Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

by Nick Heil Narrated by David Drummond

Overview

In early May 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 not singular: despite unusually good weather, ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. He introduces Russell Brice, the outfitter who has done more than anyone to provide access to the summit via the mountain's north side-and who some believe was partially responsible for Sharp's death. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus.



Written by an experienced climber and outdoor writer, Dark Summit is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiralled out of control.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Freelance journalist Heil, a former climbing instructor and Outside magazine editor, chronicles the deadly 2006 season on Everest, during which 11 climbers perished. Adding to the growing number of cautionary books about assaying the world's highest peak, the debut author focuses on two deaths and one miraculous rescue. Less accusatory than others who have recently peered up Everest, most notably Michael Kodas (High Crimes, 2008), Heil emphasizes the dangers that climbers inevitably assume and the near impossibility of effecting a rescue from high on the mountain. He is sympathetic to commercial operators like Russell Brice, who charges $40,000 for a "fully equipped" Everest climb but also, Heil argues, provides a margin of safety that many discount outfitters do not. Brice was vilified in 2006 when he ordered some of his summit team to abandon solo climber David Sharp, who was found near death atop the mountain. Brice's Sherpas tried in vain to rouse Sharp, but he was unresponsive and severely frostbitten. A rescue was nearly impossible, Brice contended, and would have probably cost the lives of the rescue team. But Sharp's death became even more controversial when another severely debilitated climber, Lincoln Hall, survived being left overnight in Everest's Death Zone. Heil agrees with those who felt that Sharp knowingly took severe risks and probably could not have been saved. He is less sanguine about the death that same week of German climber Thomas Weber, quoting several witnesses who claim that Weber's guide did little to help the stricken climber when he lost his vision atop the mountain and collapsed. The author sprinkles a smattering of Everest history into his clear-eyed ifless-than-gripping account, and while providing little that is groundbreaking, he does create a worthy primer on Everest mountaineering and a chilling look at the precarious line between success and tragedy. A dramatic story, ably and convincingly told. Agent: Sloan Harris/ICM

author of The Immaculate Invasion Bob Shacochis

Here is humanity itself, personified in exemplary fashion by Nick Heil, addressing the Everest culture’s lack of compassion and coming up with the right answers.”

New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldier Hampton Sides

Through rock-solid reporting and vital prose, Heil leads us up into this rarefied world, step by hypoxic step.”

AudioFile

Drummond stresses the ironies and dramatic moments in Heil’s work…[His] voice work humanizes the key figures.”

From the Publisher

“In this authoritative, colorful look at the grimmest Everest season in years, Dark Summit carries forward Outside magazine's formidable tradition of high alpine literature. Nick Heil is alive to Everest's majesty but fiercely skeptical of those hubristic souls who attempt to ‘conquer' her. Through rock-solid reporting and vital prose, Heil leads us up into this rarefied world, step by hypoxic step.” —Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder

“Here is humanity itself, personified in exemplary fashion by Nick Heil, addressing the Everest culture's lack of compassion and coming up with the right answers. Dark Summit is an extraordinary tale, ribboned with wisdom and profound insight, delivered by a first-rate storyteller. I consider the book not a sequel to Krakauer's Into Thin Air, but an equal.” —Bob Shacochis, author of The Immaculate Invasion

“Dark Summit illuminates the nuanced personalities of Everest's modern commercial age accurately, with neither heroic romanticism nor guile. Nick Heil takes a critical yet objective look at Everest and the community of Everest climbers, and then leaves you to pass judgment. If you couldn't put down Into Thin Air, you must read Dark Summit to understand what it means to climb Everest today and why anyone might accept the risk.” —Peter Athans, seven-time Everest summiter and The North Face athlete

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171241506
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	08/18/2008
Edition description:	Unabridged

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