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In the Zone: Epic Survival Stories from the Mountaineering World
* Colby Coombs on Alaska's Mount Foraker
* Scott Fischer and Ed Viesturs on K2
* Author Peter Potterfield on Chimney Rock in the North Cascades
To climb is to risk, and nowhere is that more evident than in these true-life accounts of three men who faced the ultimate challenge in passionate pursuit of their sport. Veteran journalist with 25 years of climbing experience, author Potterfield is a master craftsman who has himself been in the zone. These stories, the result of extensive interviews, reveal that the keys to averting tragedy lie in the head and heart as much as in technical proficiency and physical strength.
There is the story of Colby Coombs' disastrous experience on Alaska's Mount Foraker, which ranks with Joe Simpson's Touching the Void as one of the greatest survival stories of the genre. On K2, experienced climber Scott Fischer (who lost his life in the 1996 Everest tragedy) and partner Ed Viesturs battle for the summit in the face of numerous setbacks, severe injuries, and harrowing weather conditions. Peter Potterfield recounts his own riveting tale of hope and desperation after a climbing fall that left him trapped and badly injured on a narrow ledge in Washington's North Cascades.
* Scott Fischer and Ed Viesturs on K2
* Author Peter Potterfield on Chimney Rock in the North Cascades
To climb is to risk, and nowhere is that more evident than in these true-life accounts of three men who faced the ultimate challenge in passionate pursuit of their sport. Veteran journalist with 25 years of climbing experience, author Potterfield is a master craftsman who has himself been in the zone. These stories, the result of extensive interviews, reveal that the keys to averting tragedy lie in the head and heart as much as in technical proficiency and physical strength.
There is the story of Colby Coombs' disastrous experience on Alaska's Mount Foraker, which ranks with Joe Simpson's Touching the Void as one of the greatest survival stories of the genre. On K2, experienced climber Scott Fischer (who lost his life in the 1996 Everest tragedy) and partner Ed Viesturs battle for the summit in the face of numerous setbacks, severe injuries, and harrowing weather conditions. Peter Potterfield recounts his own riveting tale of hope and desperation after a climbing fall that left him trapped and badly injured on a narrow ledge in Washington's North Cascades.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Peter Potterfield
22 books2 followersJournalist Peter Potterfield writes about wilderness and adventure for newspapers, magazines, books, and on-line publishing. He is currently editor of GreatOutdoors.com.
Potterfield is the author of a dozen books, including the critically acclaimed In the Zone (The Mountaineers Books, 1996), and the Banff Book Festival Award winner, High Himalaya (The Mountaineers Books, 2001). His most recent books are Classic Hikes of the World (WW Norton & Co., 2005), Himalayan Quest (National Geographic Books, 2003) and Everest, the Anthology, a collection of first-hand narratives from the world's highest peak (The Mountaineers Books, 2003). He is the author of the best-selling climbing guide to the Cascade Range, Selected Climbs in the Cascades, in two volumes (The Mountaineers Books, 1994, 2000, 2002). He edited the first collection of funny climbing narratives for his anthology, Over the Top, Humorous Mountaineering Tales (The Mountaineers Books, 2002).
Potterfield has made a specialty of covering mountaineering and backcountry adventure for the popular press, and he has written on these subjects for National Geographic Adventure, Conde Nast Traveler, Outside, Reader's Digest, Backpacker, Modern Maturity, Summit, Smithsonian Air & Space, and other publications. He was named a finalist for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence during his twelve-year tenure as editor of Pacific Northwest Magazine. As editor of MountainZone.com from 1996 to 2003, he developed electronic adventure journalism by pioneering live reporting of Mount Everest expeditions and other real-time adventure stories from remote locations. A highlight was the discovery by a 1999 MountainZone.com-sponsored expedition of the long-lost climber, George Mallory. His work at MountainZone.com, according to The New York Times, "made a spectator sport out of Himalayan climbing."
A veteran of expeditions to the far corners of the world, Potterfield has roamed the Himalaya, explored the mountains of Canada's Coast Range, crossed the Swedish Arctic solo, traveled on foot through the wild southern reaches of New Zealand, and retraced Sir Ernest Shackleton's route to salvation on South Georgia Island. Potterfield is currently the editor of GreatOutdoors.com, one of the most frequently visited online adventure magazines, where he writes his monthly column, Wilderness Notes.
Potterfield is the author of a dozen books, including the critically acclaimed In the Zone (The Mountaineers Books, 1996), and the Banff Book Festival Award winner, High Himalaya (The Mountaineers Books, 2001). His most recent books are Classic Hikes of the World (WW Norton & Co., 2005), Himalayan Quest (National Geographic Books, 2003) and Everest, the Anthology, a collection of first-hand narratives from the world's highest peak (The Mountaineers Books, 2003). He is the author of the best-selling climbing guide to the Cascade Range, Selected Climbs in the Cascades, in two volumes (The Mountaineers Books, 1994, 2000, 2002). He edited the first collection of funny climbing narratives for his anthology, Over the Top, Humorous Mountaineering Tales (The Mountaineers Books, 2002).
Potterfield has made a specialty of covering mountaineering and backcountry adventure for the popular press, and he has written on these subjects for National Geographic Adventure, Conde Nast Traveler, Outside, Reader's Digest, Backpacker, Modern Maturity, Summit, Smithsonian Air & Space, and other publications. He was named a finalist for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence during his twelve-year tenure as editor of Pacific Northwest Magazine. As editor of MountainZone.com from 1996 to 2003, he developed electronic adventure journalism by pioneering live reporting of Mount Everest expeditions and other real-time adventure stories from remote locations. A highlight was the discovery by a 1999 MountainZone.com-sponsored expedition of the long-lost climber, George Mallory. His work at MountainZone.com, according to The New York Times, "made a spectator sport out of Himalayan climbing."
A veteran of expeditions to the far corners of the world, Potterfield has roamed the Himalaya, explored the mountains of Canada's Coast Range, crossed the Swedish Arctic solo, traveled on foot through the wild southern reaches of New Zealand, and retraced Sir Ernest Shackleton's route to salvation on South Georgia Island. Potterfield is currently the editor of GreatOutdoors.com, one of the most frequently visited online adventure magazines, where he writes his monthly column, Wilderness Notes.
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August 22, 2022Alpinistų pavojingos istorijos
July 3, 2024
Well written book. I would have enjoyed more than three survival stories but they were well written and captivating. There was almost too much detail in the stories taking away from the flow. However a great read
October 12, 2019
The three mountaineering stories were interesting enough to read through them all. I did enjoy the first story about Foraker the most, but got a little tired of the authors assurances that all the climbers were professionals and were not putting their lives in danger. It got a little old after the umpteenth reminder of their professional experience. However, Colby Coombs is amazing and does not appear to exhibit the typical arrogance that most climbers have.
The K2 story was the least interesting. More of a glorification of men who choose to climb and die while climbing mountains.
The third story is interesting but way too wordy. Most of the epilogue could be deleted, but I think he wanted to give credit to the people who saved his life, which is understandable. I did like that the author confesses to being a lot more cautious these days and has switched to hiking slot canyons, where one is less likely to die.
The K2 story was the least interesting. More of a glorification of men who choose to climb and die while climbing mountains.
The third story is interesting but way too wordy. Most of the epilogue could be deleted, but I think he wanted to give credit to the people who saved his life, which is understandable. I did like that the author confesses to being a lot more cautious these days and has switched to hiking slot canyons, where one is less likely to die.
April 24, 2011
Great stories made boring by Peter Potterfield. First two stories drag on, and on, and on. It's printed by The Mountaineers so most of the readers should be climbers. That doesn't stop Peter from explaining basic climbing techniques to readers that don't need it. The third story is written the best. Peter writing about his own climbing accident.
September 29, 2018
Story of 3 accidents of mountain climbers.
Mountain climbers are a different breed, truly amazing. They face incredible danger with every climb.
This book details the before/during/after 3 horrific accidents on a mountain.
Hard to stop reading.
Mountain climbers are a different breed, truly amazing. They face incredible danger with every climb.
This book details the before/during/after 3 horrific accidents on a mountain.
Hard to stop reading.
June 6, 2025
Tuhle knihu jsem si užila. Doma z gauče se to čte moc dobře, osobně bych tam být nechtěla. Je obdivuhodné, co lidské tělo a vůle dokáže. Zároveň si ale stále potvrzuji, že vrcholoví horolezci jsou ve vztahu ke svým blízkým prostě absolutní sobci.
June 23, 2015
This collection of three survival narratives had been on my mountaineering reading shelf for a while, so when I saw it at Powell's in Portland, I didn't hesitate to become an owner. While the writing isn't stellar and the style is clearly directed towards a mainstream audience (along the lines of what one would find in an adventure magazine like 'Outside' or 'Backpacker'), each story is riveting enough to keep the reader turning page after page. In fact, though I'm pretty sure I had come across the author's account of his ordeal on Chimney Rock before in some anthology, I (re)read it with the same vitality as if it were the first time.
Out of the three stories, the most impressive to me was Colby Coombs' refusal to give up on Foraker after his partners were killed in an avalanche and he was severely injured. To my amazement, I found Coombs continuing to actively guide with the Alaska Mountaineering School today, after overcoming this traumatic event early in his climbing career. Scott Fischer's trials on K2 highlighted a lesser known side of elite high-altitude mountaineering, but I didn't find this story as compelling, perhaps because it was more about one of Fischer's very specific personal goals, almost an obsession, and also because Ed Viesturs was his partner, thus boosting his chances by knowing he could rely on the best of the best. Still, the persistence in the face of adversity and the heroic rescue efforts can rightly be considered the stuff of legend. Finally, Potterfield's hanging on for life on a ledge after taking a really bad fall on Chimney Rock is vividly recalled not just through the victim's perspective, but also through those of his rescuers, whom he tracked down and interviewed extensively so that the story would be complete. This journalistic attention to detail gives the story additional credibility and makes it stand out as more than just "another rescue".
In the Zone is recommended for all who hope to get a better understanding of what keeps survivors going in circumstances that seem impossible at first glance.
Out of the three stories, the most impressive to me was Colby Coombs' refusal to give up on Foraker after his partners were killed in an avalanche and he was severely injured. To my amazement, I found Coombs continuing to actively guide with the Alaska Mountaineering School today, after overcoming this traumatic event early in his climbing career. Scott Fischer's trials on K2 highlighted a lesser known side of elite high-altitude mountaineering, but I didn't find this story as compelling, perhaps because it was more about one of Fischer's very specific personal goals, almost an obsession, and also because Ed Viesturs was his partner, thus boosting his chances by knowing he could rely on the best of the best. Still, the persistence in the face of adversity and the heroic rescue efforts can rightly be considered the stuff of legend. Finally, Potterfield's hanging on for life on a ledge after taking a really bad fall on Chimney Rock is vividly recalled not just through the victim's perspective, but also through those of his rescuers, whom he tracked down and interviewed extensively so that the story would be complete. This journalistic attention to detail gives the story additional credibility and makes it stand out as more than just "another rescue".
In the Zone is recommended for all who hope to get a better understanding of what keeps survivors going in circumstances that seem impossible at first glance.
February 25, 2015
More interesting than the average book about climbing accidents,
the author covers 3 different accidents
whereas other authors pad 1 story with 100+ extra pages of nothing.
HE ASKS WHY DID HIS BELAY FAIL,
AND HE NEVER ANSWERS THAT QUESTION.
Like the author, I always use a stitcht plate for belaying,
I could be dead & it would still hold.
Did his partner misuse his "tuber"?
Did he unclip for a moment to change something?
Was he an idiot?
Peter knows, TELL US
THANKS
the author covers 3 different accidents
whereas other authors pad 1 story with 100+ extra pages of nothing.
HE ASKS WHY DID HIS BELAY FAIL,
AND HE NEVER ANSWERS THAT QUESTION.
Like the author, I always use a stitcht plate for belaying,
I could be dead & it would still hold.
Did his partner misuse his "tuber"?
Did he unclip for a moment to change something?
Was he an idiot?
Peter knows, TELL US
THANKS
January 28, 2016
I imagine Potterfield's thought process as such:
That near death fall and amazing rescue I personally have lived through is worth writing a book about, but I just don't have enough material for a book. What can I do about that? Well, I'll tell absolutely everything about my own epic, and write up a couple other good stories that haven't been published yet.
The result is ok for a climbing\mountain literature addict, but the problem is there are much better books out there. Coombs story, however, is worth a re-read.
That near death fall and amazing rescue I personally have lived through is worth writing a book about, but I just don't have enough material for a book. What can I do about that? Well, I'll tell absolutely everything about my own epic, and write up a couple other good stories that haven't been published yet.
The result is ok for a climbing\mountain literature addict, but the problem is there are much better books out there. Coombs story, however, is worth a re-read.
April 8, 2008
This book is a compilation of three stories, first it the epic survival story of Colby Coombs and his amazing retreat from Mt. Foraker in Alaska, in my opinion one of the most intense and amazing stories of American mountaineering history. Next is Ed Viestur's an Scott Fischer's climb of K2, and then the story of Potterfield's near death fall on Chimney Rock in the Washington cascades. This book should be in every mountaineers library.
January 16, 2016
In the Zone: Epic Survival Stories From the Mountaineering World by Peter Potterfield (Mountaineers Books 1996)(796.522). This is a trilogy of mountaineering tales. The best of the three features Scott Fischer and Ed Viestures on K2. My rating: 7/10, finished 2003.
June 27, 2011
Horrorifying. Well written and an easy read. The stories will curl your underpants, the amazing thing is that they are true. The only dissapointment is that Peter doesn't ever explain why he fell so far. Why did his belay fail?
December 23, 2014
Pretty riveting stuff. The third-person explanations of the climber's thoughts got old, and the first story rambles a bit, but still really entertaining.
Biggest complaint: he never explains why his belay failed.
Biggest complaint: he never explains why his belay failed.
May 28, 2008
Journalist Peter Potterfield delivers three white-knuckle tales of survival including his own
August 15, 2008
I actually give it a 3+. A lot of it was good, but some of the writing got dull, especially considering the stories. Why am I reading these things?
January 10, 2009
Three very absorbing survival stories.
October 18, 2013
The best one is the Forraker one I think. Anyway they are all good though. 3 stories of survival (in a sense).
January 20, 2016
mountain climbing
July 29, 2016
Great book on Risk! Good writer.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews