Mountain Madness - Softcover

Birkby, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806528761 ISBN 13: 9780806528762

Publisher: Citadel, 2009

Synopsis

“An extraordinary life.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A fitting homage to one of the great outdoor extremists.” —Kirkus Reviews

Legendary climber Scott Fischer found in Mount Everest a perfect landscape for his fearless spirit. Scaling the world’s highest peak tested his skills, his courage, and his endurance. His legendary final expedition—and its tragic outcome—are portrayed in Everest, the 3-D movie adaptation starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Scott Fischer. Robert Birkby, one of Scott’s close friends, captures in this intimate and stirring portrait who Scott Fischer really was and what led him to climb to the top of the world—before he left it altogether

Updated with a New Introduction and Epilogue

Plus new photos exclusive to the digital edition!

This book is not an official tie-in to the film Everest.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Birkby brings a lifetime of backcountry experience to the writing of outstanding books about outdoor adventure and wilderness skills.

Raised in Iowa, he taught writing and literature at Southwest Missouri State University, then hiked the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail before launching a career as a Seattle-based writer, outdoor educator, and adventure travel guide.

Mountaineering journeys have taken him to the Cascades, Alaska, Russia, East Africa, and Nepal. For the Student Conservation Association he has led many trail crews in national parks and forests, and has taught trail maintenance and construction for conservation organizations and land-management agencies across America and in Siberia.

He is the 2010 recipient of the William T. Hornaday Gold Medal, awarded for distinguished service in natural resource conservation and environmental improvement.

Robert Birkby is the author of Lightly on the Land, three editions of the Boy Scout Handbook, the Scoutmaster Handbook, and other books for the Boy Scouts of America. His most recent publication is the Fieldbook, Scouting’s manual of basic and advanced skills for outdoor adventure.

He lives in Seattle. His website is www.robertbirkby.com.

From Publishers Weekly:

Mountaineer Scott Fischer and outdoors expert Birkby (author of trail maintenance standard Lightly on the Land) were friends and trekking companions from their 1982 meeting until Fischer's tragic, controversial death on a 1996 expedition up Everest, leading a tour group from his Mountain Madness adventure travel business (from which his clients all descended safely). Combining his memories with those of Fischer's family, friends, fellow mountaineers and other alumni of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyo., where Fischer worked, Birkby chronicles Fischer from his New Jersey childhood through his years teaching with NOLS, his drive to perfect his skills and reach the highest peaks, and the struggles to establish his travel company. The obsession indicated by the title is what Birkby most wrestles with, attempting to understand the passion that drove Fischer higher and higher; especially in his climbing scenes, Birkby succeeds in illuminating the power mountains can exert over the human soul. He's also adept at capturing powerful ties of love and friendship, of which Fischer had plenty; his charisma, charm and open embrace of adventure suffuse the narrative. This warm remembrance should strike a powerful chord not just in climbers, but in anyone who has lost a dear friend to untimely death. 16 pages of color photos.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Citadel
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0806528761
• ISBN 13: 9780806528762
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368