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Everest - Alone at the Summit
 
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Everest - Alone at the Summit (Paperback)

by Stephen Venables (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 236 pages
  • Publisher: Odyssey Books; New Ed edition (1 Dec 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0952937506
  • ISBN-13: 978-0952937500
  • Product Dimensions: 24 x 17 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 703,313 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

High magazine 1986
One of the best first books on the Himalaya for a very long time.

Climbing magazine 2002
Venables offers excellent and detailed historical background, whilst weaving a compelling narrative.

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57% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An enthralling revelation of the psychology of top climbers, 20 Jul 2001
What sets this book apart from lesser mountaineering literature is that rather than being contented with writing just an adventure story based on fact, Venables has worked hard to convey the changing psychological states of himself and his fellow climbers. From their despair at encountering an unexpected crevasse half-way up the mountain to their joyful abandoment of a vegetarian diet to eat the stolen prey of an eagle, Venables skillfully pulls the reader into the intense world of the climbing team.

The deeper you get into the book the more you come to realise how far removed from every day reality the team are during their attempt on the world's highest mountain. Their focus on anything other than the new route up Everest seems to dwindle and narrow until eventually the only reality for the climbers is the summit. The description of the nightmarish descent and retreat from the mountain is then so much more disturbing, as reality and the attendant pain suddenly come back into focus for Venables and his American colleagues.

An engaging and enjoyable read that you will find hard to put down.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Great story, 11 Mar 2001
By A Customer
This is a well-told story of an impressive new route. It has inspired me to go out and get into the mountains. I am not sure that it is 'brilliantly written', etc. as the other reviews suggest, but it is a real page-turner - I read it in 2 sittings.

It reveals some of the grim realities of the kind of people who can get to the top of Everest, without supplementary oxygen, but apart from the obvious statements like "they must be real egotists"; it is hard to say more. If you were not there, you can't say how they should have acted, or how you might have acted in their place.

I would say they seemed to push too hard on summit day. Again this is totally subjective, and if you don't push you will never get up there! It seems that only a minor turn for the worse in the weather would have seen three of them dead.

The book shows Mr Webster to be a great climber, acting very bravely waiting for his friend, instead of returning to the South Col, and then suffering the worst injuries. His new book, "Snow in the Kingdom", describing the same climb, should be available over here soon, and I will definitely buy it.

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth it for the photos alone, 3 Jul 2003
This review is from: Everest: The Summit of Achievement (Paperback)
A great book to leave on the coffee table to flick through. The book is full of early (1920's onwards) photographs, many previously unpublished as well as many more recent colour ones. The book is divided into a few sections and is not simply about the first team to make it to the top. Sections relate to the initial discovery via the triangulation of India that Everest was the highest peak, how the locals view the peak (and their true names for it), history of the Sherpa, first expeditions to the region and scouting of climbing routes and also more recent accents without oxygen etc.. The text is good but nothing new but is certainly good enough to read in bits and pieces as you do what the book intends - look at the amazing photographs, of the mountain itself, surrounding peaks and peoples. It all helps that the book is HUGE and hardback to do justice to the photographs on decent paper. A good purchase!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping, compelling tale - what a page turner
I know the title above is full of cliche, but this book is absolutely fab. Stephen venebles writes so well that you almost feel you were there on Everest with him! Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2002 by A. Sharad

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly brilliant, inspirational!
A brilliant book, inspiring, at times amusing, at times deadly serious. Having had only a mild interest in climbing this book has opened up a whole area of adventure I was unaware... Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Should not be allowed to become a forgotten classic
This is a truly terrific book, and certainly deserves a more prominent place in the Pantheon of mountain literature. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing mountaineering survival story
This is one of the best mountaineering books I have read. The gripping story of the descent leaves you in disbelief after each page that he survived. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 1999

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