Mountaineering
literature has a whole sub genre of climbing disaster stories.
Horror stories are amongst the most gripping reads of all, and
mountaineering is a fertile source of material. From Wymper's
original disaster on the Matterhorn to the Everest disaster
that befell two commercial expeditions in 1996, there are plenty
of great mountaineering disaster stories to
scare you half to death.
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Touching
the Void by Joe Simpson
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Touching
the void is the classic all time best selling climbing disaster
story. Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon, are descending
a peak in the Andes, when Joe, who already has a broken leg, falls
off a cliff. Joe cannot climb up the rope, and Simon cannot pull
him back. After some time, Simon, being a level headed sort, cuts
the rope with his Swiss army knife and heads back to base camp.
The rest is history.
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1996 there was a disaster involving two commercial Everest expeditions.
Rob Hall, the experienced Everest guide from New Zealand was guiding
his clients as he had done on previous years, to the summit of Everest.
A rival guide, Scott Fisher from the US, new to the Everest guiding
business, was leading his clients to the summit on the same day.
However, both parties were climbing too slowly. Rob Hall felt he
could not turn his clients around until Fischer turned his around.
But Fischer was exhausted and too low on the mountain to direct
his clients. As a result of the consequent delays, the ability to
return safely was compromised. Both guides died, together with many
of their clients. Just about all of the survivors have written a
book... |
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The
Totem Pole: And A Whole New Adventure by Paul Pritchard
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It
doesn't get much worse than this. The book recounts how the author
has just won the prestigous Boardman Tasker prize for mountaineering
literature. He uses the prize money to fund a 'round the world'
climbing adventure. In Australia, he decides to climb the 'Totem
Pole', a scary sea stack off the coast of Tasmania. The inevitable
accident happens - leaving Pritchard in a wheel chair, yet fortunately
still able to write...
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Fatal
Mountaineer: The life and death of Willi Unsoeld
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books tells the tale of the most mysterious of all mountaineering
disasters. Whilst on the US K2 expedition, Unsoeld sees the beautiful
mountain Nanda Devi in the distance. Later he names his daughter
after the peak. Years pass, and Nanda Devi takes up moutaineering
and eventually joins her father on an expedition to ... Nanda Devi.
Nanda Devi is regarded by the Hindus accompanying the expedition
as the goddess Nanda Devi herself. This tells the story of Nada
Devi and her meeting with the mountain. |
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Mallory
and Irvine
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disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on Everest on
6th June 1924 has spawned endless books. Did they make it to the
top? Until the camera they carried is found, we will never know...
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American
1953 K2 Epic
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1953 a team from the US was attempting K2. One team member, Art
Gilkey became ill, and during the emergency descent, the entire
team slipped and fell... |
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