing, and speculates on how impressed the mere trekkers must be by his group. He might have been better to imagine how disapproving someone with high altitude bona fides would be.

2 stars because it is quite readable. But there are better books on Everest. A lot of them.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the worst books I've had the chance to read. The writing is incredibly poor. The dialogue is cringeworthy in every way. The author conveys an arrogance that is somehow mixed with a dose of imposter syndrome. I don't have any sympathy for his hardships, because, from this book, he is just another privileged, wealthy, white, straight, racist, sexist, arrogant, person who thinks he has a right to climb that mountain. You can save yourself time by skipping about a 4th of the book, which is a sentence descended from, "But we had to press on." You can further save your self time by skipping another 5th of the book, which is the author repeatedly apologizing to people to whom he has been an a**hole.

The book is an account of his climbing Mt. Everest. (Not once does he actually mention either of the names for the mountain that were originally bestowed upon her by the peoples who call that place their home.) There is little respect shown for those people, and for the Sherpas, without whom, our author would be dead, somewhere on that mountain. He seems to realize at the end that Sherpas are people too, and it would have been nice to speak more with them throughout the climb. In an ultimate gesture of privilege, the author has no issue dropping a couple thousand dollars at the end for a helicopter ride off the mountain, due to his own stupidity resulting in frostbite on his toes.

All of that said, in full disclosure, I could not put the book down. It's horrible in every way, but captivating. I suppose it is captivating in the same way a child's crayon scribbles of Sagarmatha would be. It's captivating in a sense that things that are greater than we are, things that would flick us away as though we were nothing, captivate the minds of some humans. Perhaps that says something about me as well.

If you want a day by day accounting of a person going up to the top of the tallest mountain in the world, read this book. If you also want to feel as though you would support this person in his quest, and not actively root against him, look elsewhere.

[Mrs Olga A Danes-Volkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quite exceptional book. The author takes one pretty much every step up Everest and does not shrink from describing the physical difficulties so well that one can almost feel the cold, oxygen starvation etc. Nevertheless, the need to carry on, to summit Everest is also so well described that despite getting vertigo up a ladder, I could understand it.

I am currently reading a book about climbing Mt. McKinley aka Dinali and the lack luster descriptions make me long to re-read this one.

On my list of best books ever read. For unadventurous people who like reading about other people's adventures, a must-read.

[Theresa Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Live the real Everest experience from your armchair

Fergus White is funny and candid. I’ve read a myriad of books about climbing Everest but this is my new favorite. The author describes everything better and in more detail than any I’ve read. His memory is impeccable - most just gloss over the details and focus on the big moments. I have lost sleep over this book because I could not put it down. This is a must read for anyone interested in climbing Everest, or if you’re like me and you just like to read about it!!

[Roberta Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on Everest I’ve ever read!

I’ve read many books on Everest, but this spoke to the people who will never climb this mountain or any other, at last someone who tells the real story, the one that truly tells the doubt and anxiety, regret and elation at small victories. I read so many
volumes on Everest to find what makes these climbers tick and I think Fergus finally makes me understand why they do it !

[Tony Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best Everest Book Ever

Absolutely brilliant book. Incredibly detailed, gripping and so well written. Such a fantastic and exciting account of an Everest attempt, you get to read pretty much the whole experience. 10 out of 10.

[Kristen Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that's takes the reader to Mt Everest

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how Fergus gave in-depth detail of his My Everest experience. It made me feel apart of his journey. Thank you for the great read I know it had to be tough reliving some of those moments.

[Maria Lewins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

I don’t know how he kept going through all the setbacks but am delighted for him he did. I felt every ache and pain and frustration that he had. This was very well written and made me feel I was on the mountain with him. Proud to say he is Irish like myself. Well done Fergus.

[Peter McGinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of books about adventure and survival, such as Arctic exploration and mountain climbing. There are a few elements that mean the difference between my really enjoying the book and just tolerating it, or even not finishing it. I like it to be an honest story. Okay, there is no way to determine if the author is telling the truth, unless perhaps if you were on the expedition with them. But climbing Mt. Everest, for example, is not easy. Even the elite mountaineers will say that, so if the author says reaching the peak was a piece of cake, set the book down. Well, that is an extreme example, but you get the idea. If I read about the mistakes made, the assistance required, the self-doubts about reaching the summit, I can feel more confident that this is non-fiction I am reading.

And that is what I found here. Ferguson tells us from the outset that he likes to finish what he starts and doesn’t back down from a challenge. This attitude no doubt is a help to him as the expedition becomes more challenging, when every step feels like torture. But he also seeks and listens to advice about how he should carry on at a few key points in the climb. So he is thinking like guides want their clients to think: give it your all, but recognize when you might need to turn back, not only to save your own life, but to not jeopardize others.

So there are plenty of details and pictures, some of which were provided by other climbers. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a ripping yarn, and a true-life one at that.

[Steve Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Climbing the highest mountain in the world when you're the wrong side of 40 is never going to be easy. And it certainly wasn't for Fergus. This book elegantly describes the pain, suffering, hope, despair and comradeship he experienced while climbing 8000 metres into the sky.

I was captivated from the first page and finished it in two days. I just had to know how it finished! It is one of the best written and most exciting books of this type I've come across. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[Rebecca M Self · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast-paced and gripping.

For anyone interested in mountaineering or true adventure stories, this is a must. It is a thoughtful and thorough look into the challenges of negotiating the highest peak in the world. I felt as though I was listening to Fergus tell his story. One of the best I've read.

[Joni Biniaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book about Everest

This is the best book I've read about climbing Everest. The author gives rich, detailed descriptions of his journey on Everest, sprinkled with lots of laughs and much heartbreak. A joy to read!

[Robin Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic true story.

Brilliant book by a very accomplished author telling his personal account of his attempt to climb Everest in graphic detail. It will have you on tenterhooks until the end and the story will remain with you long after you have finished the last page.

[Paula Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gripping read!

Probably the best book I have ever read. I feel as though I was there, but without the hardship. Incredible!

[laureen a deibert · Rating 5 out of 5]

It tells it like it is..

OK, I've never been to Everest. But I've had a weird I interest for years on the subject, so I've read many books about summiting (or not).
This book goes into such great detail about the day to day grind of climbing such a beast of a mountain. It's about acclimating your body, the dehydration, starvation that begins as soon as you begin your journey. I was glued to this book, rooting all the people on to the summit, and feeling the despair when some had to turn back. Thank you, Fergus White, for really taking us through the adventure!

[Tiziano Brignoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about Everest expeditions. Fergus White wrote this book in a very pleasurable diary and personal form, and let us to follow him literally step by step on his journey on the Himalayas. The last chapters are precious and I devoured them.
After reading it, I feel like Fergus, Greg and the other ones a bit like my friends - really. I truly enjoyed their chat and climb. A very nice work.

[J Kowalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Read

I found this to be a good read, the pages kept turning, the amount of people that it takes to make this dream come true, is truly amazing. I think Angel, is one of the most most caring, helpful, person, and without his help and knowledge,and compassion for other human beings I don't think it would have. Been possible. He truly is an Angel.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good in so many ways

The author has created an interesting, insightful, intriguing and humorous narrative from what was actually a harrowing and gutsy journey to find his limits. It is to the reader’s great benefit that he masterfully recreates that journey. One of the best books I’ve ever read. Well done and thank you.

[Steven Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the read

Its common to have the misconception that with the right guide and enough money.almost.anyone can summit.Everest.
Although it has become easier due to fixed ropes and experienced guides this book.highlights the physical and mental stamina.needed to undertake climbing above the death zone . A great layman's account of climbing