A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

In May of 1963, Seattle mountaineer Jim Whittaker stepped into world history by becoming the first American to summit Mount Everest. More than fifty years later, he is still regarded as a seminal figure in North American mountaineering, as well as an astute businessman who helped create the outdoor recreation industry.

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond is Jim's courageous, no-punches-pulled autobiography and a look at a peripatetic, sometimes difficult life. Beyond the glory of the Everest summit and his other extraordinary climbing feats, including the first American summit of K2, he openly describes his personal, “everyman” experience of social upheaval in the 1960s and '70s, an early divorce, family strife, a passionate new love later in life, near-bankruptcy, and business triumphs and losses. Jim tells it all with verve and honesty and, true to his nature, turns every setback into the stage for new adventure.

This special fiftieth anniversary edition celebrates the story of Jim's life and features a new foreword by Ed Viesturs, as well as a new final chapter that brings listeners up to date, including details of Jim's trek to Everest Base Camp in 2012 and his son Leif's recent successful summits of Everest.

1111872362
A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

In May of 1963, Seattle mountaineer Jim Whittaker stepped into world history by becoming the first American to summit Mount Everest. More than fifty years later, he is still regarded as a seminal figure in North American mountaineering, as well as an astute businessman who helped create the outdoor recreation industry.

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond is Jim's courageous, no-punches-pulled autobiography and a look at a peripatetic, sometimes difficult life. Beyond the glory of the Everest summit and his other extraordinary climbing feats, including the first American summit of K2, he openly describes his personal, “everyman” experience of social upheaval in the 1960s and '70s, an early divorce, family strife, a passionate new love later in life, near-bankruptcy, and business triumphs and losses. Jim tells it all with verve and honesty and, true to his nature, turns every setback into the stage for new adventure.

This special fiftieth anniversary edition celebrates the story of Jim's life and features a new foreword by Ed Viesturs, as well as a new final chapter that brings listeners up to date, including details of Jim's trek to Everest Base Camp in 2012 and his son Leif's recent successful summits of Everest.

19.95 In Stock
A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

by Jim Whittaker

Narrated by Traber Burns

Unabridged — 9 hours, 45 minutes

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond

by Jim Whittaker

Narrated by Traber Burns

Unabridged — 9 hours, 45 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$19.95
(Not eligible for purchase using B&N Audiobooks Subscription credits)

Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers


Overview

In May of 1963, Seattle mountaineer Jim Whittaker stepped into world history by becoming the first American to summit Mount Everest. More than fifty years later, he is still regarded as a seminal figure in North American mountaineering, as well as an astute businessman who helped create the outdoor recreation industry.

A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond is Jim's courageous, no-punches-pulled autobiography and a look at a peripatetic, sometimes difficult life. Beyond the glory of the Everest summit and his other extraordinary climbing feats, including the first American summit of K2, he openly describes his personal, “everyman” experience of social upheaval in the 1960s and '70s, an early divorce, family strife, a passionate new love later in life, near-bankruptcy, and business triumphs and losses. Jim tells it all with verve and honesty and, true to his nature, turns every setback into the stage for new adventure.

This special fiftieth anniversary edition celebrates the story of Jim's life and features a new foreword by Ed Viesturs, as well as a new final chapter that brings listeners up to date, including details of Jim's trek to Everest Base Camp in 2012 and his son Leif's recent successful summits of Everest.


Editorial Reviews

Sports Etc.

His story is as rich and inspirational as the actual events that he's experienced and written about.

Statesman Journal

Read this book even if you think you have no interest in mountain climbing. There is much more in it than any of us could guess.—Salem, OR

Idaho Falls Post Register

One doesn't have to be interested in climbing mountains to appreciate the biography of Jim Whittaker.

Outside Magazine

An old-fashioned modesty and a gift for reconciling climbers and countries_puts Whittaker in a class of his own.

Seattle Times

Whittaker shows a fine knack for retrieving from memory small outdoors sensations we all relate to in unexpectedly emotional ways.

Oregonian

This is one of those rare remembrances by a highly accomplished and celebrated individual in which the author's ego never eclipses his tale, and what a tale there is to tell.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Big Jim has written a blunt, consistently interesting book

Everett Herald

There's much, much more than one summit in Whittaker's memoirs. His life's stories mirror the changes in this country in many areas:

  • recreation
  • environment
  • presidents
  • peace efforts and nuclear bombs.

This is a book by a man who knows the importance of a well-lived life.

Hood River News

Whittaker writes engagingly about many topics_politics, business, the environment, religion while displaying keen curiosity about the world.

Klamath Falls Herald and News

Transcends the usual adventure tale because it focuses on the attachments to the outdoors and the challenges and frustrations of life.

Los Angeles Daily News

You can't ask for much more than Life on the Edge. The writing is generally good and the photos are splendid. ...a fine work. For the majority of us who will never set foot on the Himalayan peak, this book offers one of the best vistas of that experience.

Kirkus Reviews

Whittaker, the first American to summit Everest, tells here the story of his life thus far—he has managed to reach 70—which has been lived with the kind of intensity that only his adrenal glands can truly appreciate.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940169839876
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 09/25/2018
Edition description: Unabridged
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews