Everest : Mountain Without Mercy [Hardcover]

Broughton Coburn (Author), Tim Cahill (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Imax | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

David Breashears, the first American to scale Everest twice, was a veteran of nine previous Himalayan filmmaking expeditions when he agreed to lead what became his most challenging filmmaking experience. The expedition was organized by large-format motion picture producer MacGillivray Freeman Films and was comprised of an international team of climbers. Their goal was to carry a specially modified 48-pound IMAX motion picture camera to the summit of Everest and return from the top of the world with the first footage ever shot there in this spectacular format. A stunningly illustrated portrait of life and death in a hostile, high-altitude environment where no human can survive for long, Everest invites you to join Breashears, his climbers, and his crew as they make photographic history. Author Broughton Coburn traces each step of the team's progress toward a rendezvous with history - and suddenly you're on the scene of a disaster that riveted the world's attention. Everest incorporates a first-person, on-the-scene account of the most tragic event in the mountain's history: The May 10, 1996, blizzard that claimed eight lives, including two of the world's top climbing expedition leaders. It is a chronicle of the courage and cooperation that resulted in the rescue of several men and women who were trapped on the lethal, windswept slopes. Everest is also a tale of triumph. In a struggle to overcome both the physical and emotional effects of the disaster on Everest, Breashears and his team rise to the challenge of achieving their goal - humbled by the mountain's overwhelming power, yet exhilarated by their own accomplishment.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When David Breashears agreed to climb Mount Everest with an IMAX camera in order to film from the summit, he had no idea that his little expedition would become embroiled in a tragedy that would make headlines around the world. On May 10, 1996, two expeditions led by experienced Everest guides Rob Hall and Scott Fisher summited the mountain, only to suffer the loss of eight members--including the two leaders--on the way back down. At the time, Breashears and his filmmaking crew were at the base camp preparing for their own climb--originally planned for that same day but postponed after realizing there would already be several other groups on the summit. Instead of making a film, Breashears and company participated in the rescue and only later reached the summit of Everest to successfully complete their film.

Broughton Coburn, a long-time resident of Nepal and a friend of David Breashears, was commissioned to write a book about the filmmaking expedition, the tragedy on Everest, and the mountain itself. He has more than succeeded with Everest: Mountain Without Mercy, a taut recounting of disaster and triumph at 29,000 feet. But this book is about more than just mountain climbing; Coburn has also included fascinating information about Nepal, Buddhism, and the Sherpa culture, as well as the history of climbing Everest. He covers everything from the causes of altitude sickness to Nepal's increasing problems with deforestation, and through it all he weaves the story of that day in May when Everest again proved unpredictable--and deadly. For a white-knuckle climb to the top of the world's highest mountain, complete with stunning photographs, you can't do better than Everest: Mountain Without Mercy.

From Library Journal

Featuring spectacular color photos, many shots using a large-format IMAX camera modified for light weight and the harsh conditions encountered on the world's highest mountain, this work stems from a project to bring Everest to IMAX theaters in 1998. While preparing for the final assault on Everest's peak, members of the international expedition participated in the rescue of the climbers trapped by the fatal blizzard of May 1996, which killed eight. The story of survivor Beck Weather adds poignancy to the project, but it is the photos and broader scope that set this work apart from other recent works focusing on the tragedy (e.g., Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, LJ 4/1/97). Coburn, who worked in Nepal with the Peace Corps for 15 years and has written widely on the area, offers thorough descriptions of the entire Everest experience, including the geology of the region and Nepalese culture and religion. Also featured are an introduction by popular adventure-writer Tim Cahill and an afterword by David Brashears, the first American to scale Everest twice and a member of nine previous Himalayan filmmaking expeditions. Highly recommended for most public, natural history, and mountaineering collections. [BOMC selection.]?Tim J. Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, Wash.
-?Tim J. Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, Wash.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic; First Edition edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792270142
• ISBN-13: 978-0792270140
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 0.8 x 12.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #543,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Travel > Asia > Nepal
  • #88 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Mountains

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coffee table it is, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everest : Mountain Without Mercy (Hardcover)

While the other accounts of Everest 1996 focus in on Fischer'sand Hall's teams, this one focus in the the IMAX team. From the looksof it, they were the only moderates on the mountain that season. They positioned themselves for rescue efforts with the Alpine Ascents team. While everyone else was being selfish with supplies and radio's and rescue teams, Brashiers and Viesters were there to give vital oxygen, help climbers from camp 3 and coordinate the helecopter rescue of Weathers and Gao.

While the narration may not be the most riviting part of the book, the full page color pictures are. This was a film making trip for the IMAX crew so the pictures they brought back for this book were increadible. They also published Scott Fischer's pictures of summit day. I noticed one picture where Krackauer is sitting in the snow as many climbers are going up the Hillary step. It really brought to life the sceene from "Into thin Air" where he was wanting everyone to hurry up so he could get to his oxygen on the south summit.

The short stories in the middle of the book make this the ultimate coffee table book. They read like magazine articles. The other books on Everest 1996 can be checked out of a library. This is the one you want to have in your home.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read The Others, Then Read This, December 10, 1997

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Everest : Mountain Without Mercy (Hardcover)

My Everest, "Experience", began with Mr. Krakauer and his book, "Into Thin Air". I then read Mr. Boukreev's book, "The Climb". Scattered amongst these were many other books about K2, incredible rescues, etc. The first and second books mentioned are outstanding, and while only those who were there know what flaws, if any, the books contain, they are both enthralling, frightening, and in the end horribly sad. They are however written by individuals, and like all first hand accounts expose a personal viewpoint, that here is all the more complex due to the conditions under which the climbers were trying to stay alive and sort out their thoughts. There has been criticism written about both accounts, I am guilty, but from spectators like us, criticism is inappropriate. We just were not there. This book brings balance to the tragic aspects of the climb, and through photographs that can only be rendered through the I-Max System, the best sense of the scale of the attempt, and the personal components that any individual must have to make the summit of Everest a goal. The only very disturbing news this book shared was the unconscionable behavior of one team, who's country I will not mention in the hope that these climbers represent an aberration of that Country's Citizenry. While books and debates will continue on this tragedy for some time to come, this book does an outstanding job of stepping back a bit, leaving bias behind, and finally, stands as a memorial of sorts for all those who were there. Again my thanks to all those who made the book available, and my condolences to those who suffered, perished, and to their families. They were and are all remarkable men and women.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everest, Mountain without Mercy, November 26, 1999

By 

Gardevere (Lopez Islands, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everest : Mountain Without Mercy (Hardcover)

This book is a companion to the Imax film of the 1996 Everest climb, made famous by the tragedy detailed in the Jon Krakauer book, Into Thin Air. This book is up to the usual standards of its publisher, the National Geographic Society. It contains spectacular photographs, and a narrative that contains both detailed technical information for the mountaineering junkie, and a gripping story.