Dark summit
by Nick Heil · first published 2008
25% recommend75% neutral
On May 15, 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. If David Sharp's death was shocking, it was hardly singular: despite unusually good weather, ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inqu
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Other great mountaineering books: Annapurna (already mentioned) -Herzog All of Ed Viesturs books are great The Summit - Pemba Gyaljie Dark Summit - Nick Heil Conquistadors of the Useless - Terray Eiger Dreams - Krakauer Denali's Howl - Hall
on “Into Thin Error: Mountaineer Ed Viesturs on Making Mistakes (2010)” ↗A progression of books on high altitude climbing. Have read Into thin air, the climb, dark summit in the past month or two, currently reading no way down and have Annapurna: The first conquest of a 8000m peak and The will to climb out from the library. Reason, finally have the motivation to loose…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗…Everest if I could ever afford it. You know, one those idle "I'll do that someday thoughts" we all have. Once I hit the "I could afford this" point I started researching Everest...read Into Thin Air, Dark Summit, No Shortcuts to the Top, etc., watched every documentary I could get my hands on, even talked with one of the climbers featured on the Discovery series that featured Russel Brice's company. I've concluded…
on “Two Billion Pixel Photo of Mount Everest (can you find the climbers?)” ↗Into Thin Air is a really intersting book, i remember myself looking at maps of Mt Everest whilst reading it. It got me interested in the Mt Everest spectacle. I just finished reading Dark Summit which, imo, was not as interesting but it does show, in a better way than ITA, how in these extreme conditions persons struggle a lot with the simplest tasks and becomes selfish and only focusing on one…
on “Mt Everest in 3D: Everest Avalanche Tragedy” ↗