No Way Down: Life and Death on K2
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Review
Riveting and powerful; an extraordinary story of an extraordinary tragedy. Reading No Way Down is the closest you can come to being on the summit of K2 on that fateful day (Sir Ranulph Fiennes )
A gripping hour-by-hour dissection of events in the Western Himalaya over three deadly days... a fitting shelfmate to the modern classic Into Thin Air (Brian Schofield Sunday Times )
Stories of heroism, sadness and extraordinary endurance against all the odds are woven into a thrilling drama (Christopher Hudson Daily Mail )
Unputdownable... a portrait of extreme courage, folly and loss, leavened by a small dose of survival' (Financial Times )
Artfully and assiduously pieces together an account of a fractious day in brutal real time. Fatality by fatality... devastating (New York Times )
A tour de force of a book...a triumph of storytelling (Associated Press )
Probably the best mountain-disaster memoir since Into Thin Air (Mail on Sunday )
One of the best books I've ever read. But take it to the beach at your peril - it's impossible to put down. Sunburn is guaranteed (Outdoor Science )
A gripping hour-by-hour dissection of events in the Western Himalaya over three deadly days... a fitting shelfmate to the modern classic Into Thin Air (Brian Schofield Sunday Times )
Stories of heroism, sadness and extraordinary endurance against all the odds are woven into a thrilling drama (Christopher Hudson Daily Mail )
Unputdownable... a portrait of extreme courage, folly and loss, leavened by a small dose of survival' (Financial Times )
Artfully and assiduously pieces together an account of a fractious day in brutal real time. Fatality by fatality... devastating (New York Times )
A tour de force of a book...a triumph of storytelling (Associated Press )
Probably the best mountain-disaster memoir since Into Thin Air (Mail on Sunday )
One of the best books I've ever read. But take it to the beach at your peril - it's impossible to put down. Sunburn is guaranteed (Outdoor Science )
Product Description
The summit of K2, 1 August 2008. An exhausted band of climbers pump their fists into the clear blue sky - joining the elite who have conquered the world's most lethal mountain. But as they celebrate, far below them an ice shelf collapses and sweeps away their ropes. They don't know it yet, but they will be forced to descend into the blackness with no lines. Of the thirty who set out, eleven will never make it back.
No Way Down weaves a tale of human courage, folly, survival and devastating loss. The stories are heart-wrenching: the young married couple whose rope was torn apart by an avalanche, sending the husband to his death; the 61-year-old Frenchman who called his family from near the summit to say he wouldn't make it home. So what drove them to try to conquer this elusive peak? And what went wrong that fateful day?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The book is very well written (by a journalist) and reads like an investigative report into what happened during the 2008 K2 disaster. The story and characters come alive through reconstructed conversations and once I started reading it, I struggled to put it down. It describes not only the events, but also the individual characters, their personalities and feelings towards eachother and how cooperation among different teams broke down.
The bits I did not like were in the Epilogue where he questions climbers motivations for climbing, the moral issues of climbing and the impact on the climbers families. While those questions are all relevant, I found his comments too superficial to do justice to a complex subject. Would have preferred if he had kept those questions out, and focused the story purely on what happened.
Overall, I really liked the book and can highly recommend it.
The bits I did not like were in the Epilogue where he questions climbers motivations for climbing, the moral issues of climbing and the impact on the climbers families. While those questions are all relevant, I found his comments too superficial to do justice to a complex subject. Would have preferred if he had kept those questions out, and focused the story purely on what happened.
Overall, I really liked the book and can highly recommend it.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book based on the description and favorable reviews given by other authors.
What is missing from the reviews and the description (and what was slightly disappointing) is the fact that the book was written not by a witness/survivor of the events but by a journalist who investigated the story.
In my opinion it is misleading to call it "an Into Thin Air for a new century" as Doug Stanton put it.
Into Thin Air was also written by a journalist, but actually a member of the expedition and a climber which makes a huge difference when you read the book.
Therefore, to me the book although well written feels more like a dry reportage of the facts and events that were recreated by the author based on the interviews with the survivors and families of the deceased. It lacks the first hand experience/ feelings of a witness unlike in Into Thin Air.
That's the main reason it gets 4 stars from me.
The parts describing actual climbing or descending are very short and concentrated more on the result.
At the same time you will find a lot of information on the history of K2 ascends and plenty of details about the people who took part in 2008 expedition and their families. Sometimes I thought such detailed information was slightly distracting from the main story.
Very well written book, gives an objective report of the tragic events on K2 in 2008.
Has colour photos inside that were taken by members of the expedition.
Would recommend to read.
What is missing from the reviews and the description (and what was slightly disappointing) is the fact that the book was written not by a witness/survivor of the events but by a journalist who investigated the story.
In my opinion it is misleading to call it "an Into Thin Air for a new century" as Doug Stanton put it.
Into Thin Air was also written by a journalist, but actually a member of the expedition and a climber which makes a huge difference when you read the book.
Therefore, to me the book although well written feels more like a dry reportage of the facts and events that were recreated by the author based on the interviews with the survivors and families of the deceased. It lacks the first hand experience/ feelings of a witness unlike in Into Thin Air.
That's the main reason it gets 4 stars from me.
The parts describing actual climbing or descending are very short and concentrated more on the result.
At the same time you will find a lot of information on the history of K2 ascends and plenty of details about the people who took part in 2008 expedition and their families. Sometimes I thought such detailed information was slightly distracting from the main story.
Very well written book, gives an objective report of the tragic events on K2 in 2008.
Has colour photos inside that were taken by members of the expedition.
Would recommend to read.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read many books on climbing but never anything about K2. I never realised just how difficult and dangerous this mountain could be.
The author, Graham Bowley, has obviously been very painstaking in interviews with the survivors and it shows in the sheer excellence of his writing. I felt as though I had climbed and descended the mountain myself by the end of the book. The story of the tragedy does not pull any punches so be prepared for sudden shocks en-route.
Also very helpful were the excellent photographs taken and included in the book. Do not miss out on a first class read if you enjoy climbing!
The author, Graham Bowley, has obviously been very painstaking in interviews with the survivors and it shows in the sheer excellence of his writing. I felt as though I had climbed and descended the mountain myself by the end of the book. The story of the tragedy does not pull any punches so be prepared for sudden shocks en-route.
Also very helpful were the excellent photographs taken and included in the book. Do not miss out on a first class read if you enjoy climbing!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
No Way Down
A brilliant, gripping and exhilarating account of the tragedy and heroism on K2. Although the book ends abruptly, this is a fascinating account of the disaster and the struggle for... Read more
Published 7 days ago by E Hirom
Dissapointing
I was thoroughly dissapointed by the way that the tragic events on K2 were described. The unfortunate people around which this story revolves are seen from a very distant view and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by TheNosh
Not up to the hype
Bought this on the back of the subject matter and the 'recommendations' on the inside and back cover (silly me). This is no 'Thin Air' for the 21st century as one quote states. Read more
Published 10 months ago by DaveM
Too late
This is a gripping and frightening read about death on K2. I read the book in a couple of days though I had to be careful to pick the spot for an overnight break. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Noel
Dissapointing
Read the review in Sunday Times and was gripped by the subject matter.Kicked myself for buying a new hard-back like this, as it was a tedious read. Read more
Published 11 months ago by hardcheese
Fascinating, if Disinterested Mountaineering Non-Fiction
Mountaineering and me: we have a bit of a thing.
We have a bit of a thing because my Dad has a bit of a thing, and I was a Daddy's boy all the way. Read more
We have a bit of a thing because my Dad has a bit of a thing, and I was a Daddy's boy all the way. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Niall Alexander
Hopefully not the best mountaineering book since "Into Thin Air"
"No Way Down" has been marketed as the best mountaineering book since "Into Thin Air", but I hope not - there must have been better ones during that period. Read more
Published 11 months ago by S. Lewis
A disappointing book
I expected a lot more from this book than I got. I thought it was a little disjointed and it got a little tiresome to have to keep referring back to parts that I had already read. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Colin Winship
Great read but not "Into Thin Air"
A pretty gripping and entertaining read. Not as great as "Into Thin Air" but I still ended up finishing it in a few days. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Dr. Edward Scarth
the keystone kops go climbing...
The Keystone cops take on K2. What a sorry tale, told in a pretty poor way. None of the climbers (?) come out of this sorry episode with much credit, And the author certainly... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Fred Dibner
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