Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge

by Chris Bonington

Book Overview

Adrenaline Classics continues to bring to the fore the work of the father of modern mountaineering, the celebrated climber and writer, Sir Chris Bonington. Everest--The Unclimbed Ridge is a genuine... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560253908
• ISBN13: 9781560253907
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Book!

Great Book! First half is a bit slow - discussing the history of Everest, and then the excitement builds as the adventurers start their way up! Not as "sensational" as "Into Thin Air", but I enjoyed it more. Definitely recommended...

Fantastic

Wonderful book. Great photography. Stunning story. If you like Mt. Climbing books.. it is a must buy

Engaging

I am not a climber but become hopelessly addicted to the mystery of Everest nonetheless. I enjoyed reading this heartbreaking tale of Everest as it opens another window into what climbers face on the mountain. Honest and informative, at times it painted a very different picture of a journey onto Everest. If you have an interest in Everest, climbing or enjoy the thrill of adventure than you will enjoy this book!

"They Walked Out Of Our Lives..."

"Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge" is the story of the 1982 British attempt on the then-unclimbed Northeast Ridge of Mount Everest. Co-authored by Sir Chris Bonington and Charles Clarke, it illustrates both the thrills and deadly perils of extreme high altitude alpine-style climbing. Bonington put together a light but elite team for his 1982 expedition, featuring himself and accomplished climbers Pete Boardman, Joe Tasker, and Dick Renshaw, backed by two support climbers, Adrian Gordon and Charles Clarke. The first part of the book is a quick recap of previous climbing on Everest, following by a fascinating narrative of the team's journey to its base camp on the North side of Everest. The struggle to forge an alpine-style route up the Northeast Ridge is candidly portrayed by Bonington and Clarke. Their narrative is supplemented by quotes from Pete Boardman's diary and letters. The team, climbing at over 8,000 meters without oxygen and with only limited use of fixed ropes, makes slow and painful progress over challenging terrain. After weeks on the mountain, things begin to go wrong. All the climbers are physically deteriorating from too much time at high altitude. Chris Bonington, then in his late 40's, discovers he can no longer keep pace with his younger counterparts. Dick Renshaw suffers two minor strokes and must be evacuated to medical care. Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker make one last try at the summit, and disappear. Boardman's body would be found years later on the ridge near where he and Tasker were last seen from a distance by Bonington and Gordon. The Northeast Ridge would finally be climbed, with fixed ropes and supplemental oxygen, in 1995. These facts were obviously unknown to Bonington and Clarke when they closed out this narrative in 1983. The reader is left with a poignant mystery and the enduring question of high altitude climbing: was it worth it? This book is highly recommended as a fascinating and well-written narrative of a high altitude expedition and its effects on the climbers.

If you can find a copy, go for it!

Heart-breaking, tense and on some level maddening, this is the story of Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker's last expedition. Copious quotes, especially from Pete's diary, give it its emotionally touching quality. Bonington chillingly describes the survivors' long wait and gradual realization that something has gone terribly wrong. No one really knows what happened to Boardman and Tasker, especially since their bodies were later found, indicating they were not killed in a fall as Bonington surmised. This book cannot illuminate the mystery, but can illustrate the magnitude of our loss.