2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Heavy-duty on mountaineering as well as emotions, April 8, 2010
It was a great achievement to have been the first (along with team mate Peter Habeler) to have climbed Everest without supplementary oxygen. This is a candid account of the climb, along with the human story - Messner's inner tussles with himself, his emotions during and after, his long-standing dream of Everest without oxygen, and finally how it's almost an anti-climax when the dream is achieved... dream over, what next?
Messner states in the introduction, "If a man cannot reveal anything [of his feelings], he has nothing to say." Messner has tape recorded his thoughts and feelings of the moment during the days on the mountain, and has written this book as authentically true to the feelings at that time - rather than any mis-remembered or glorified version from a comfortable chair at home.
However the writing style is somewhat disjointed - jumping from one interesting incident to another rather than a cohesive (but likely more boring) complete narrative. I guess this book is a translation from the German. I certainly did not read it for its literary merits, it was more for the incredible story itself.
At the beginning of the book, there is a several pages long quote from Norton's account of the 1924 expedition which ended tragically with Mallory and Irvine being lost in the upper reaches of Everest. This early expedition has the roots of the debate concerning supplementary oxygen - whether it was physically possible to climb to the top of the world without it and the ethical issues of "would it be by fair means?". This sets the context nicely for the rest of the book.
It is a story of immense physical and mental endurance, all kinds of mortal dangers including ice-falls, avalanches, storms... the number of times the Sherpas and climbers have to go back and forth between base camp and higher camps under threatening, unstable ice walls that can fall and crush everyone without notice - to setup ladders across crevasses, cut ice steps, carry supplies to higher camps. All of which is a necessary part of achieving the summit. I particularly loved the descriptions of the storm at high altitude which Messner and two Sherpas got caught in, with their primary tent ripping in one night, then the struggle to put up a secondary. And how this incident impacted his confidence about going on, and how he overcame those mental battles.
Messner gives due credit to the Sherpas without whom any expedition cannot succeed, giving their names and photos in the book. But it still comes across as an uncomfortable relationship between the "Sahibs" and the Sherpas. The inequity is disturbing - I'm sure it exists in the real life of all Himalayan expeditions and hence it comes out in the narrative.
What makes this book special is the minor details that Messner chooses to record - such as some mundane conversation in a tent cooped up with a climbing partner, or how he taught the Sherpas some pasta recipes - these things give you a window into expedition life.
You also get some insight into expedition politics, interactions among team members. One thing that strikes me is, the incredible self-centered attitude of each person on such expeditions - each one goes with ambitions and hopes of achieving glory, personal fulfillment, whatever - and knows that they cannot "go it" alone - and hence the teams. But teams are only good as long as they don't hold one back from their ambitions... if that is threatened, "each man to himself" is the motto that comes across.
The excellent color and black&white photos interspersed with the narrative add a lot to the story too.
True to what he said in the introduction, you do get an idea of the man behind the climber. It is a great mountaineering book, but be warned that there's a lot of emotional angst in it!
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1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Everest by fair means-that is the human dimension, and that is what interests me . . ., November 5, 2006
This review is from: Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate (Paperback)
In this mountaineering classic, Messner recounts the thoughts of a mountaineer during the climb of his life. Messner's compelling climbing chronicle conveys the exhaustion, despair and exhilaration of mountaineering in the death zone; interleafed with spectacular color photographs.
No man could ever aspire to reach to an innovative height of brilliance and pre-eminence in any one talent or vocation without having passed through the deliberate and agonizing progression of learning, grounding, discovery of is own strengths and skills and knowledge of ones indispensable weaknesses.Reinhold Messner and his climbing partner Peter Habler made the first ascent of Everest without oxygen in 1978. This has been heralded as one of mountaineering's greatest feats. Messner's book is an honest account of his very difficult Everest climb. It competes with the best climbing books, but Messner doesn't stop there. In addition to an account of his climb, there are additional sectons that talk about the climbs of Mallory, Irvine and Norton, as well as the first Everest ascent made by Sir Edmund Hillary. Messer also gives a description of Everest's climbing routs and a list of successful summits.
Learning and grounding never ends, grounding does not mean giving up your pride these are two different things, it is always misplaced insensitivity that wipe out people, grounding is a process essential to ones whole life, you live your daily life as a mortal, weary of your weaknesses, uncertain of the next moment but you keep learning as if you are eternal, you maintain ambitious goals as if there is no end, this is how Edmund Hillary conquered `The Everest' and Reinhold Messner rediscovered `The Everest' without supplemental Oxygen. Messner says, "Everest by fair means-that is the human dimension, and that is what interests me . . . In reaching for an oxygen cylinder, a climber degrades Everest. . . . A climber, who doesn't rely on his own strength and skills, but on apparatus and drugs, deceives himself."
Only when you acquire very basic comprehension of your own strengths and skills you reach to a new level of wisdom and meticulousness. Those who are ever ready to discover and have the ability to acquire new knowledge are the ones who make it to new heights. Likewise to be a good apprentice onwards on the road of a successful professional ship, it's essential that a person feel that they are working in an environment that is committed to expand their frontiers of understanding, hence helping them to advance their careers.
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