Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season Review

The Booklist Review said that this book was more for mountaineering enthusiasts and I wholeheartedly disagree. I have never climbed a mountain, never thought about it, and never plan to. I don't even particularly care for hiking! However, I did watch the Discovery Channel show Beyond the Limit and was thoroughly captivated by it. Prior to that show, I had no concept of what it meant to climb Everest. I found myself completely intrigued by it, and have since had an entirely different view about it.

I picked this book up in part because I wanted to revisit some of the people I remembered from the show. I found the book extremely interesting. I was fascinated by the backstory and delving more deeply into the circumstances of that climbing year. I even enjoyed the background information and the history about climbing. If I have any criticism it is simply that it was at times frustrating trying to keep all the names and climbing teams straight. I'm not sure how that could have been handled differently, but that is my one and only criticism.

I liked that the author did not use this book to lay blame at anyone's feet. I thought it was a very objective work, which is a rare treat in a work of this nature. Heil tells the story with vigor, purpose, and beauty.

Highly enjoyable read, even if you aren't a climber!

Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season Overview

In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, Nick Heil recounts the harrowing story of the deadly and controversial 2006 climbing season on Everest.

In early May 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall’s death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter.

If David Sharp’s death was shocking, it was not singular: despite unusually good weather, ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. He introduces Russell Brice, the outfitter who has done more than anyone to provide access to the summit via the mountain’s north side–and who some believe was partially responsible for Sharp’s death. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus.

Written by an experienced climber and outdoor writer, Dark Summit is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiralled out of control.


From the Hardcover edition.

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