Thin Air

Rating:
Summary: Something other than big Expedition climbing
Review: "Thin air" is one of the greatest books I every read. It's full of compelling, offbeat tales about alpine style climbing of Himalayan Mountains. Greg Child is an amazing writer and an even more amazing climber. K2 and Board Peak alpine style, bagging unclimbed routes, tents on fire; all make for interesting stories way up high. I recommend this book to anyone but especially climbers.

Rating:
Summary: AWSOME!!
Review: I'm a climber and I have all my non-climbing family read Greg's books. They always finish the book, (no one can put his books down) and come away with a broader understanding of what one does as they push their limits in the mountains.

If you want a more abreviated version...try Greg's book: Mixed Emotions - just make sure you have some free time because you won't put it down until you're done with the whole thing.

Rating:
Summary: A Study In High Altitude Apprenticeship
Review: This is a superb set of essays which describes the transfiguration of a gifted technical rock climber into a high- altitude mountaineer. In addition, it is a well-written, absorbing chronicle of high adventure in one of the most spectacular regions on earth (replete with dozens of stunning photographs).

For me, the chapters on Broad Peak in the Karakoram were the highlight of this collection . Child describes the geography, people and culture of Pakistan as well as the logistics of the expedition with such clarity and force that it is not hard to begin imagining you are there with him before too long.

But it is his deep respect for all the people he encounters and climbs with that makes this narrative so rich and special. In this regard readers will be moved indeed when Child looses his friend and climbing partner Peter Thexton to pulmonary edema after turning back from the summit on Broad Peak (without getting quite to the top). This tragedy is related with such pathos and power. And it makes Child reconsider the entire enterprise to which he has devoted his life, a process that one rarely reads about in the writings of high altitude mountaineers who so often maintain a stoic attitude reflexively. One's life, Child ultimately decides, takes precedence over the conquest of 8,000 meter peaks; no matter how compelling and significant such a goal may seem.