The Climb | 
 enlarge | Authors: Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston Dewalt
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  256 reviews
Sales Rank: 19996
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st St. Martin's Griffin ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312206372
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.522095496
EAN: 9780312206376
ASIN: 0312206372
Publication Date: July 16, 1999
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Amazon.com
The Climb is Russian mountaineer Anatoli Boukreev's account of the harrowing May 1996 Mount Everest attempt, a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of eight people. The book is also Boukreev's rebuttal to accusations from fellow climber and author Jon Krakauer, who, in his bestselling memoir, Into Thin Air, suggests that Boukreev forfeited the safety of his clients to achieve his own climbing goals. Investigative writer and Climb coauthor G. Weston DeWalt uses taped statements from the surviving climbers and translated interviews from Boukreev to piece together the events and prove to the reader that Boukreev's role was heroic, not opportunistic. Boukreev refers to the actions of expedition leader Scott Fischer throughout the ascent, implying that factors other than the fierce snowstorm may have caused this disaster. This new account sparks debate among both mountaineers and those who have followed the story through the media and Krakauer's book. Readers can decide for themselves whether Boukreev presents a laudable defense or merely assuages his own bruised ego.
Product Description
In May 1996 three expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Crowded conditions slowed their progress. Late in the day twenty-three men and women-including expedition leaders Scott Fischer and Rob Hall-were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disoriented and out of oxygen, climbers struggled to find their way down the mountain as darkness approached. Alone and climbing blind, Anatoli Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death. This new edition includes a transcript of the Mountain Madness expedition debriefing recorded five days after the tragedy, as well as G. Weston DeWalt's response to Into Thin Air author Jon Krakauer.
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 The 1996 Disaster From Another View Point April 20, 2008
In 1996 one of the worst mountain climbing disasters that ever occurred on Mt. Everest took place. This tale of death and near death has been told and retold a number of times. With too many people who have paid large sums of money trying to reach the top, disastrous weather conditions, and bad judgments, loss of life was inevitable. It can be argued, that some of these deaths were needless, and that other actions would have brought other outcomes. If you are going to read only one book about this disaster, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is considered one of the best, and if I had to choose between Krakauer's book and Anatoli Boukreev's The Climb, I would choose Into Thin Air. Still, there are often two sides to a story, and Krakauer heavily criticized the actions of Boukreeve in his telling. The Climb gives you another perspective on what happened, showing Anatoli Boukreeve as more of a hero than someone who could have done more as Krakauer alleges. He stepped into the storm and rescued three of his own clients, bringing them down alive in a raging storm. Yet, could he have saved others? People who were not part of his expedition? This is the crux of the criticisms levied against Anatoli. This book, in many ways, feels like Anitoli trying to defend himself against Krakauers criticisms, but if you would like to hear more of the story, from another point of view, then I would recommend reading this book. When you are done, you can try to make your own judgment on what really happened.
 Must read this together with Into Thin Air April 19, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
After i read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, i thought i knew all there was to know about the 1996 Everest tragedy. Was i wrong.
In Jon's book, Toli (Anatoli) was cast as a villian who knowingly put his clients at risks. After reading this book, i felt that Toli was the real hero in the tragedy. A few things strucked me:
1. Toli came across as a humble and private person who just wanted to be in the mountains. This almost spiritual tie with the mountains shone throughout this book. Climbing mountains was all he ever wanted to do.
2. Unlike Jon's book, this one didn't indulge in any conjectures. This gave Toli's account an air of honesty and somewhat more credibility.
3. Toli was a superb climber (probably the best on both expeditions) trained in the best Soviet traditions whose actions on Everest were made based on what he thought was best for the safety of the clients. It was way too easy for Jon and others, especially amateurs, to restrospectively point fingers at him.
4. Quite a number of people owed their lives to his personal bravery. I thought that this fact is the most telling point in the entire tragedy.
5. Toli's poor command of English hampered him in his work in the expeditions and prevented him from explaining why he did certain things. This unfortunate fact alone could have cast him in a bad light on everyone's account of what happened.
Read both books to find out what happened in 1996 but be wary of Jon's biased and ungrounded conjectures. Jon's book is by no means the official account of what happened. Read Toli's account to get a balanced view. Personally, i'm more inclined to believe in Toli's account. I was sad when i found out that this heroic man died in his beloved mountains in 1997.
Read both books and see if you agree with me.
A good report on some excellent reportage April 18, 2008
I was informed of Boukeev and DeWalt's THE CLIMB by a friend of mine who is an avid high altitude climber. Having read Krakauer's INTO THIN AIR, I was interested in other points of view of the May, 1996 Everest climb. Krakauer does a fine job in his self identified "personal account", but I felt that both a differing view and a less "personal" examination might go a long way to explaining the problems of the climb, the philosophy of commercial climbing, and enhance my understanding of that year's terrible loss of life on Everest. THE CLIMB did not disappoint me. I came away with all that I sought. Reading both books (INTO THIN AIR & THE CLIMB) provided me with a better understanding and a more well rounded viewpoint than reading either book to the exclusion of the other. I would highly recommend that those who are interested read both titles back to back to obtain the full informational effect. Then, make up your own mind about the danger and death encountered on that May in 1996.
Essential but not as pretty as some other books about Everest 1996 March 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book joins a group of other memoirs of the tragic 1996 season on Everest - - Jon Krakauer's famous "Into Thin Air," as well as chapters in Ed Viesturs' and David Breashears' autobiographies, among others. Boukreev stands in a special position among these. He behaved heroically in saving several climbers' lives in an emergency, but he has attracted criticism from Krakauer that, if he had guided differently earlier in the day there would not have been an emergency.
This book is Boukreev's response to his critics, and a full story of his role as a guide on Scott Fischer's expedition. The story begins with how he came to join Fischer, and the borderline fiasco of ordering oxygen bottles in Russia for the expedition.
The disaster unfolded as a result of decisions by two rival guides, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. Thanks to Boukreev, only Fischer died among Fischer's team. Hall's team lost four, including Hall. Clearly, Boukreev deserves a lot of credit for the different results. But could he have done better? He summitted quickly, without oxygen, and returned to his tent to rest in case he was needed for a rescue. Apparently Fischer and Boukreev had agreed on this plan. But Viesturs, in an otherwise sympathetic account, wonders whether it would be better to prevent an emergency than to rest up in case of one. That point seems right to me, but it does not diminish Boukreev's heroism once the emergency develops.
Boukreev, whose English is shaky, wrote this book with Weston DeWalt. Most of the narrative is well polished. However, DeWalt chose to reproduce a transcript of their conversations during the key moments atop Everest. This decision gives the narrative an authenticity and immediacy, but I don't agree with it. Boukreev speaks stereotypical Russian-accented English and ends up sounding like Boris and Natasha from "Bullwinkle and Rocky." I liked DeWalt's reworking of the raw material up to that point, and I wish he had continued doing that.
If you're interested in the 1996 Everest disaster, this book is essential for you to make up your own mind about those events. If you're interested in mountaineering, it's a good book - - Boukreev was a phenomenal climber and this book provides a dramatic account of key events in his life. It doesn't put the 1996 story into full context as do the other books I mentioned above, but I'd recommend it nonetheless.
An honest, straightforward account. March 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
You'll know it as soon as you get into it. Boukreev and DeWalt aren't slick; they wrote an account of events that rings true. If you read Krakauer's Into Thin Air, you'll know what I mean by slick writing. And if you read any later Krakauer works (Under the Banner of Heaven), you'll also understand how he starts with a pre-formed opinion of a topic, then proceeds to "investigate". The man does hatchet jobs on people, and he certainly chopped up Boukreev pretty good.
If Boukreev was such a lousy guide, why did he get a meritorious medal? Why did he turn around and go after 3 stranded people on Everest? Does that seem like a selfish coward? I don't think so. Cowards stay in their tents. Why would Krakauer assume the worst about a guy like that, and not accept his explanations? Krakauer wrote that he had more than a little guilt from own inabilities and non-actions, and wrote Into Thin Air partly as a catharsis, so maybe he just needed to share the load. Whatever the reason, after reading The Climb, Anatoli comes off as a big man, in my opinion, speaking well and complimentary about most everybody involved in that expedition, even those who didn't deserve it. And Krakauer? If he approaches you on the street and wants to chat, run like hell. Don't say anything he can use in a book.
The Climb gives a great understanding of what all goes on to pull together a remote climbing expedition. Some people say its difficult to read because it interlaces Boukreev's translated narrative with sections written by DeWalt. Two different kinds of type are used to distinguish the difference. It's not hard; it reads easy. It's enjoyable, exciting and interesting, and mostly -- it reads true. Check it out for yourself, read both books, and then ask yourself who you would rather have a beer with after a hike, Boukreev or Krakauer? That will be a pretty good intuitive yardstick of where you think the truth is located.
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