The Climb - by Anatoli Boukreev & G Weston Dewalt (Paperback)

About the Book

In May 1996, two commercial expeditions attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world, but things went terribly wrong. Alone and climbing blind, expedition guide Anatoli Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death. Here is his remarkable account of what happened on that disastrous day.

Book Synopsis

Everest, the major motion picture from Universal Pictures, is set for wide release on September 18, 2015. Read The Climb, Anatoli Boukreev (portrayed by Ingvar Sigurðsson in the film) and G. Weston DeWalt's compelling account of those fateful events on Everest.

In May 1996 three expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Crowded conditions slowed their progress. Late in the day twenty-three men and women-including expedition leaders Scott Fischer and Rob Hall-were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disoriented and out of oxygen, climbers struggled to find their way down the mountain as darkness approached. Alone and climbing blind, Anatoli Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death. This new edition includes a transcript of the Mountain Madness expedition debriefing recorded five days after the tragedy, as well as G. Weston DeWalt's response to Into Thin Air author Jon Krakauer.

Review Quotes

"Powerful...a breath of brisk, sometimes bitter clarity...Boukreev did the one thing that denies the void. He took action. He chose danger, and he saved lives." --The New York Times Book Review

"Boukreev heroically rescued several climbers from certain death...[The Climb] gives an excellent account of the May 1996 disaster." --Chicago Tribune

"Compelling...[The Climb] has a ring of authenticity that challenges the slickly written Into Thin Air." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Provocative...compelling reading, both as an adventure and a spiritual reckoning." --The New Mexican

"Boukreev acted with extraordinary heroism...[In The Climb] first-person anecdotes, plus excerpts from taped base-camp interviews, are skillfully fleshed out by coauthor G. Weston DeWalt." --Rock & Ice Magazine

"The Boukreev that emerges from this book is a thoughtful, articulate, even poetic man whose philosophy of life and mountaineering was uniquely his own." --Ed Viesters, in The Will to Climb

About the Author

Anatoli Boukreev was one of the world's foremost high-altitude mountaineers. Twenty-one times he went to the summit of the world's highest mountains. For his heroic actions on Mount Everest in May 1996, he was awarded the American Alpine Club's highest honor, the David A. Sowles Memorial Award. He died in an avalanche while climbing in Nepal on December 25,1997.

G. Weston Dewalt is a writer and a documentary filmmaker whose work has been aired on PBS. He divides his time between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and London.