Rating: 
Summary: Boukreev was a hero, unjustly maligned
Review: The schism between those who believe Boukreev and those who believe Krakauer is familiar ground. I think it was absolutely necessary for Boukreev to speak out as soon as possible after the publication of "Into Thin Air". While Krakauer's livelihood as a journalist is intact, his innuendoes stood to ruin Boukreev's reputation and ability to make a living at the one thing he loved more than anything (including, as it turned out, life itself). To me, the best parts of "The Climb" are the excerpts from Anatoli's diary: they reveal a seasoned professional who expected and demanded much of his clients (which is probably the reason the Mtn. Madness death toll was less than that of Adventure Consultants). He made judgment calls, but backs them up with experience that's hard to argue with. Weston Dewalt is not an interesting writer. Krakauer gets high marks for readability and polish, while "The Climb" gets less. Toli's diary entries in an adopted language are more riveting than Dewalt in his native tongue. As it is, Boukreev was killed shortly after publication of "The Climb". At least he got his story into the historical record, so posterity can decide.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: I heard many people say how badly the book was written before reading it myself. I have to disagree. The language may be simple and at times may sound foreign but I found that it only gives the account more authenticity. Having also read Into Thin Air, I would recommend this book for a perspective at least, but really for the experience of reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Another useful viewpoint of the events of 96
Review: The 1996 tragedies on Everest brought much of the world of high-altitude climbing into public view (and it continues, a quick perusal of your local bookstore will show that there's still a large number of Everest and related books being published, as well as re-issues of some older classics, like Hornbein's "Everest: The West Ridge"). This book provides an excellent description of the events and insights from one of the key players in that tragedy, Mountain Madness guide Anatoli Boukreev. Most of us got our first in-depth look at the evens of 1996 from Jon Krakauer's work, either "Into Thin Air" or his Outside magazine article. And Krakuaer's writing is excellent, and he provides a tantalizing description of the 96 tragedy, as well as much introspection about his and others' roles in the events that transpired. However, Krakauer's work basically offers only a single view of the events. Boukreev and Dewalt's book provides a wonderful counterpoint to Krakauer's work, by presenting the same events from Boukreev's perspective. Instead of being merely a client in one of the expeditions, Boukreev presents events from the viewpoint of both being one of the paid guides (bringing us insight into how expedition decisions were made, how some of the logistics were performed, etc), as well as one of the key players in rescue attempts. And while Boukreev certainly isn't as polished a story teller as Krakauer, his work presents a fairly honest assessment of the events of 1996, and he is very forthcoming about the fact that he's calling things as he sees them. I recommend the book, although I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point. I'd recommend starting reading about the 96 climbing season either with Krakauers book, or better yet, Broughton Coburn's "Everest: Mountain without Mercy", which conveys the 96 story from the perspective of David Breashears, another mountaineer on Everest that season (who successfully lead his expedition to the summit), who provides wonderful historical context, color pictures, and a very sobering but detailed assessment of "what went wrong".
Rating: 
Summary: The Climb
Review: The Climb by Boukreev is the truest account of what happened on Everest. It also rebukes the false accusations of Jon Karkokour to the fullest length. It is a wonderful example of what a moutainteer should do if he is in a position to help some one in trouble.
Rating:
Summary: The Rest of the Story
Review: If you've read Krakauer's Into Thin Air, you need to read the climb as well. Boukreev points out a lot of the errors in Krakauer's account -- errors Krakauer was aware of and didn't seem to feel it was necessary to correct since they enhanced the story. Both accounts are biased, but by reading both you can get an idea for the way things happen at 29000'. Boukreev is not the villian he is sometimes thought to be. Although he was unable to prevent the tragedy, he was one of the few who risked his life to save others -- while Krakauer slept in his tent.
Rating:
Summary: The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest
Review: This is a must read book and especially if you read, "Into Thin Air", you owe it to yourself to read this book. Every story has two sides, and this book: The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest by Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston Dewalt, tells the other side of the 1996 disaster. It is well written and explains many missing details.
Rating: 
Summary: A big ego healing story
Review: I had first read Into Thin Air a couple of months ago and became very interested in climbing Mt Everest and the 1996 disaster. I thought that The Climb was okay. Boukreev dishes out a lot of critiscm to climbers when they make a mistake, but is blind to his own mistakes. He makes himself seem like a hero. I thought that Into Thin Air was the best book about the 1996 disaster. Because he takes you step by step from seattle to the peak.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmmm
Review: I'd heard a lot about this book so I was eager to read it. But now that I have, I'm not sure I see what all the fuss is about. The events the author talks about are sort of interesting but the writing is not very good. Actually the writing is really dull except for in a few chapters. Also, this Russian climber Boukreev who hired G. Dewalt to write the book, he seems really defensive, like he's got something to hide. He sure spends a lot of energy dissing John Krakauer. I guess now I'll have to read "Into Thin Air" to see what the deal is with that, although this book doesn't exactly make you want to read a lot more about Everest.
Rating:
Summary: the cold competence of survival
Review: Boukreev and DeWalt deliver an unsparing uncompromising memoir of the the May 96' Scott Fischer expedition in "The Climb" without the blame, racism, lyrical embellishment or factual distortion of Jon Krakauer's widely-hailed "Into Thin Air." Still, "The Climb" manages to indict all creatures great and small who dare assault Chomolungma-Sagarmatha, including Boukreev himself; imparting a sense of truth which resonates where "Thin Air" never will. I've now read "Into Thin Air," "The Climb" and most recently, "Death Zone" by Matt Dickinson. Although Dickinson's account tracks a British summit attempt from the North Face(as opposed to the Southern summit attemps of Fischer/Hall), the author's factual corroboration & point-of-view conversion from indignant humanist to resigned survivalist when assessing the essential element of "cold competence" necessary to escape the death zone is revealing where Krakauer's is self-serving. "Death Zone" only confirmed my initial impressions of "The Climb" while amplifying my disdain for "Thin Air." The "Cold competence" of factual distortion. Krakauer used "cold competence" as a heading to one of his chapters yet failed to acknowledge this component when personally appraising Bourkeev's behavior on that fateful day. As "The Climb" aptly frames Boukreev's cold competence, so does cold competence explain Krakauer's own front-running inclination to chase Boukreev to the summit as Boukreev broke trail on the last leg of the ascent or, Krakauer's own early descent with total disregard for his team or expedition leader. How does Krakauer explain himself after abandoning his team, after disregarding the wait-for-the-rest-rule imposed by his expedition leader, Rob Hall? He asked Neil Beidleman, a guide from Fischer's expedition, for permission. Of course, Krakauer never castigates Boukreev for leading the ascent--not with Krakauer using Boukreev to "further his own ends." But as "The Climb" demonstrates, Boukreev's descent behavior & rationale **was no different** from that displayed or expressed during his ascent; and from a timing perspective, hardly separable from Krakauer's own either ascending or descending. Indeed, Krakauer, using oxygen at a rate perhaps equivalent to or exceeding the much-maligned(by Krakauer)Sandy Hill Pittman, was even more anxious than Boukreev in his race down the mountain. That Boukreev and Martin Adams passed Krakauer on a segment of the descent where Krakauer was "distressed," both knowing 2 of Hall's guides were right there to assist, must have still rankled the hypersensitive Krakauer to no end--evidence Krakauer's obsessive public prosecution of Boukreev, Lopsang Sherpa, Pittman and others to mask his own failings and more. Krakauer also does a credible bit of lying himself--an accusation Krakauer liberally applied to Boukreev & DeWalt in subsequent exchanges--if one tracks his claims to have a) helped fix rope from Hillary Step to South Summitt b) "asked" rather than demanded Martin Adams to "go fetch some rope" and screws from Camp IV as Krakauer sat on a slope stuck and somewhat lost. If the latter seems insignificant, consider the follwing: 1) Krakauer mistakenly thought Adams was Hall guide Andy Harris & stubbornly resisted acknowledging his mistake, much to the distress of Andy Harris's family; Adams is consistent with his assertion(in "The Climb") that Krakauer brusquely *ordered* him to go fetch--as most would given Krakauer's predicament at the time. Adams was understandably indignant at the thought of someone(he didn't know it was Krakauer then) who'd gotten himself in a jam ordering him around after Adams barely survived 2 falls into crevasses during his descent. Yet Krakauer goes to great pains to "modify" the facts here and elsewhere of his own behavior towards others; in this instance asserting he'd "asked" Adams to fetch--even prefacing his request(in his account) with a "please." Yes, when stuck in a blizzard at 8000m facing imminent death, climbers always retain their composure, courtesy, civility. In "Thin Air," Krakauer also claims to have helped fix rope on the ascent leg from Hillary Step to South Summit. Wrong. Beidleman, in "The Climb," confirms Krakauer gave him approximately 300ft of rope Krakauer was carrying just before Krakauer and Hall guide Andy Harris broke ranks to chase Boukreev to the summit. No one other than Krakauer in "The Climb" or "Thin Air" supports Krakauer's claim of fixing rope anywhere on the mountain. This despite Krakauer's not-so-subtle allusions to his guide-like urges to lead, his guide-like claims of climbing proficiency or his god-like inclination to judge. The "cold competence" of blame. Boukreev descended before the weather turned horrific. Again, no one in "The Climb," "Thin Air" or "Death Zone" expected or suspected the blizzard to come--except perhaps Lene Gamelgaard. More importantly, Boukreev and Beidlemen lacked radios--a critical causative determinant in Boukreev's disconnect from the statuses of Fisher, his clients or fellow guide Neil Beidleman during his descent--which Krakauer, of course, conveniently minimizes. Had Boukreev been carrying a radio, had he known the positions or distress of Fischer/his clients and arrested his own descent, would Pittman, Fox and others be alive today? Maybe, maybe not. Would he have escaped the blame of Krakauer's considerable mega-finger had he died? Undoubtedly. Almost certainly. And Krakauer would still be warm, safely ensconced in his tent. Dickinson, in the "Death Zone," confirms Boukreev's timeline of the storm's onset. He also questions Boukreev's early descent but later acknowledges his own naivete, his idealistic delusions of reflexive self-sacrifice by those who climb or guide mountains. The "cold competence" of Krakauer's racism. I've not noticed this mentioned at all or observed in other reviews but can Krakauer's obvious disdain for Asians be any clearer? Every Asian within pointing distance--whether Nepali, Chinese or Japanese--is inordinately disdained, denigrated or demeaned by Krakauer in "Thin Air" despite the revealed incompetence of others--the South African expedition, for example. Boukreev, by contrast, acts with what Krakauer only adorns: contrition. The Climb's account of Boukreev's unsentimental pilgrimage to honor Fischer's and Namba's remains is indicative of Boukreev's real nature: a coldly competent climber, a conscientious, unfacile human being. When Namba's husband appears on the mountain in the vicinity and at the time Boukreev did, the meeting struck one as providential. That Boukreev managed to convey Namba's effects to her husband before Boukreev himself perished can rightfully be perceived as an act of redemption; a redemption Krakauer may never realize, self-serving pleadings & mea culpas notwithstanding. ...
Rating: 
Summary: For a different perspective
Review: This is a quick read, one or two days maximum, and worth the time even though the book is not especially well written. "The Climb" is another account ("Into Thin Air," by Jon Krakauer, is the first) of the events of a 1996 expedition to summit Mt. Everest. The Climb was co-authored by Anatoli Boukreev, a guide on the Mountain Madness expedition that was, some feel, treated unfairly in Krakauer's account of the disaster (this is arguable - Krakauer did question some of Anatoli's actions, but he was much more severe in his criticism of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, the principal guides on the Mountain Madness (Fischer) and Adventure Consultants (Hall) expedition teams. Thus, most of the book is presented as a defense of the actions of Anatoli and the Mountain Madness team, and the reader is poorly served as a result. Krakauer, in particular, seems to have drawn the ire of the co-authors for questioning the decisions made on the fateful summit day. Unfortunately for the reader, however, The Climb does not take the time to step back and view the forest from the trees, so to speak, and one is constantly reminded that the sole object of the book is to hail the efforts of Anatoli at the expense of all others. The result is a rather muddled account of the disaster, without a treatment of what the other climbers and expeditions were doing while the disaster was playing out. Into Thin Air presents a much more comprehensive, thorough approach, and in this respect far outclasses The Climb in terms of readability. Despite these shortcomings and the author's less than balanced approach to his subject, the book does shed considerable light on Anatoli's decisions, and one comes away with a better appreciation for his actions. Whether or not Anatoli's actions were correct, I am certainly not qualified to judge, but his bravery is above reproach, and the book did a credible job of restoring Anatoli's reputation as an heroic and dedicated climber. Although countless mistakes were made on Everest in 1996, all present seemed to have done everything in their power to save lives once the disaster was in full bloom. Rob Hall and Scott Fischer obviously paid for their mistakes not only with their lives, but those of their clients, and I am sure that both men, were they alive today, would be the first to censure themselves. But all climbers who sign on for such an expedition knew full well the risks they took, as well as the risks they could not plan for. All who died will be remembered as intrepid souls who risked their lives in search of a more fulfilling existence, and for that they should be commended. Deplore the mistakes, but not the people who made them. We can only hope that future expeditions will learn from the accounts presented here and in Into Thin Air.
|
