Customer Reviews

Aconcagua: The Stone Sentinel - Perspectives Of An Expedition

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This is a candid account by a group of wanna-be mountaineers who attempted to summit Mount Aconcagua. The book's value lies in the numerous problems that the group encountered from start to finish. Useful lessons can be learnt from the mistakes that the group made, and can be applied to any high altitude climbing expedition. The reader is left astounded at the errors and lack of preparation that can change a serious expedition into a nightmare of problems and broken dreams.

The book is by Thomas E. Taplin and published by Eli Ely Publishing (Order Info per the book: PO BOX 5245 Santa Monica, CA 90409-5245 (310)399-4869)
I found the book through a rare book service and figured out why it is so hard to find. The book does nothing to really prepare you for the climb. If you are a novice climber and want to know what NOT to do and the types of people NOT to go with, then read the book. The bottom line is that the book simply narrates through each participates experiences and what they think of one another. If you climb, then you know that the right people make the trip good or bad. The mountain will throw all kinds of stuff in your way, and teamwork must happen in order to accomplish your goal. (Especially on a 20,000+ foot mountain) The people on the climb have no teamwork and just simply complain about one another throughout the book. There is no real information on the climb itself other than some information at the back of the book regarding first ascents and who did what. Overall, I was unhappy with the book as it did nothing to prepare me to go and attempt Aconcagua.
P.s. The author did not even get through the first days of the climb. He had to be evacuated out and thus relied on others for his finished product.