Doctor on Everest, by Kenneth Kamler

Kenneth Kamler writes about his experiences as doctor on three Everest expeditions in his Doctor on Everest. He writes a multi-faceted book, with a witty take on his personal experiences, descriptions of high altitude medicine and how he administered it, and a front row seat to the 1996 disaster. All three years, Kamler climbs as a part of Todd Burleson's outfit, with semi-sponsored, semi-commercial climbs that also try to place laser reflectors on the mountain to get an accurate measurement of Everest's height in addition to usual summit climb via the Southeast Ridge. The first year, pre-monsoon 1993, is a mess of pulmonary disease, with a cook boy, Koncha, contracting pulmonary oedema, and a number of climbers with pneumonia and /or oedema. A number of climbers you'll encounter in other books participate in this climb, including Vern Tejas, Pete Athans, and Frank Fischbeck. You can also read about this climb in Margo Chisholm's To the Summit. Kamler's 1995 expedition and climb goes better for him, though he comes up short of the summit once more, and feels obliged to return the next year. His narrative is notable for an outside perspective to the Chantal Maudit drama and for further observation of Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants operation. Also, Kamler treats Wally Berg after a fall into a crevasse.

Kamler's was a unique perspective on the 1996 tragedy, since he's so far the only doctor on the mountain to write about it. He climbs with Pete Athans and Todd Burleson and is at Camp III when the poop hits the fan. Pete Athans and Todd Burleson head up to the Col, and he heads down to Camp II to set up the world's highest hospital. He treats the walking wounded, and then prepares for Makalu Gau and Beck Weathers, who are being escorted down. He treats and thaws Makalu first, with extensive frostbite on his hands, feet, and face, wraps him up, and then works on Beck, who is much worse off. His perspective also provides a unique angle on Sumiyo Tsuzuki, as she tends to Makalu and brings handwarmers to keep the IV fluids thawed. She gets mostly negative attention in David Breashears' High Exposure, and only a passing mention in Viesturs' No Shortcuts to the Top.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Kamler is a talented writer, conveying with a doctor's sense of calm the dramatic events of his three climbs. I appreciated his explanations, with more detail than the usual descriptions of high altitude injuries, that were still understandable to the lay person. Also, he doesn't shirk from writing about his climbs' effects on his family. Hope you enjoy Doctor on Everest as well! A shorter treatment of Kamler's high-altitude medicine can be found in his Surviving the Extremes.

This post is a revision and expansion of an earlier entry, which can be found here.

Note: This book is not to be confused with Peter Steele's Doctor on Everest, about Steele's participation in the 1971 International Everest Expedition that was racked with controversy and disease.

Last Climb, by Breashears & Salkeld

David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld retell an update the story of George Mallory's three expeditions to Mount Everest in Last Climb. It's a beautiful book, published soon after the discovery of Mallory's body, with many seldom-seen photographs from the archives of the Royal Geographical Society to go alongside the text. Salkeld has long been associated with the Everest archives through her research, and she adds a scholarly flair to telling of Mallory's great adventure. Breashears, through his knowledge of Everest and climbing, adds a realist's view to what occurred (or might have) on Mallory's climbs, and his cinematic background helps him to focus on what matters in the story lines. The book covers Mallory's life, with a short section on his early life, but focuses on his role on Mount Everest. There are several revelations in the book, such as the short section of the Rimpoche of Rongbuk's spiritual memoir found in a later travel diary of Crawford, the "other" photograph taken by Howard Somervell on his amazing climb in 1924, and a full-frontal nude of the Man of Everest. The narrative is pretty accurate for the time it was written, but I feel like Wade Davis, in Into the Silence, has since raised the bar on research for these early expeditions.

Of the many books I've read on Mallory following the discovery of his body, I think I like this one the most. It focuses on Mallory and his spirit, rather than being another telling of how his corpse was found. The re-analysis of Mallory's prospects on his final climb are realistic and thorough (though I personally tend to be irrationally hopeful), and the narrative of his body's discovery is appropriate for all but the most sensitive audiences. The photography makes the book for me. Though there are several well-trodden photographs, the authors included many that have lain in the archives too long, including a set of fold-out panoramas at the beginning of the book. Hope you like it!

Naked Before the Mountain, by Pierre Mazeaud

Pierre Mazeaud writes about his early climbing years with an added chapter on the 1971 International Everest expedition in his Naked Before the Mountain. Mazeaud is often depicted as a firebrand in the books I've read, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I had trouble figuring him out in this book, as I hadn't read about his Alpine career before, and I wasn't sure if he was displaying false modesty, his honest perspective, or a carefully created version of himself. He seems like a pretty decent guy in this book, but the character I've encountered elsewhere seems more like the brash youth that he grew out of than the vibrant and companionable climber I found here. Many of Mazeaud's worst critics are women, and yet he tells of several climbs in the book he made (happily) with women. I'm honestly not sure what to think! The book contains a number of adventures, primarily in the Alps, showing his growth from a interested amateur to a first-rate climber who participates in a number of first ascents on formidable routes. His specialty is artificial climbing, and many of his climbing narratives focus on difficult overhangs, especially his first ascent on the Cima Ovest. He devotes a chapter to his epic on the Central Pillar of the Fresnay along with Walter Bonatti, in which half the party perished during the retreat. There's also an amusing interlude in which he claims a newly-formed island in the name of France, as well as a trip to North Africa to climb a virgin summit.

The Everest chapter tells the story of the 1971 international expedition from a perspective I've never read. All the accounts I've read so far have been from the Southwest Face crew (Haston's In High Places or Schlommer's Mein Welt, Die Berge) or the team doctor (Steele's Doctor on Everest), rather than the West Ridge team on which Mazeaud participated. There was an especially high level of vitriol between the members of this expedition---Mazeaud at least admits that he still bore a grudge against Don Whillans for stealing his route on the Central Pillar of the Fresnay. Mazeaud, however, depicts a mostly happy expedition which is marred by Harsh Bahuguna's death and then sabotaged at the last moment by the evil Southwest Face crew as Mazeaud and friends were preparing to go to the summit. He chides Dyhrenfurth for his lack of firm leadership and says that he and the Vauchers were dismissed from the expedition rather than their quitting. Overall, Mazeaud's story is quite a change from the other narratives, and I'm going to need a corroborating story before I give him too much credence. Perhaps Toni Hiebeler's Durch Sherpaland zur Chomolungma will shed some light on things!

They Came to the Hills, by Claire E. Engel

Claire E. Engel writes about the dominant personalities in the history of mountaineering in They Came to the Hills. She seems to have a British perspective (even though she is French), covering climbers such as Tyndall, Stephen, Freshfield, Whymper, Mummery, and Smythe. This book is likely a follow-up to her 1950 History of Mountaineering, so she is able to focus on some of the more remarkable climbs and climbers. She's an experienced mountaineer, and she often speaks of the routes and mountains from memory. In her introduction, she states that the book is meant to show the development of the concept of mountaineering, and its roughly chronological ordering show a progression from mountaineering as a side show to science, to recreation, to a way of life.

The last to biographical chapters are of climbers closely associated with Mount Everest: George Mallory and Frank Smythe. They are great picks for her thesis, as they have both written quite a bit about their feelings on mountaineering. She writes a bit of meandering biography of Mallory, sometimes complementary, sometimes critical, both of his climbing and his writing. She uses Irving as an important source in this chapter, which also contains a letter to her from Norton about a controversy of the role of climbing leader for the 1924 Everest expedition. She found some interesting quotes of Mallory's, including his day in the Alps as a symphony bit, but I think she misses his drive amongst all his effusive rambling. Engel knew Smythe, and I think she does a great job with his biography. She writes of his enjoyment of mountains for their own sake, both on high and in the valleys, and brings up his spiritual respect for the relationship of man and mountain. (He famously used one piton in his life, and regretted it dearly.) She tells us that Smythe had misgivings about his Kanchenjunga climb, and also that he had his mysterious companion on the Brenva Face of Mount Blanc in addition to the North Face of Everest.

Savage Summit, by Jennifer Jordan

Jennifer Jordan writes about Wanda Rutkiewicz, Lillian Barrard, Julie Tullis, Chantal Mauduit, and Alison Hargreaves in her Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2. Jordan points out that all of these women climbed in the shadows of their male counterparts, some fighting to make their own path, and some grateful for the company. She brings together a difficult collection, with little to tie them together besides the gender, their climbing, and K2. Rutkiewicz (see Reinisch's A Caravan of Dreams), a fighter in spirit, consistently pushes people away who come between her and her goals. Barrard is a shy woman who will follow her love, Maurice, anywhere, including to the top of K2. Tullis (see her autobiography, Between the Clouds) uses her trips with Kurt Diemberger as an escape from domestic life and becomes entranced by the "mountain of [her] destiny." Mauduit (see her autobiography, J'habite au Paradis) uses both tenacity and feminine wiles to get her way, including up some of the world's highest mountains. Hargreaves (see Rose and Douglas' Regions of the Heart) finds herself trying to live up to the standards of her husband's hard promotions of her skills, though she enjoys the climbing.

I appreciated Jordan's original journalism in this book. There is very little written about Lillian Barrard, and she generally only appears in books about the 1986 K2 tragedy. She seems more a person to me now, rather than an accomplice. Jordan chose to have Ewa Matuszewska's (a longtime friend of Rutkiewicz's) biography translated rather than rely on Reinisch's A Caravan of Dreams, who admittedly met Rutkiewicz late in her career. I didn't feel like Jordan's Rutkiewicz was too different than Reinisch's, but her thoroughness and effort impressed me. I thought it was great to read about Mauduit from a feminine perspective, because she gets a lot of flack in men's books. I hope Jordan is right that the person Mauduit projects is someone other than her true self! I felt that Jordan's analysis on Hargreaves was a helpful addition to Regions of the Heart, as I felt Rose and Douglas' work lacked a little heart. I don't think I should comment yet on Tullis, because I have not read her autobiography, though I plan to soon!

Though a book about K2, each of these women have Everest in their stories. Rutkiewicz was famously the first European woman to climb Everest, in 1978 as deputy climbing leader of Herrligkoffer's European expedition under Pierre Mazeaud (see Mazeaud's Everest '78 or Herrlikoffer's Mount Everest ohne Sauerstoff). Lillian Barrard and her husband Maurice planned to climb Everest's Kangshung Face (post-monsoon---yikes!) after their ascent of K2. Julie Tullis participated in 1985 attempt of the Northeast Ridge as Diemberger's sound engineer, as chronicled in Andrew Grieg's Kingdoms of Experience. Chantal Mauduit famously made seven attempts on Everest, making it as far as the South Summit, always without supplemental oxygen. Alison Hargreaves, of course, headed to K2 in 1995 two weeks after returning from climbing the North Col route of Everest without support or supplemental oxygen. I love the great contrasts between the climbing stories on the world's two highest peaks. In the later accounts, climbers seem to always focus on the dangers of K2 and their own internal demons, whereas Everest seems to evoke lofty ideals and a sense of striving. I wonder how much of this is seeded by earlier literature and how much is the nature of the mountains.

Fragile Edge, by Maria Coffey

In Fragile Edge: A Personal Portrait of Loss on Everest, Maria Coffey writes about her relationship with Joe Tasker, both before and after his death. Her book is a stark reminder of the people left behind in high risk activities such as high altitude mountaineering. Her thoughtful prose grinds out the emotional details of the difficult love of another who is often far away, out of touch, and in dangerous places. Because of the tight social scene of the climbing community in Britain, her story also documents the loss of several other high altitude climbers, including Nick Estcourt, Alex MacIntyre, and of course Peter Boardman. After Boardman and Tasker's deaths among the Pinnacles on the Northeast Ridge of Mount Everest in 1982, Hilary Boardman convinces Coffey to accompany her to the base of the mountain for some closure. During the trek, Coffey makes it clear that the two women handle the loss quite differently and had very different relationships with their loves. Coffey, even after Tasker's death, has ups and downs in her emotional ties to him, and she seems lost at times. Hilary Boardman holds an even keel on the outside, perhaps more secure in her love with Peter, but still feels a deep emotional loss.

Their trek is still fairly early in the opening of Tibet to outsiders that would be enviable to Everest fans if not for their great loss. They visit the Kangshung Face via the Kharta Valley, only the fourth group to do so since the early British expeditions before heading to the Rongbuk Valley. They arrive while a Dutch expedition is trying the traditional north side route, and hike to the British Advanced Base Camp below the North Col over three days. They pay respect to the cairn erected by Boardman and Tasker's teammates before heading out. Throughout their trip in Tibet, they travel in the shadow of their recently deceased spouse / boyfriend, with Hilary often consulting her husband's expedition diary. Though not exactly happy high adventure, I found their trip and Coffey's writing engrossing, as they were and covered a macabre rite and a pilgrimage of love. I can't say I enjoyed this book, but I certainly recommend it!

Thinking back over the literature, it seems that their death, or at least Tasker's was inevitable when they left for their last attempt. In both Savage Arena and Everest: The Cruel Way, Tasker documents his pushing himself beyond his perceived limits. Excepting his Mount Kongur climb, he returns from his trips physically and emotionally wasted. Before their attempt on Everest's Northeast Ridge, the highest Tasker had been was his camp on the Shoulder of K2 at 26,900 feet, which is about where the difficult climbing starts on their Everest route. His three nights in a snow cave at 25,000 feet during his winter attempt of Everest seriously sapped his strength, but he was still conditionally willing to continue on. I can only imagine what an open bivouac did to him two thousand feet higher after a hard day's technical climb, and even then, I can imagine him continuing on. For the narrative from the survivors of their climb, see Bonington and Clarke's Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge.

To the Top!, by Kramer & La Padula

I apologize to Sydelle A. Kramer and Thomas La Padula for my earlier post on their To the Top! While the book isn't the greatest kids' story on the first ascent of Mount Everest, it isn't nearly as bad as I made it out to be. Kramer tells the story, focusing on Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (only mentioning that there were 14 climbers on the trip, without naming names). Though the author leaves out some details to focus on her main subjects, what she does include is mostly true. The book is geared towards Grades 2-4 and seems to read pretty well for that age. La Padula's illustrations are dramatic, though not heavily researched, with minor things askew, such as improperly depicted gear and a cover illustration of the pair climbing to the northwest of Everest. There are also a few photographs from the first ascent included in this book. At the end of the book, Kramer acknowledges some of the later history of Everest climbing, quickly mentioning Bonington's computer modeling, the Italians' use of helicopters, and Reinhold Messner's solo ascent.

Climbing High, by Lene Gammelgaard

Lene Gammelgaard writes about her climbing and survival during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster as a part of the Sargarmatha Environmental Expedition under Scott Fischer in her Climbing High. Her book is one of the most level-headed accounts of the events of 1996, and she clearly states her motivations, emotions, and actions. She planned to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen, partly as a kick start to open the European market to Mountain Madness, Scott Fischer's mountain guiding operation, with Gammelgaard as the company's representative, and also to be the first Scandinavian woman to climb Mount Everest. I appreciated her candid writing about the events on the mountain, generally without harsh judgments of the climbers around her. She supports the climbers around her and even forgives Fischer after he forces her to make the climb with oxygen.

Gammelgaard's is a unique perspective among the many books available about the 1996 disaster. She was the only female participant to write a book-length account of events, and she also avoids placing blame in her book, making her book a refreshing change from Into Thin Air and The Climb. I did feel a bit frustrated trying to get to know more about her background, as she hints at experience in the Himalaya, but Everest is her first attempt at an 8000-meter peak. Also, I would have liked to know more about her history with Scott Fischer, as there were hints of this as well. Fischer's biography, Mountain Madness, also mentioned little of his trip(s) to Denmark, and seemed to get information about Gammelgaard from her book. I found it interesting that she overlooks the presence of Mike Groom in the huddle on the South Col, an that she saw Sandy Pittman and Lopsang climbing separately on summit day. She understands but doesn't always support the actions of Fischer, and she often sticks up for Anatoli Boukreev when he faces criticism. There is very little information on Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants' expedition in this book. Other accounts of the events of 1996 include Mike Groom's Sheer Will, Goran Kropp's Ultimate High, O'Dowd and Woodall's Free to Decide, and most recently Ratcliffe's A Day to Die For.

Everest: The Cruel Way, by Joe Tasker

Joe Tasker chronicles his 1980/1981 winter attempt of Everest's West Ridge in Everest: The Cruel Way. At the end of the landmark year on Everest of 1980, in which the Polish climb Everest in winter and Reinhold Messner climbs it alone without oxygen (see his The Crystal Horizon), Tasker's team attempts to further stretch the possible with a try at the full West Ridge with a small team without Sherpa porters in winter without supplementary oxygen. Once above the Lho La, they are exposed to the full brunt of the winter winds, and face a punishing ascent during which their well-anchored hand lines are often the only thing keeping them attached to the mountain. He climbs with a collection of well-known climbers, including Alan Rouse (see Birtles' Alan Rouse: A Mountaineer's Life), Alan and Adrian Burgess (The Burgess Book of Lies), Paul Nunn (At the Sharp End), and Pete Threxton (featured in Greg Child's Thin Air). The team attempts a leader-less expedition and faces quite a bit of interpersonal conflict. Their Sherpa base camp staff, led by an uncharacteristic rogue, causes them a number of headaches. On the mountain at the same time is a "solo" attempt of the South Col route by Naomi Uemura, with a large media team with Sherpa support, and an under-prepared Italian team attempting Lhotse.

I appreciate Tasker's writing. He writes intelligently, seemingly focused on fellow mountaineers as an audience, but readily understood by an amateur crowd. The book is as much a plea for pushing the boundaries of the possible in the Himalaya as it is an expedition account. He relates personal conflict without resorting to making his fellow climbers look like hotheads or jerks. It's clear in this book that Tasker pushes himself to his physical limit, foreshadowing his untimely demise on Everest's Northeast Ridge in 1982 along with Peter Boardman (see Bonington's Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge). If you happen to read this book in The Boardman Tasker Omnibus, there's also a foreword by Chris Bonington that relates the story of their disappearance and laments the loss of these talented authors and climbers. All four books in this larger work are worth a read.

The Second Death of George Mallory, by Reinhold Messner

Reinhold Messner responds to the discovery of George Mallory's body in his 2001 The Second Death of George Mallory: The Enigma and Spirit of Mount Everest. He recounts the Everest climbs of Mallory as well as the major expeditions that followed his route in basic prose, quoting quite a bit from Mallory's letters home and the writings of his teammates. Tucked into the prose is a running commentary provided by Mallory's conjured spirit a la Messner, that comes off a bit awkward, more Messner than Mallory. There are chapters on each of Mallory's climbs, the 1933 British expedition, the 1960 and 1975 Chinese expeditions, a chapter on what Messner thinks happened on Mallory's summit attempt, and another on the 1999 discovery of his body.

The book doesn't contain any new information on Mallory or his climbs, but Messner's (Mallory's?) commentary makes for an interesting analysis. Messner does not believe that Mallory or the Chinese in 1960 scaled the Second Step, nor does he believe the Chinese found some old climbing gear above the Second Step. I get the feeling that Messner felt a bit defensive about the news circulating about George Mallory in 1999 and feels a special kinship with him as the other singular Man of Everest. The facts of the book regarding the early expeditions are sound, though Messner's opinion of the 1960 climb is a bit out-dated, as it was in 2001 generally accepted that three climbers made it to the top. I'm not a fan of this book (even read it a second time to make sure), but there's nothing really wrong with it. Maybe you'll like it!

This post is a revised and expanded version of an earlier entry, which can be found here.

It's True! Everest Kills, by Kim Wilson

Kim Wilson writes about climbing Mount Everest for young readers in It's True! Everest Kills. She covers both the mechanics of climbing the mountain and its history, highlighting the macabre, such as Maurice Wilson's reappearing remains, stepping over dead bodies, and Somervell's hacking up the lining of his larynx. She tells her readers what to expect on a modern commercial expedition, including preparation, cost, effort, risks, expedition life, and terrain. The history is generally accurate, with occasional mistakes. She focuses on the first ascent, but includes some of the early climbs (1922, 1924), the 1996 disaster, Miura's ski descent from the South Col, and youngest and oldest records (published when Miura was oldest and Temba Tsheri was youngest). There's humor in addition to the sick thrills, especially at the expense of the British, as the book is Australian. Andrew Plant provides amusing illustrations throughout the book, with a Yeti as a running gag. The book has an Australian focus, mentioning Mike Groom, Brigitte Muir, the heroism of Peter Madew in 2004, and notes several Australian records, such as Tim Macartney-Snape's sea-to-summit climb. Though there are several factual errors in this book, it's about average for what's out there on Everest for kids. At least this one's amusing!

Into the Silence, by Wade Davis

In his Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest, Wade Davis writes a beautiful, comprehensive, and emotionally engaging history of the British Everest climbs of the 1920s. He shows that the 1920s marked a new era in the sport of climbing, that there was "a growing divide between those of a new generation, who played in an altogether different league. The former used the language of war to describe their efforts and intentions on a mountain; the latter had lived through a war that allowed them to walk with grace and commitment at the very edge of death." Twenty of the men who climbed on Everest during the first three expeditions had lived through the ravages of a pitiless war, in which injury was a given and death likely. Davis, for the first time, connects these climbers' war careers with their climbing, providing a depth of perspective into their psyches that is missing from the earlier Everest literature. Davis also uncovers new sources on the expeditions, including Wheeler's 1921 expedition diary and the dzurtal Rinpoche's (of Rongbuk) spiritual autobiography.

I've been waiting to read a book like this one. Davis is careful with his facts, avoids the pitfalls of controversy, and writes vividly beyond my highest hopes for these early climbs. The book took longer than I expected to read, but I found myself savoring passages and rereading details that were new to me (and I've read a few Everest books before!). If you have any doubts about the voracity of his facts, consult his 45-page annotated bibliography, which is both a reference and a semi-narrative of his research efforts. More than anyone, Davis "gets" these climbers, even more so than the climbers themselves at times. With the war narrative comes an explanation for Hazard's solitary nature, Somervell's compassion, and Geoffrey Bruce's courage, among others. Davis uncovers personal details about Finch that explain why he was in such bad condition on the day of his physical that pulled him from the 1921 effort. He brings Wakefield, Morris, Wheeler, and Shebbeare back into the story lines. Time and again, Davis puts in the extra effort to turn the narrative of the three first climbs from a distant and odd happenstance into a living story. Please read this book! 

Alone to Everest, by Earl Denman

Earl Denman reveals the details of his illicit 1947 bare-bones attempt on Everest in Alone to Everest. His initial goal was to climb all eight of the Virunga volcanoes in Central Africa, and he decided that if he was successful, he would be ready to make a similar attempt upon the world's highest mountain. He climbs only with native support, and in Africa, he climbs barefoot, wearing only a ragged pair of shorts and shirt. After an unmitigated success on the volcanoes, he heads to India with 150 British pounds in his pocket and some second-rate equipment. He happens upon Karma Paul, who connects him with Tenzing Norgay and Ang Dawa. I really enjoy this depiction of Tenzing, as it shows both his resourcefulness and his own idealized ambitions. They travel through Sikkim legitimately and Tibet illegally, and make it to Rongbuk and well up the East Rongbuk Glacier before running out of resources and realizing that his equipment will not be sufficient to keep him alive in such an extreme environment.  

Denman's a man after my own heart in his hopeless romanticism, as well as his unattainable idealism in his own pursuits. He's level-headed in his treatment of others, but he pushes himself beyond the seemingly possible after the pursuit of his ambitions. He spends a bit of the book ruminating about his ambitions as well as mountains in general, and there's a quote of his that I found to be an interesting turn of phrase: "It is not men who go to high mountains who seek escape, but the people who never remove themselves from a crowded and noisy atmosphere of work and play." He has both an idealism about climbing and about his own abilities, as he shuns the use of oxygen in climbing high mountains, and he believes that he would need no further acclimatization to scale Everest after climbing the Rongbuk Glacier, merely warmer equipment and better weather. To read about Denman's life after Everest, look in Geoff Powter's Strange and Dangerous Dreams, which also contains a fair comparison of Denman with the other hopeless dreamer of Everest, Maurice Wilson.