Customer Reviews

Halfway to Heaven: My White-knuckled--and Knuckleheaded--Quest for the Rocky Mountain High

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Mark Obascik writes like Dave Berry: constantly humorous with good after-thoughts. This is the kind of book I would take on an overnight attempt of a peak myself.

What started out as a hike with his 12-year-old son in 2006 turned out to be a quest to hike up Colorado's 54 14,000+ peaks (minus 12 that he had already done.) His wife didn't mind, except for one condition: that he would not hike any of them alone. Where to find partners for such an adventure when one has already reached middle-aged, put on 45 pounds and lost more hair than a plucked chicken? Why, the web of course! Mark kept his promise never to hike alone, although he did come close once.

What results from this adventure of wonderful short stories of the peaks, each with its own character and difficulties, is a collection of often laugh-out-loudable chapters, or the occasional tear-jerker that leaves the reader pondering one's fate after reading about these "unforgiving killers." (More people have died on Colorado's combined peaks than on Mount Everest) Either way, this is a good read.

The best part was always reading about the next quirky hiking partner. Mark called these "Man-dates" that he arranged over the website 14ers.com, where the reader may follow the life and death story of one particular adventurous soul. He seems to have enjoyed his time with everyone he hiked with, and the subsequent personality sketches of fellow hikers and nature lovers, otherwise the Average Man, makes for a good cap-off to each peak. He always asks them what got them to start hiking the Fourteeners of Colorado. In today's cyber-savvy world, it's refreshing to read about other people who have made lasting friendships through a social-hiking-website.

Written with a mostly whimsical tone, this book does have its serious side. Besides getting caught naked in a hot springs (but being totally ignored) by a group of bouncy female athletes, meeting an elk in heat, meeting Moses, sliding down icy packs, or feeling one's heart beat in one's ears, a few stories of death and near-death bring the reader back to the senses. But Mark never tired of his climbs. He did finish his goal to bag all of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks by Labor Day.

This book is both for mountain climbers and coach potatoes who would rather just read about the snowy peaks. It certainly has both given me a greater respect for our peaks, but also an admiration and respect who do summit them and get to write about their adventures later on.

A light and breezy travel book through the Colorado Rockies and a sub-culture of outdoor enthusiasts who set out to summit all 54 of the states 14,000 foot mountains. Obmascik attempts it over the course of one summer, driving from his home in Denver each Saturday morning a few hours to the hike and back that same night. Along the way he meets other people doing the same thing, from different walks of life, united by a common quest [...]. Each short chapter recounts a climb and its follies, local Colorado historical flavor, a back-story about Obmascik's hiking partner for the day (his "man-dates"), and not a few nail biting close calls with lightning, wind and cliff.

It's hard to be critical of a book like this because it makes you feel good; it's well written, funny, self-deprecating, sympathetic and educational. Obmascik is a family man with a happy marriage of 17 years, three kids, overweight, middle aged, balding - this is not exploration or macho adrenaline adventure literature - it is not `Into Thin Air`, to the benefit of every middle-aged balding overweight father who wants to do something beyond the ordinary. As A.J Jacobs says "I thank him for climbing a bunch of tall mountains so I don't have to. I was with him for every oxygen-deprived step of the way (as I lounged on my sectional sofa)." If you enjoy travel books like `A Walk in the Woods` or `A Year in Provence` this is for you.

The author has a refreshing view of life - and not only the view from atop 14000 foot peaks - that is missing so often in modern writing. He is a happy man with a purpose. He is happily married, glad to be a father and has the goal of climbing all the 14000 foot mountains in Colorado in one season, despite being overweight and out of shape.

This is not a mere recitation of walking and climbing mountain after maountain, though. The author does recount the more interesting aspects of his climbs, many of which are self-deprecating and hilarious, but he adds much more to the book.

Every chapter is an account his climbs of a mountain, or three or four. But interposed in the accounts are tidbits of interesting and fascinating information from Colorado history, climbing events and accounts of the unique people he meets and with whom he climbs.

In addition to the interesting accounts and humor, there are also poignant parts that illustrate the dangers of climbing and the viscissitudes of life.

This is "A Walk in the Woods", but even better. By the end the reader will be wishing that he was hiking with the author. Highly recommended.

I have often believed that not all newspaper reporters make good writers and that not all writers make good newspaper reporters. However, every so often someone comes along that can do both well. Mark Obmascik is such a person. Winning a Pulitzer Prize attests to his journalistic skills and authoring this wonderful book is ample evidence of his writing ability.
Obmascik was 44, married for 16 years, had 3 sons, a dog and a mortgage. He was experiencing a mid-life crisis and was also fat: "I've packed so much on my hips it would be like climbing with a pony keg of beer in my fanny pack" was his reaction when his son suggested they climb a Colorado fourteener.
But, as every parent knows, he gave in to his son and thus began an obsession to climb all 54 fourteeners in Colorado in one year. This book is his story of attempting to hike and climb what millions have attempted but few have successfully completed.
In 24 short chapters he tells the stories of the people he met, the challenges he faced, the humiliation he endured, and the lessons he learned while being Halfway to Heaven. In addition to being a funny, very funny writer, Obmascik provides glimpses of death and heart break, bittersweet victory and inspiring tales that make this book difficult to put down once you start reading. Obmascik writes in a very reader friendly way and much of his writing is simply hilarious. From his finding "man-dates" for hiking partners on the internet to being the last one to the summit...numerous times, the reader is treated to a collection of wonderful stories about the people he meets, the mountains he climbs, and a second coming of age for a 44 year old. This is a really good read for those that have challenged the fourteeners in person and for those that prefer to issue their challenges from an armchair. It is proof positive that for many the journey is the destination.

"I was fat, forty-four, and in the market for a vasectomy."

That amusing opening sentence pretty much sums up the tone of this funny and moving tale of a middle-aged, out of shape guy who decides to follow his young son's footsteps and start climbing mountains.

There are a lot of memoirs out there about a guy who decides to take on a series of physical challenges -- Dean Karnazes' "50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days" comes to mind -- but unlike Karnazes' putrid writing and dull repetition, Mark Obmascik has a witty touch and makes each mountain climb seem new and exciting.

If you're expecting profundity, look elsewhere; this is a quick, light read, offering little more than a series of entertaining and true stories. But those stories were indeed enjoyable, and if this is the kind of book you normally go for, you won't be disappointed.

Halfway to Heaven is the true story about an author who, at age 45, decides to climb all of Colorado's mountains that peak at above 14,000 feet. But it's not really a book about mountain climbing.

In fact, there is little about each climb and each mountain. Most of the books content is about the people the author hikes with, and that's what made the book so interesting to read.

As a native Kansan who, as a child, enjoyed annual family vacations to Colorado, I naturally chose this book to read. My family, however, took brief hikes and only tackled mountains that had jeep trails, and this book outlined what we missed by doing that. Halfway to Heaven was a great reminder of some of the mountains I had seen as a child, but it also aroused a desire to go back to Colorado and hike a 14er myself!


The only thing I felt the author could have added to the book was a glossary that had the definitions of hiking terms, equipment used, and such. I also think he could have expanded a bit on the wildlife he saw. Obmascik doesn't talk much about animals, birds or flora, but scratches the surface here and there. So this book isn't really a book about mountain climbing, or a book about the mountains climbed, as much as it is a book about people and their lives.

Halfway to Heaven can be picked up and put down after a chapter or two, so it's great for a bedtime read. I recommend it to anyone to loves a good memoir!

The male mid-life crisis has been done in print so many times that one might wonder if there is anything that can be said which hasn't already. But Mark Obmascik's crisis has manifested itself in a unique way. No sports car or trophy wife for him. He has decided to climb all of Colorado's "Fourteeners" within a year. A Fourteener is a mountain whose peak is over 14,000 feet above sea level. Just how many fourteeners there are in Colorado is a subject of some debate, but Obmascik gives us a list and a map at the beginning; according to his list, there are 54 of them.

The story starts out in a somewhat predictible, but very humorous fashion; Obmascik grapples with the physical ravages of middle-age and the consequences of working a desk job. He juggles fatherhood and the all-important rule -"never climb alone"- that his wife made him swear to before she allowed him to go out on his quest. To deal with the first rule, he brings his son along with him on his first climb. To deal with the second, he goes through a number of different methods to arrange what he calls "man dates" with other interested climbers. His climbing partners are a constant source of interest and amusement.

But just like the weather at high altitudes, things can get very intense very quickly. The story of the TalusMonkey, David Worthington, covers the complete range in a very short time. In a few short paragraphs, you will find yourself intesely liking this free spirit who summited in a purple pimp suit. It makes what happens later on Mt. Humbolt all the more difficult, as you are hoping intensely that what you fear might happen will not. The world doesn't have enough people like the TalusMonkey in it, which makes your concern for his well-being so much stronger.

It is a fantastic mix of adventure and humor that would be a very good book if that is where it stopped. But Obmascik manages to rise even above that to make it a great book about life, and what it means to truly live it.

After reading "Halfway to Heaven" you'll want to do one of either two things. Start scaling the Colorado Rockies, or never get near them.

But seriously, this book follows Mark Obmascik (author of "The Big Year") on his quest to climb all of the 54 Colorado Fourteeners (mountains 14,000 feet tall or higher). Following the table of contents, there is a map of the area that contains all the 14'ers, and at the beginning of each chapter the peak or peaks he climbed is listed along with its exact elevation. This is a very nice feature, because it lets you follow the route he took, and where the mountains are in relation to each other, cities and roads.

A mountain can either be covered by a paragraph or by pages depending on how interesting that particular summit was. Also factors are the people he meets and the history behind the peaks. How he and his family are affected by his journey is also documented. He seamlessly combines all these factors into a very engaging read.

Although for the most part this is a funny and rather light-hearted book, some "colorful language" is used and a few of the stories can be a little graphic (climbing accidents and the like). So if you have a young'n who likes to read more challenging books, you may want to have them wait a bit for this one.

This book is very well written and hard to put down, and makes for a very interesting read.

I like the outdoors and hiking, but big-time mountain climbing is something I have never done nor really desire to do. So it's wonderfully thrilling that I can simply read it about it in the safety of my own home while Mark Obmascik tells me his own stories as well as those of others. It's funny, sometimes sobering, but Obmascik is a smart, snappy writer that always keeps the information enthralling.

The chapters are in reference to peaks; I figure that's a handy way to organize things. Sometimes detail of the actual trip up the mountain is told, sometimes historical facts, sometimes someone else's stories, both personal and mountain related. We hear both the rigorous, fascinating, sometimes terrifying stories of the mountains as well as the human-interest tale. Obmascik is a genius at weaving both types seamlessly.

This has been compared to "A Walk Through the Woods", but for my personal taste, this is better. It's fun without being silly, it balances the beauty and realities of mounaineering, and inspiring without ever getting cheesy.

Fantastic read, no matter how you feel about scaling a mountain.

Through the ringer in 265 plus pages- funny, informative, sobering, and sad. Did I mention funny.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I love to hike and I get a feeling I am going to love mountain climbing.
Being based in his experience climbing mountains over a summer and peppered with facts and other peoples stories along the way it was like a good hearty soup to me. Loved it.