Customer Reviews

Minus 148 Degrees

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It is clear from the beginning of this book that trouble was looming on the horizon for these intrepid, but somewhat reckless, climbers. The loss early on of one of their comrades to a fall into a crevasse was predictable. How they could think of walking unroped, on a glacier that they knew was ridden with crevasses, is almost unbelievable. This was due, no doubt, to youthful inexperience and a lack of leadership necessary to set the parameters of what would be acceptable in terms of safety. These factors combined were to cost them dearly. It was not until near the end of their forty two day stay on the mountain, that they coalesced into a team.

Notwithstanding the sheer recklessness of their initial, bumbling efforts at a winter ascent of Mt. McKinley, the fact remains that they did achieve the first such summit, no mean feat any time of year, but almost inconceivable in the dead of winter. Coming off the summit, their thermometer recorded the temperature at a quite bone chilling minus fifty eight degrees.

Caught in a whiteout on their descent, however, the three summiteers were forced to dig a snow cave, where they were to spend endless days, in weather which saw temperatures plummet to an almost mind boggling minus one hundred and forty eight degrees with the wind chill factor, hence the name of the book. That they could survive this, is a testament to their fortitude.

In their snow cave, it was a relatively toasty minus thirty five below. That snow cave was the only thing that stood between them and certain death. With virtually no food, frost bitten, and suffering from disorientation due to the altitude, they waited out the storm and lived to tell the tale.

This gripping chronicle, of the forty two days they spent on the highest and coldest mountain in North America, is a classic in mountaineering literature and one of the best books on McKinley climbs. Those who love this genre will certainly enjoy this book. It is made all the more interesting by the author's new afterword, which gives a retrospective of what happened to all those who participated in the first winter ascent of Mt. McKinley.

I bought this book because I wanted to get a feel for high altitude climbing though I have no interest in climbing for myself. Geez! I got the picture. I'm still blown away by the story of what happened on the mountain. But, thankfully, blown away, only in a metaphorical sense...

I had a friend who was a high altitude climber who told me about a friend climbing in the Himalayas. The guy went out during a blizzard at high altitude to relieve himself and was never seen again. My friend said,"He was blown into the stratosphere". I never understood that kind of language until I read this book.

It's an incredible story of survival right up there with the story of the voyage of the crew of the Endurance.

The writing is awfully good for a mountain climber!

I first read this book in 1972 while in high school. Could not read it fast enough but did not want it to end. Had all the adventure and suspense of a true Alaskan adventure. On my second trip to Alaska as a state park campground host in 1994 I worked in Denali state park. Not until later did I realize that the six foot five, red head ranger was none other than Dave Johnston. One of the first three men to reach the summit of Mount McKinley in the winter. To know that these men could survive such an ordeal and years later be so down to earth. If you enjoy books about Alaska and not just mountaineering this is a must read.

I am not going to rehash the plot here, I'm sure others have done so and you can get that in some capacity from many sources. The author was on the expedition which this book is about, and it was a bold one to say the least; the first winter ascent of Mt Mckinley. He does a great job inviting us onto Mt McKinley (it was not Denali in 1967, at least not in the public mind) and this is a quick and pleasing read. However he does not interweave as deftly the history and personal story lines that have taken the genre to new places in the past decade or so. Granted Art wrote this in 1969 at which time he'd sworn off expeditions -- largely as a result of holing up in snow cave in a hurricane at 18,000 plus feet for 8 days - so the books that I'm used to reading from adventure writers simply feel more modern. Regardless of this I would highly reccomend this read, and I would also pair it with Forever on the Mountain by James Tabor; about the Wilcox expedition on the same mountain a mere 3-4 months after the first winter ascent (which ended up changing the rules for how Mountains would be climbed in general - not from the mountaineering standpoint, but rather from the standpoint of how gov't officials approved and approached expeditions). For any armchair expeditioner -- such as myself -- the literature on McKinley is essential. This is a mountain that can be every bit as evil and unforgiving as the nastiest Himalayian peak, the weather and the relief are actully in most cases at least equal. Donavan's book is certainly a great read. I bought the paperback reprint, but if I had a do-over I'd look for an early edition as I suppose they must be out there.

I'm not sure, but I may have been one of the pilots on the C-130 that helped to coordinate the rescue of the team off of Mt. McKinley. Rescue 489 sounds like one of the 17th Troop Carrier Squadron's aircraft. And, I recall dropping (parachuting) a couple of radios on the emergency frequency to a climbing team that we helped rescue. The aircraft commander and I are discussing this particular rescue as "I speak."

As I recall, the person from the expedition that was talking to me was very very reluctant to leave the climb, finally asking what it would cost. When the team was assured that there would be "no cost," things did change... :-)

On the rescue that I'm describing, perhaps the one covered in this book, the Army Huey helicopter had difficulty landing at such a high elevation, and carrying out such a load. I watched as the helicopter lifted off, and it had to dive down toward the base of the mountain to get into more dense air, and to gain associated lift. On the way back to the airport, we slowed the C-130 down, and lowered the flaps, so the Huey helicopters could fly on each wing tip...

I first read this book when I was 8, and it was the one thing that sparked my interest in mountaineering. It is among the great mountaineering books of all time; Annapurna, Into Thin Air, and The Climb. Once you start reading it, it is impossible to put down. An all-around great book.

I found this book in a ranger station near Mt. McKinley (under the visitor center). The ranger was kind enough to invite us in from the pouring rain and we slept there, well they did, I opened this book after dinner and finished it in the wee hours. I could not put it down, and I'm not a mountain climber. The title refers to the coldest temperature on the climbers' wind charts, and it was colder than that. The temperature was off the scale and the wind was blowing so hard these guys were trapped for days and couldn't go up or down. I think a tent even blew away... but it was over 25 years ago that I read the book.. and it still haunts me. Now I've finally found it again and I'm going to order it. At least as good as "Into Thin Air." I'm going to pass it around to all my friends that read that one and "The Climb."

After reading "Into Thin Air" I was ready for another book that dealt with the challanges and courage of survival on great mountains. Minus 148 degrees fit the bill. Surprising to me was the make up of the team. It seemed to spell trouble right from the start and unfortunately that became the case with the death of one of the members at the very beginning. What also struck me about the members of the climb was the lack of cohesiveness and expected comradery. From beginning to end they made either poor decisions on climbing techniques or failed to operate as a team with a single purpose, survival and success.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this exciting story of individual courage, determination and introspective analysis of why people climb. I could almost feel what they felt; fear, cold, loneliness and at times hopelessness. A great evening in front of the fire book.

Excellent, involving narrative and a fascinating depiction of the dynamics at work among members of a climbing expedition. A must-read for fans of the mountaineering genre, but with broader appeal for anyone who would explore -- from a safe distance -- the limits of human endurance. Read this book.

I rely on the other reviews here at Amazon. They did not let me down. This is a page turner. I picked it up on a Saturday morning and I could not put it down. I was done that night! The writing is simple a clean and the story very exciting. This is the best kind of book - a true story told well. A great read.