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A review by zoe_o_
Hidden Mountains: Survival and Reckoning After a Climb Gone Wrong by Michael Wejchert
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
I've devoured title like Into Thin Air and No Way Down, where an intensely prepared group tackles the earth's tallest peaks in an intense live-or-die tale. But Wejchert sets his title apart by tackling a different kind of climbing disaster. One that describes the expeditions where no one died, but the injuries sustained profoundly changed the survivors' lives.
When four friends trekked into the Hidden Mountains to tackle an unnamed peak, they were well prepared and reasonably within the technical experience needed for this climb. But like every other disaster, luck holds more sway than any climber wants to admit, and one of the group takes a nasty fall.
As Wejchert describes the subsequent rescue mission, he takes the opportunity to dissect the generational divide in American climbing culture and our nearly nonexistent patchwork of search and rescue groups.
Though this is a tense and informative tale of an unfortunate 24 hour period deep in the Alaskan wilderness, it is also an argument to set up better support and search and rescue networks for the ever increasing climbing community.
*I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
When four friends trekked into the Hidden Mountains to tackle an unnamed peak, they were well prepared and reasonably within the technical experience needed for this climb. But like every other disaster, luck holds more sway than any climber wants to admit, and one of the group takes a nasty fall.
As Wejchert describes the subsequent rescue mission, he takes the opportunity to dissect the generational divide in American climbing culture and our nearly nonexistent patchwork of search and rescue groups.
Though this is a tense and informative tale of an unfortunate 24 hour period deep in the Alaskan wilderness, it is also an argument to set up better support and search and rescue networks for the ever increasing climbing community.
*I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*