Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth - Softcover

James M. Tabor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849018561 ISBN 13: 9781849018562

Publisher: Constable, 2011

Synopsis

The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made. This is the story of the men and women who risked everything to find it, earning their place in history beside the likes of Peary, Amundsen, Hillary, and Armstrong. In 2004, two great scientist-explorers attempted to find the bottom of the world. Bold, American Bill Stone was committed to the vast Cheve Cave, located in southern Mexico and deadly even by supercave standards. On the other side of the globe, legendary Ukrainian explorer Alexander Klimchouk - Stone's opposite in temperament and style - had targeted Krubera, a freezing nightmare of a supercave in the Republic of Georgia. "Blind Descent" explores both the brightest and darkest aspects of the timeless human urge to discover - to be first. It is also a thrilling epic about a pursuit that makes even extreme mountaineering and ocean exploration pale by comparison. These supercavers spent months in multiple camps almost two vertical miles deep and many more miles from their caves' exits. They had to contend with thousand-foot drops, deadly flooded tunnels, raging whitewater rivers, monstrous waterfalls, mile-long belly crawls, and much more. Perhaps even worse were the psychological horrors produced by weeks plunged into absolute, perpetual darkness, beyond all hope of rescue, including a particularly insidious derangement called "The Rapture". "Blind Descent" is a testament to human survival and endurance - and to two extraordinary men whose relentless pursuit of greatness led them to heights of triumph and depths of tragedy neither could have imagined.

About this title

Review:

Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2010: Set in impenetrable darkness, James M. Tabor's Blind Descent is as awe-inspiring as any adventure story above ground. Tabor's claustrophobic and pulse-pounding narrative follows two of the world's premier cavers--American Bill Stone and Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk--as they race to explore Earth's deepest caves, swimming through steering wheel-sized tunnels and scaling rock walls slick with spring runoff. Caving is dirty and dangerous work, and Tabor pulls no punches in describing the many terrifying hazards that cavers face underground, including falling rocks, hypothermia, starvation, nitrogen narcosis, hallucinations, hypoxia, and deadly anxiety attacks. He captures the eerie mixture of excitement and horror that accompanies life in extreme environments, while shedding light on the ineffable and complex moral code that governs men and women in places where survival is hoped for, but never guaranteed. Blind Descent is a captivating summer read for adventure seekers and armchair adrenaline junkies alike. --Lynette Mong

About the Author:

James M. Tabor's last book was the international award-winning Forever on the Mountain. Tabor is a former contributing editor to Outside magazine and Ski Magazine; his writing has also appeared in Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and many other publications.

About this edition

• Publisher: Constable
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1849018561
• ISBN 13: 9781849018562
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320