Rating: 
Summary: 1996 IMAX Expedition
Review: This is a beautiful, large coffee table sized book. The photography is sharp, clear and the colors are beautiful. What is most impressive is the range of the text. It takes up the culture of the Sherpas, Buddhism, some geological and physiological findings as well as the climbing and filming of the Everest IMAX movie.Sponsored by the National Geographic, and led by David Breashears, a highly respected leader and photographer, this was a dream team in operation. Lead climber was Ed Viesturs, brilliant U.S. climber who has attained 12 of the 14 highest peaks in the world, all without supplemental oxygen. I am happy to report he is not just a myth; his favorite meal on the mountain is Spam, yes Spam. Also this grueling trip was his "honeymoon." His bride accompanied him to Base Camp (about 17,000 feet) and got to worry about him for a solid month. I enjoyed reading about sparkling Aracali Segarra, attempting to be the first Spanish woman to summit Everest (she made it!) She is living proof that female mountaineers can be pretty and vivacious as well as awesome athletes. The IMAX team was of enormous assistance to the beleaguered Hall/Fisher teams. They supplied oxygen, helped rescue and support the injured climbers on the South Face. Some of the pictures are brutal of the rescue attempts. The pictures of the mountain are splendid. The viewer will get an excellent sense of Everest's brooding size. To me, Everest is a Godzilla of a mountain. It does not have the proportioned beauty of K-2; it is one enormous hulk. But this does not take away from its majesty and awe. To the Sherpas, climbing Mt. Everest is a spiritual experience, something that is done with many prayers and much reverence. Everest: Mountain Without Mercy will give you hours of enjoyment. It covers so many aspects of the area, and is beautifully printed and bound. I recommend it for your own reading or an excellent gift.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book
Review: This is one of the most beautiful books I've owned. The pictures are spectacular, and tell the story in their own right. The side bars are more than side bars; they give essential background information that only add to the significance of this book. This is an excellent book that is worthy of anyone's library (or coffee table).
Rating:
Summary: Incredible! Awesome! Amazing!
Review: This is the most beautiful book about the most beautiful, and most haunting mountain that I have read. I read "Into Thin Air" by Krakauer, and have been fascinated with mountain climbing ever since. I climbed to base camp, Camp Muir, of Mt. Rainier, and that's a pimple compared to Everest. It's amazing and I admire and respect both the climbers and the mountain. A wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: A book that captures the spirit of Everest and its climbers.
Review: This spectacular book is absolutely stunning. The photography is magnificent and it is full of interesting, informative, insightful prose pertaining to the mountain and those who would climb it. It manages to take an experience most of us will never have, and translate it to an experience we can at least feel in spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book!
Review: Whether you are interested in mountain climbing, science, medicine, history, or anthropology you will find this a great book. I was stunned by the beauty of the pictures and the fine quality of the book, especially at this price. It easily holds its own with fifty and sixty dollar "coffee table" books. Even my children enjoyed looking at the many photographs and learning right along with me. This is terrific!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book!
Review: Whether you are interested in mountain climbing, science, medicine, history, or anthropology you will find this a great book. I was stunned by the beauty of the pictures and the fine quality of the book, especially at this price. It easily holds its own with fifty and sixty dollar "coffee table" books. Even my children enjoyed looking at the many photographs and learning right along with me. This is terrific!
Rating:
Summary: Coffee table it is
Review: While the other accounts of Everest 1996 focus in on Fischer'sand Hall's teams, this one focus in the the IMAX team. From the looksof it, they were the only moderates on the mountain that season. They positioned themselves for rescue efforts with the Alpine Ascents team. While everyone else was being selfish with supplies and radio's and rescue teams, Brashiers and Viesters were there to give vital oxygen, help climbers from camp 3 and coordinate the helecopter rescue of Weathers and Gao. While the narration may not be the most riviting part of the book, the full page color pictures are. This was a film making trip for the IMAX crew so the pictures they brought back for this book were increadible. They also published Scott Fischer's pictures of summit day. I noticed one picture where Krackauer is sitting in the snow as many climbers are going up the Hillary step. It really brought to life the sceene from "Into thin Air" where he was wanting everyone to hurry up so he could get to his oxygen on the south summit. The short stories in the middle of the book make this the ultimate coffee table book. They read like magazine articles. The other books on Everest 1996 can be checked out of a library. This is the one you want to have in your home.
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