Everest
The West Ridge
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Everest
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Narrated by:
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Tom Beyer
About this listen
In 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest via the South Col route. Roughly two weeks after Whittaker's achievement, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld, fellow American mountaineers on the same expedition, became the first climbers ever to summit the world's highest peak via the dangerous and forbidding West Ridge—a route on which only a handful of climbers have since succeeded.
This special fiftieth anniversary edition reintroduces the adventure in a larger format by members of the expedition, including leader Norman G. Dyhrenfurth and team doctor Jim Lester. In addition to a new foreword by Jon Krakauer, this volume also features a new preface by Hornbein along with a series of prefaces he wrote for earlier editions, including the original from 1965.
©1980, 2013 Thomas F. Hornbein; Foreword copyright 2013 by Jon Krakauer (P)2024 TantorPeople who viewed this also viewed...
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No Way Down
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- Narrated by: Sam Breen
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
In the tradition of Into Thin Air and Touching the Void, No Way Down by New York Times reporter Graham Bowley is the harrowing account of the worst mountain climbing disaster on K2, second to Everest in height . . . but second to no peak in terms of danger. From tragic deaths to unbelievable stories of heroism and survival, No Way Down is an amazing feat of storytelling and adventure writing, and, in the words of explorer and author Sir Ranulph Fiennes, "the closest you can come to being on the summit of K2 on that fateful day."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Why do they risk climbing K2?
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- Narrated by: Jim Davidson, Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 203
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On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.
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2 out of 5 stars
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No climbing here.
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- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
In The Mountain, veteran world-class climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs—the only American to have climbed all fourteen of the world's 8,000-meter peaks—trains his sights on Mount Everest in richly detailed accounts of expeditions that are by turns personal, harrowing, deadly, and inspiring.
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Stop with the accents!!
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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In 1967, seven young men, members of a twelve-man expedition led by twenty-four-year-old Joe Wilcox, were stranded at 20,000 feet on Alaska's Mount McKinley in a vicious Arctic storm. Ten days passed while the storm raged, yet no rescue was mounted. All seven perished in what remains the most tragic expedition in American climbing history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The depth of research thanks
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 848
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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.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good summary of the 2006 season
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At 28,251 feet, K2 might be almost 800 feet shorter than Everest, but it’s a far harder climb. It will kill you on the way up and the way down. Mick Conefrey guides us through the early story of the legendary mountain and the extraordinary attempts that led up to its first ascent in 1954 - these are tales of riveting drama and unimaginable tragedy.
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3 out of 5 stars
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First Review? It was an "okay" book
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No Way Down
- Life and Death on K2
- By: Graham Bowley
- Narrated by: Sam Breen
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
In the tradition of Into Thin Air and Touching the Void, No Way Down by New York Times reporter Graham Bowley is the harrowing account of the worst mountain climbing disaster on K2, second to Everest in height . . . but second to no peak in terms of danger. From tragic deaths to unbelievable stories of heroism and survival, No Way Down is an amazing feat of storytelling and adventure writing, and, in the words of explorer and author Sir Ranulph Fiennes, "the closest you can come to being on the summit of K2 on that fateful day."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Why do they risk climbing K2?
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The Next Everest
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- Narrated by: Jim Davidson, Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 177
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.
-
2 out of 5 stars
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No climbing here.
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By: Jim Davidson
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The Mountain
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- By: Ed Viesturs, David Roberts - contributor
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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4 out of 5 stars
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Stop with the accents!!
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By: Ed Viesturs, and others
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Forever on the Mountain
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- By: James M. Tabor
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
In 1967, seven young men, members of a twelve-man expedition led by twenty-four-year-old Joe Wilcox, were stranded at 20,000 feet on Alaska's Mount McKinley in a vicious Arctic storm. Ten days passed while the storm raged, yet no rescue was mounted. All seven perished in what remains the most tragic expedition in American climbing history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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The depth of research thanks
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 848
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 621
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good summary of the 2006 season
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 132
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3 out of 5 stars
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An honest look into why people climb mountains
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4 out of 5 stars
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Had to be written, doesn't have to be read
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Entertaining but Irresponsible Writing
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Joe Simpson, with just his partner, Simon Yates, tackled the unclimbed West Face of the remote 21,000-foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in June of 1985. But before they reached the summit, disaster struck. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frostbitten, to tell their non-climbing companion that Joe was dead. For three days he wrestled with guilt as they prepared to return home. Then a cry in the night took them out with torches, where they found Joe, badly injured.
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3 out of 5 stars
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This is not a book about the search for Sandy Irvine
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There is but one aim: the summit, the summit of Mount Everest. What starts with a trouble-free trek into the Nepalese highlands explodes into a gripping tale of hardship, peril, and adversity. Pushed beyond their physical and mental limits, climbers drop by the wayside. Their primal instincts for survival battle with their dogged resolve to drag themselves to the top of the world. But the focus remains: battle to the summit, and if successful, somehow get back down again.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Chocolate Bars and Pee
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Beyond the Mountain
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 416
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 366
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 364
What does it take to be one of the world's best high-altitude mountain climbers? A lot of fundraising; traveling in some of the world's most dangerous countries; enduring cold bivouacs, searing lungs, and a cloudy mind when you can least afford one. It means learning the hard lessons the mountains teach. Steve House built his reputation on ascents throughout the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram, and the Himalaya that have expanded possibilities of style, speed, and difficulty.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A life-changing book
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Buried in the Sky
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,243
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,081
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When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world’s most dangerous peak, two Sherpas survived. They had emerged from poverty and political turmoil to become two of the most skillful mountaineers on earth. Based on unprecedented access and interviews, Buried in the Sky reveals their astonishing story for the first time.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Sherpas, The True Unsung Heroes
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Left for Dead
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- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 449
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 404
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 404
In 1996, Beck Weathers and a climbing team pushed toward the summit of Mount Everest. Then a storm exploded on the mountain, ripping the team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl for their lives. In this powerful memoir, Weathers describes not only his escape from hypothermia and the murderous storm that killed eight climbers but the journey of his life. This is the story of a man's route to a dangerous sport and a fateful expedition, as well as the road of recovery he has traveled since.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bait-and-switch
- By Reggie on 05-07-19
By: Beck Weathers, and others
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Into the Silence
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- By: Wade Davis
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 28 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 475
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 412
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 412
In this magisterial work of history and adventure, based on more than a decade of prodigious research in British, Canadian, and European archives, and months in the field in Nepal and Tibet, Wade Davis vividly re-creates British climbers’ epic attempts to scale Mount Everest in the early 1920s. With new access to letters and diaries, Davis recounts the heroic efforts of George Mallory and his fellow climbers to conquer the mountain in the face of treacherous terrain and furious weather.
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4 out of 5 stars
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He wrote exquisite Eel-agies?
- By Florence on 11-29-12
By: Wade Davis
What listeners say about Everest
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 11-20-24
Intrepid and stimulating
This was a drastically different view of the 1963 Everest expedition than was presented by Jim Whittaker. I loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gene E.
- 10-03-24
Well done!
Well written and narrated. It felt like you part of the expedition to the top of the world.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lane
- 10-06-24
Great Story, Too Much Intro
Everything about this book was great except the 95 minites of forward, FOUR prefaces, and then a prologue. The story didn't start until NINETY FIVE MINUTES into this listen. The prefaces for the first three editions were unnecessary when an even longer one was written for this fourth edition. The entire story is spoiled by the time you get through the introductory materials. definitely better to be read on physical media so you can save all tgat for LAST and also see the pretty pictures.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Erikk
- 04-13-24
A true classic beautifully narrated.
The wonderful narration brings to life Hornbein's compelling, thoughtful and humble story of one of the grearest feats in mountaineering history.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- dom_a_j
- 04-30-24
What a great read!
And what an amazing adventure! Well written and narrated. Made you feel like you were part of the expedition!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- D. Westcot
- 03-25-25
BORING
I have read many books about Everest and enjoyed them immensely but this book was absolutely boring exacerbated by the soft spoken sing song narration, it was more like a book intended to put you to sleep. You have to listen to nearly 2 hours of introduction before the story even starts, but in retrospect the introductions and prefaces were more interesting, much more, than the telling of the tale. I quit the book after about 3 hours as I found it so dreadful. I picked it up initially just because one of the introductions was by Jon Krackauer who's Into Thin Air is one of the best books I have ever read. This one pales in comparison so much I found it intolerable
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-28-25
Lacking
I’ve read many books on Everest, this one is not good. Too much non mountain material.
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