Voices From the Mountains - Hardcover

Venables, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076210810X ISBN 13: 9780762108107

Publisher: Readers Digest, 2006

Synopsis

Arranged geographically by region, a collection of travel narratives recalls the experiences of some of the world's top mountaineers as they climbed some of the world's most challenging peaks, in a richly illustrated volume that provides a description of each mountain, as well as the various expeditions to Everest, Lhotse Middle, Mount Erebus, El Capitan, and other peaks.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—In his introduction, Venables quotes William Blake: "Great things are done when men and mountains meet." The stories and photographs collected here provide ample testimony to that observation. These tales of triumph and tragedy, of endurance and daring, are indeed tales of great things accomplished by men and women who, to paraphrase Edmund Hillary, conquer not so much the mountain as themselves. In the adventures profiled here, readers find no shortage of human agony, broken bones, frostbite, dehydration, starvation, and death. Mountain climbing demands boldness, bravery, persistence. But most of all it requires respect for the power and majesty of nature. These climbers are never cavalier, never careless, and they never underestimate the difficulties they will face. In story after story, Venables lets the climbers answer the question all non-climbers ask: Why do they do it? The answer, time and again, goes right to the heart of that respect for the compelling otherness of the mountain. Entries are arranged by continent, mixing climbs as old as 1889 and as recent as 2005. They include the famous (Hillary, Norgay, Messner) and not-so-famous (Martin Ekroll, Gertrude Bell). For each mountain, Venables includes a table of background information (height, location, first ascent, etc.). What makes this volume a winner is the compelling drama of the stories coupled with the stunning beauty of the photographs (most in color). The absence of a glossary of mountaineering terms is the only noticeable shortcoming in this riveting presentation.—Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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From Booklist

Next to climbing itself, writing about ordeals and achievements goes with the alpinist's passion. Venables exemplifies the combination: an elite high-altitude mountaineer, he has written about Everest's climbing history (Everest: Summit of Achievement, 2003), and in this lavishly illustrated volume, he elaborates on his survival experience on the peak in 1988. The rest of the text contains three dozen other exhilaratingly and certifiably perilous adventures. A distinctive aspect of these stories is Venables' attention to the particular qualities of a site that lure dedicated climbers and for which sheer height is secondary. Inaccessibility, titanic scenery, and technical challenge all rate higher. These considerations introduce readers to mountains without the renown of an Everest: heard of Ball's Pyramid, anyone? It's a 1,844-foot spike that pierces the Tasman Sea off Australia; its isolation and verticality appeal to "wall climbers." With disaster one foot-slip away in every story, Venables delivers death-defying, sometimes death-succumbing drama. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Readers Digest
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 076210810X
• ISBN 13: 9780762108107
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192