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10 reviews for:
One Mountain Thousand Summits: The Untold Story of Tragedy and True Heroism on K2
Freddie Wilkinson
3.32 AVERAGE
10 reviews for:
One Mountain Thousand Summits: The Untold Story of Tragedy and True Heroism on K2
Freddie Wilkinson
3.32 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
tense
Once the focus shifted away from the blogs and towards the Sherpas, this became a book I could not put down.
Bit too much jumping around from person to person sometimes, when you really just wanted to continue along the same thread - it’s like the author didn’t have confidence in their writing and we’d get bored. No, it’s ok, this book was great!! Very nuanced and the author is also clearly a very thoughtful & educated person.
Bit too much jumping around from person to person sometimes, when you really just wanted to continue along the same thread - it’s like the author didn’t have confidence in their writing and we’d get bored. No, it’s ok, this book was great!! Very nuanced and the author is also clearly a very thoughtful & educated person.
I've read lots of mountaineering books and this one, unfortunately, just failed to capture my interest. "One Mountain, Thousand Summits" isn't so much about the tragic expedition on K2, one of the deadliest mountains in the Himalayas, but about who knew what, when about the 11 people who died. For the most part, I just kept thinking "who cares?" who told what story to the media.
Freddie Wilkinson objects the way expedition tragedies are covered by the media but also the way mountaineering "firsts" are covered. He objects to the media publishing sketchy information, but also that the media's efforts to get accurate information crashed a website. Basically, the book felt like an indictment of the media's interest in mountaineering accidents, which seemed strange since Wilkinson himself has written and is selling a book that is all about a mountaineering tragedy.
I didn't find this book to be well written or particularly interesting. There are so many great mountaineering books out there -- this isn't one of them sadly.
Freddie Wilkinson objects the way expedition tragedies are covered by the media but also the way mountaineering "firsts" are covered. He objects to the media publishing sketchy information, but also that the media's efforts to get accurate information crashed a website. Basically, the book felt like an indictment of the media's interest in mountaineering accidents, which seemed strange since Wilkinson himself has written and is selling a book that is all about a mountaineering tragedy.
I didn't find this book to be well written or particularly interesting. There are so many great mountaineering books out there -- this isn't one of them sadly.
Man, there are so many interesting details about the disaster in this book and the author has clearly done a mountain of research. However it is incredibly disorganized and at times hard to follow.
The focus of the book jumps all over the place as well. Lots of seemingly random historical details, then to the focus on media mishandling, then to a discussion of the complicated relationships between sherpas and clients, then back to the details of the disaster, etc. All interesting topics worthy of focus but not organized or connected particularly well.
I really enjoyed the section about Pemba's life and point of view, and appreciated the effort taken to uncover what might have happened to Ger.
The focus of the book jumps all over the place as well. Lots of seemingly random historical details, then to the focus on media mishandling, then to a discussion of the complicated relationships between sherpas and clients, then back to the details of the disaster, etc. All interesting topics worthy of focus but not organized or connected particularly well.
I really enjoyed the section about Pemba's life and point of view, and appreciated the effort taken to uncover what might have happened to Ger.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
I enjoyed this book but I had a hard time keeping the climbers straight. This was particularly sad because they each had such full and complex lives that should be remembered.
I'm definitely a believer that there were no villains on the mountain and recollection and decision-making can quickly become impaired with so little oxygen.
I'm definitely a believer that there were no villains on the mountain and recollection and decision-making can quickly become impaired with so little oxygen.
This was a captivating account of what happened on K2 in August 2008, specifically from the point of view of the Sherpas.
Few news events captured my attention (much to the chagrin of my advisor who wanted my attention on research) as much as the 2008 K2 disaster in which 11 mountaineers died high on the mountain. Much of the reporting, while utterly captivating, sucked for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is that none of the journalists could get their stories straight.
Fast forward two years and we now have two books that attempt to fill the serac-size gaps left by the mainstream news. One, "No Way Down", is written by a journalist, Graham Bowley, who originally covered the event in 2008. The Other is "One Mountain Thousand Summits", written by professional mountaineer Freddie Wilkinson. While "No Way Down" is currently the more popular book, OMTS is by far the superior work.
What Wilkinson lacks in prose style compared to Bowley (which is not much), he more than makes up for in depth of research, passion for the subject, great background knowledge of mountaineering, and general competence. The amount of research he performs in trying to piece together an accurate depiction of that week is astounding. At one point, in trying to piece together the final moments of a certain mountaineer, he discovers that an hour difference between photographic evidence and other mountaineers' recollections stemmed from differing daylight savings time in Pakistan compared to the rest of the world. This makes his arguments much stronger, especially when positing certain hypotheses (I won't spoil the fun for you) that aren't yet mainstream media view.
In addition to research, he also exploits his background as a mountaineer. He spends time climbing with and interviewing the Sherpas on the K2 expedition, which is smart because a) they were the strongest climbers on the trip, b) they were the ones saving other climbers and c) their stories were never told to journalists. He recounts the bifurcating histories of siege-style/guided ascents and its alpine counterpart and even compares the biases of newspaper to blog and website reporting.
I have stopped giving stars to books, but I'm going to make an exception here for a couple reasons. First, OMTS is a great book which sadly is being outsold by the inferior but more effectively marketed "No Way Down". Second, there are only 6 ratings (so far) of this book, and one of the poorer ones was left by a person who bestowed her highest rating to a work called "The Bachelorette Party"... Seriously?
The book isn't perfect. The ending sags a bit and Wilkinson, although a mountaineer, is not an 8000m-peak veteran such as Ed Viesturs, who I thought showed a bit more depth in his K2 book. (Of course, my infinite wisdom comes from reading a few mountaineering books and sitting in front of a computer for 14 hours a day). But in all, this is a damn fine book.
Fast forward two years and we now have two books that attempt to fill the serac-size gaps left by the mainstream news. One, "No Way Down", is written by a journalist, Graham Bowley, who originally covered the event in 2008. The Other is "One Mountain Thousand Summits", written by professional mountaineer Freddie Wilkinson. While "No Way Down" is currently the more popular book, OMTS is by far the superior work.
What Wilkinson lacks in prose style compared to Bowley (which is not much), he more than makes up for in depth of research, passion for the subject, great background knowledge of mountaineering, and general competence. The amount of research he performs in trying to piece together an accurate depiction of that week is astounding. At one point, in trying to piece together the final moments of a certain mountaineer, he discovers that an hour difference between photographic evidence and other mountaineers' recollections stemmed from differing daylight savings time in Pakistan compared to the rest of the world. This makes his arguments much stronger, especially when positing certain hypotheses (I won't spoil the fun for you) that aren't yet mainstream media view.
In addition to research, he also exploits his background as a mountaineer. He spends time climbing with and interviewing the Sherpas on the K2 expedition, which is smart because a) they were the strongest climbers on the trip, b) they were the ones saving other climbers and c) their stories were never told to journalists. He recounts the bifurcating histories of siege-style/guided ascents and its alpine counterpart and even compares the biases of newspaper to blog and website reporting.
I have stopped giving stars to books, but I'm going to make an exception here for a couple reasons. First, OMTS is a great book which sadly is being outsold by the inferior but more effectively marketed "No Way Down". Second, there are only 6 ratings (so far) of this book, and one of the poorer ones was left by a person who bestowed her highest rating to a work called "The Bachelorette Party"... Seriously?
The book isn't perfect. The ending sags a bit and Wilkinson, although a mountaineer, is not an 8000m-peak veteran such as Ed Viesturs, who I thought showed a bit more depth in his K2 book. (Of course, my infinite wisdom comes from reading a few mountaineering books and sitting in front of a computer for 14 hours a day). But in all, this is a damn fine book.
I liked this book a lot. From the moment I started reading about K2 I wanted so much information and I feel that this book truly gave me that. Not only about the 2008 disaster but about lots of others things. Very interesting!
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
Back in the mountains, only this time in Pakistan on K2.
This books rates right up there with Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster, for me anyway. Let me make it clear, from the start, Freddie Wilkinson was not present in August 2008 when disaster hit K2. However, he has done fantastic research, he is a mountain climber and this book proves he can write. It kept me riveted.
Eleven men died on the slopes of K2 that day.
"..whereas on Everest climbers frequently slip into a beguiling state of exhaustion, eventually succumbing to the elements, the causes of death on K2 tell a different story. More than half the of the fatalities that have occurred on the mountain are result of traumatic events."
Although Everest is higher than K2, K2 is the more dangerous climb. Wilkinson begins the story in base camp, and for nearly 1/2 the book gives the hour by hour telling of the climb and tragedy. His research was done and he uses blogs and interviews to back up the telling. The second half of the book explores the who and why. I especially liked that he put the Sherpa-Climbers in a new perspective for the reader and you learn a lot about their life and culture.
If you liked Into Thin Air, you will want to read this one.
This books rates right up there with Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster, for me anyway. Let me make it clear, from the start, Freddie Wilkinson was not present in August 2008 when disaster hit K2. However, he has done fantastic research, he is a mountain climber and this book proves he can write. It kept me riveted.
Eleven men died on the slopes of K2 that day.
"..whereas on Everest climbers frequently slip into a beguiling state of exhaustion, eventually succumbing to the elements, the causes of death on K2 tell a different story. More than half the of the fatalities that have occurred on the mountain are result of traumatic events."
Although Everest is higher than K2, K2 is the more dangerous climb. Wilkinson begins the story in base camp, and for nearly 1/2 the book gives the hour by hour telling of the climb and tragedy. His research was done and he uses blogs and interviews to back up the telling. The second half of the book explores the who and why. I especially liked that he put the Sherpa-Climbers in a new perspective for the reader and you learn a lot about their life and culture.
If you liked Into Thin Air, you will want to read this one.