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Rating: 
Summary: True Adventure and Survival Story
Review: "Alone at the Summit" is a fantastic book about a team of four climbers on the tallest mountain in the world. Against all odds, this team pioneered a route that was one of the last "frontiers" of mountaineering. Much has been said and written about the author's actions and the way he describes the events on Everest. First of all, read the book and you will be pleased to find that Venables WAS NOT rescued at the summit of Everest-the ending has not been spoiled. Second, he and the other members of his team overcame a great deal of adversity on this climb-including Venables' bivouac that has kiled a great number of people on Everest. Lastly, everyone involved in mountaineering (climbers, rescuers, etc.) is aware of the great risk involved in the activity. Individuals make a concsious decision to strap on their crampons and head up the mountain. There is no excuse for adding unneccesary risk in this sport, nor is there much room for hubris. "Alone at the Summit" fulfills these requirements. Venables has the right mix of self-responsibility, humor and frustration to make this a balanced book. This one of a few books I recommend for dealing with the power of determination in overcoming adversity.
Rating: 
Summary: A Well-Written Story
Review: "Alone at the Summit" is an enjoyable read. The first 1/3 is a little slow, but I was totally drawn in as Venables and his team mates move up the mountain. Venables includes a history of Himalayan climbing at the back. The history is interesting and provides good perspective for understanding both the philosophy behind this 1988 expedition and its historical context.If you like to read climbing expedition books, I recommend that you read "Alone at the Summit."
Rating:
Summary: Of significant merit to the literature of mountaineering
Review: "Alone on the Summit" is, admittedly, about the "hard men" of mountaineering. Some would say that Venables and company are fools for even trying what they succeeded in pulling off: a route up the Kangshung face on the Tibetan side of Everest without oxygen and limited Sherpa support. The book is very well written (why does it seem that the British mountaineers are the only folks with a sense of humour?), and engaging, with spectacular photos. Many people also argue that Venables is particularly prone to having to be rescued, but if you read closely, who among the best mountaineers hasn't been rescued or helped off base camp at one time or another?
Rating:
Summary: True Adventure and Survival Story
Review: "Alone at the Summit" is a fantastic book about a team of four climbers on the tallest mountain in the world. Against all odds, this team pioneered a route that was one of the last "frontiers" of mountaineering. Much has been said and written about the author's actions and the way he describes the events on Everest. First of all, read the book and you will be pleased to find that Venables WAS NOT rescued at the summit of Everest-the ending has not been spoiled. Second, he and the other members of his team overcame a great deal of adversity on this climb-including Venables' bivouac that has kiled a great number of people on Everest. Lastly, everyone involved in mountaineering (climbers, rescuers, etc.) is aware of the great risk involved in the activity. Individuals make a concsious decision to strap on their crampons and head up the mountain. There is no excuse for adding unneccesary risk in this sport, nor is there much room for hubris. "Alone at the Summit" fulfills these requirements. Venables has the right mix of self-responsibility, humor and frustration to make this a balanced book. This one of a few books I recommend for dealing with the power of determination in overcoming adversity.
Rating:
Summary: A Well-Written Story
Review: "Alone at the Summit" is an enjoyable read. The first 1/3 is a little slow, but I was totally drawn in as Venables and his team mates move up the mountain. Venables includes a history of Himalayan climbing at the back. The history is interesting and provides good perspective for understanding both the philosophy behind this 1988 expedition and its historical context. If you like to read climbing expedition books, I recommend that you read "Alone at the Summit."
Rating: 
Summary: This book more about getting bailed out than climbing
Review: Although the ambitions of this climb were laudible, I found Venable's tale to be rather tedious and sanctimonious. After all, what victory is there in climbing a mountain "better" than anyone else (i.e. without oxygen, and on a seldom-used route) if, in the end, you have to be rescued? Although sometimes funny, Venables comes off as a long-winded, holier-than-thou narrator who doesn't seem to deal honestly with the fact that had other climbers not bailed him out high on Everest, he would still be there. That's really nothing to crow about in a book! This is a far cry from the earlier tales of heroism and conquest on Everst, and I would recommend Bonington's "Everest the Hard Way" or Hunt's "The Ascent of Everest" over this milquetoast banquet.
Rating:
Summary: Blowing it at the summit
Review: Everest Alone At the Summit is an extremely well-written account of a fascinating and harrowing first ascent by a new route on Everest's Kangshung wall by a small, four man team. Climbers (and many non-climbers as well) will appreciate the aesthetic appeal of the route they take: an almost straight line up a buttress ridged with massive ice towers. The butress itself lies between steep slopes that are constantly avalanching. A veteran of many Himalayan climbs, Venables is aware of the risks of the route, and of attempting it with such a small team, and without oxygen. In the end, it comes down to a question of survival (the book is subtitled a survival story) as the climbers desperately fight off exhaustion, loss of equipment, hunger, thirst, and the effects of extreme cold and altitude. Their descent is even more dramatic than the summit push. While the climb to the South Col is a triumph of teamwork and shared responsibility, the summit climb and descent to the bottom becomes an individual fight to stay alive as the climbers become too weak to help each other. Venables' account has just the right mix of detail, emotion, and reflection. He writes clearly and carefully and with great respect for the seriousness of what is being attempted. There are plenty of photographs and helpful maps, and an interesting appendix on the history of climbing at extreme altitude without oxygen. Alone at the Summit should become a classic of mountainering literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Rescue Ethics
Review: Many of the reviews of this book berate it because the author got injured and had to be rescued from the base of the mountain. Well, I assume many of these people havn't done much mountain climbing. The whole lure of mountain climbing is the risk involved. If nothing could ever go wrong when climbing a mountain, then what's the point of doing it? It's the thrill of danger and the challenge of staying a live that makes it so attractive. Stephen Venables met this challenge head on. He had to fight through injuries, exhaustion and the elements to get down the mountain alive and so did his friends. That's nothing to put down, that is what happens when mountaineering. And this was down the East face, the hardest part of Everest to climb. I thought this was a great book. The author really shows what pushing yourself to the limits in life threatening conditions feels like. This book will go on the shelf with my other top adventure books. I must add that the author was not rescued at the top of the mountain as people seem to be saying. He was rescued at the base of the mountain in the valley, after climbing down the mountain himself. There's a big big difference there.
Rating:
Summary: Unintentionally funny
Review: This is a cautionary story about how ego, pompousness and poor judgement almost resulted in the death of the author on top of the world's tallest mountain. Rather than be chastened by his near-disaster, Venables has instead decided to brag about his "exploits" under the guise of being more "sporting" than the climbers who use the more traveled South Col route up Everest. Of course, most of these climbers didn't have to be rescued at the top like Venables, who put other climbers at risk to save his own neck. It would have been refreshing to read what lessons the author might have garnered from his misadventure, but rather than being chastened, a braggart tone permeates this sorry tale all the way to the end. All in all, I'd say this story is an unintentional version of Candide on the mountain--a sad comedy understood by all except the narrator.
Rating:
Summary: Rescue Ethics
Review: This is a rather amusing book, until one thinks of the context of what's been happening on Everest. I DO climb alot, and have summited Everest myself. Every year, someone needs to be rescued from the mountain, endangering themselves and the people who have to rescue them. Sure, there's a difference between being rescued at the summit or base of Mt. Everest, which is where Ventables was when he finally got evacuated, but given that the base is at 17,000 feet, Venables was still endangering lives at worst, or putting someone else's expedition at risk at best. This is not the sort of thing to be making childish jokes about in print, as Mr. Venables does--especially as he subsequently has gone on to make a virtual career out of getting rescued on other mountains and then coming back down to pound his chest in print some more. Yes, I know much about climbing mountains, and it's not always pretty, but I would say that the climbing community is pretty sick and tired of people messing up in the High Himalayas, risking other peoples' lives and resources to getting back down, and then going right back up and doing it again. One reviewer wrote that they look forward to the "Stephen Venables Grows Up" book. I'm just looking forward to the "Stephen Venables Retires and Quits Putting Everyone Else At Risk" book.
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