Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire [Paperback]

Nicholas Howe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

These compelling profiles of 22 adventurous¿yet unlucky¿climbers chronicle more than a century of exploration, recreation, and tragedy in New Hampshire¿s Presidential Range.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like a piece of granite chipped off a Presidential peak, veteran journalist Nicholas Howe's assessment of misadventure in New Hampshire's rugged mountains has a crisp, puritanical feel that fairly rasps New England. Take his description of the near-vertical (and now well-skied) slope that nearly killed Max Engelhart in 1926: "Tuckerman Ravine is a sort of twin to Huntington Ravine, a left-hand punch into the side of Mount Washington by the same primordial giant that made Huntington with his right." Underlying Not Without Peril is the not-so-subtle message that the Presidential Range, topping out at just over 6,000 feet, is as uncompromising as any other mountain range. After all, these mountains--named for Washington, Lincoln, Madison--are home to some of the most vicious weather recorded on the planet. Howe makes no judgment about those whose misfortunes he chronicles; there are tender moments that manage to stay faithful to a crusty Yankee sensibility, as in the tale of Lizzie Bourne, who died in a snowstorm while huddled in a makeshift lean-to. Howe quotes her uncle George: "She was dead--had uttered no complaint, expressed no regret or fear, but passed silently away." Such sober tales, scrupulously researched, tell the history of a mountain range and its climbers, some of whom are immortalized for their ill-fated treks. It's a gritty read, a touch morbid, but more than compensated for by sharp writing and compelling drama. --Tipton Blish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A catalog of death in the New England mountains. Although not high by world standards, New Hampshires Mount Washington is home to howling winds and monstrously cold temperatures, often the coldest in the Lower 48. For years, mountaineer and freelance journalist Howe has been haunting the mountain and nearby summits of the Presidential Range, a place where furious storms, hypothermia, and occasional bears take their toll on human visitors at all seasons. Howe catalogs the errors of the unfortunate victimsand silly mistakes which seem always to come into play whenever Americans head outside, whether the date is 1849 or 1994. (The most common of them, Howes evidence suggests, is the simple omission of appropriate cold-weather gear, for although the summertime temperature may approach 90 at Mount Washingtons base, the wind chill may take it down to freezing at the peak.) Few of Howes pointed tales end happily. Some of his protagonists slip easily into death, having made some misjudgment or another; others wander around for days in the woods, running from lightning and wild animals in scenes that would fit right into a sequel to The Blair Witch Project, before meeting their unhappy fate; a few others even make it off the mountain alive, but minus toes and fingers. Since there are only so many ways to die on a mountainsideyou can fall, freeze, or get munchedthe narrative tends to be repetitious, and a little judicious paring would have been welcome. Still, all these deaths lead up to a well-taken moral: It is not so much that Mount Washington is a killer, but that people approaching it need to take better care than many of them do. Fans of outdoor disaster and unpleasantry, as well as collectors of New England mountain lore, will find Howe a generally satisfying guide to New Hampshires dark side. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Appalachian Mountain Club Books; 1st edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929173067
• ISBN-13: 978-1929173068
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Maryland

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trouble above timberline, July 14, 2000

By 

Hal Lancer (Deerfield, IL USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presedential Range (Hardcover)

Those who grew up in part, as author Nicholas Howe did, climbing Mt. Washington, remember well their first experiences of encountering crosses and other memorials within an easy calm-weather walk and even within fog-free sight of shelter on this mountain. Brief accounts are shared in low somber voices among hikers of victims that gave up and lay down to die of hypothermia, leading neophytes visiting the mountain in warm, clear, placid weather to wonder how such a thing could repeatedly happen.

"Not Without Peril" brilliantly fleshes out historical background and details of nineteen mostly long-forgotten climbing tragedies, with dogged, disciplined library research and interviews. Most of these people who did die did not succumb to falls off cliffs or ropes. They most often died of exposure, on or near ordinary hiking trails, in treacherous weather that may have blown in with little warning, usually between May and October. The clearly labeled, story-specific topographical trail maps are particularly helpful and often omitted from other books of this genre. The key lessons (carry proper synthetic-fiber or wool cold-weather clothing at all times of the year, and descend immediately when weather conditions threaten or begin to deteriorate) are clear. Most victims ignored both of these rules, as countless trampers more fortunate than they still do, at their peril.

The most compelling account in the book is its most detailed one, that from 1986 of Don Barr, who made a classic series of ill-advised decisions and collapsed from exposure during a raging late-August winter storm, half a mile from and above the AMC Madison Hut. The hut staff, 52 hut guests, and rescuers converging on the scene were unable to help in time. The new hut manager made the final, painfully haunting, but ultimately correct and wise-beyond-her-years decision to not risk further lives attempting a highly unlikely safe rescue. The rich detail, the interviews with major participants, the presence (and survival) of Barr's son and a companion, and the imagery of a frightful storm and a lonely death on a night from arctic hell make this account particularly harrowing.

Some of the victims in "Not Without Peril" were experienced climbers who should have known better. Many were naïve, had more grit than sense, or suffered only the simple misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What's remarkable is how some of these victims, in spite of dazzlingly inadequate clothing and horrible weather conditions, managed to survive for days before finally succumbing. Others survived in spite of rescue techniques that are no longer used by trained rescuers to reduce the risk of additional, potentially fatal hazards to the injured. Detailed warnings and descriptions of hypothermia and rescue from it in the current AMC guidebook suggest death can overtake victims more quickly or surely than it did in some of these accidents, as it actually did to others in this book. Even more remarkable are the dogged determination, courage, and selflessness of the rescuers willing to endure hours and days of misery putting their lives at risk in weather conditions unimaginable to most of us for a small chance to save the lives of people who have often made foolish or at best uninformed choices.

On the downside, "Not Without Peril" lacks a satisfying conclusion. It abruptly ends where the last story stops, making it seem more a collection of magazine articles than a unified book. One more chapter would have been the best place to offer advice on how to prevent, recognize, and treat hypothermia, and to offer some commentary on common climber mistakes and other threads running through the accounts. Also, this book has more run-on sentences than there have been hikers (128 identified here) who have died on or near Mt. Washington. Mr. Howe needs to get control of his commas and discover the clarity provided by periods and semi-colons. His manuscript was carefully researched and mostly artfully written, but ultimately reduced in impact by the frequent occurrence of this elementary grammatical error. His editor must have been oversleeping at an AMC hut.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hiking tales fascinate and inspire, April 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presedential Range (Hardcover)

Nick Howe brings a veteran hiker's respect to this vivid collection of stories about harrowing experiences in New Hampshire's Presidential Range, reminding novice and veteran hikers that the seemingly modest New England terrain can be as dangerous as the Himalayas if you approach the mountains unprepared for the vicious weather shifts from floor to peak. Between 1849 and 1994 (a terrible year on Mt. Washington, the highest peak in New England), the mountains had claimed 115 lives.

If it's true, as Howe says, that "Mountains were invented in the 19th century" when Americans and Europeans began to enjoy leisure time in scenic places, then the late 20th century witnessed the transformation of mountain climbing from an adventurous hobby limited to small numbers of dedicated enthusiasts to a popular sporting activity attracting millions of people around the world. In general, today's climbers are better prepared, more knowledgeable and better dressed for mountain climbing. But in far too many cases, climbers push past the envelope of safety, ignoring age-old warning signs of changing weather patterns and avalanche-prone trails.

As a part-time hiker and Appalachian Mountain Club member, I found Howe's tales of tragedies and rescues fascinating. The Presidential Range will always draw climbers like me, who can learn valuable lessons from these compelling stories.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Accounts of the Presidential Range, November 24, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Not Without Peril: 150 Years of Misadventure on the Presedential Range (Hardcover)

Nick Howe and I worked together at Madison Springs Hut in the summer of 1950, and I know his accounts of the weather and conditions on the peaks are accurate. The story of MacDonald Barr's death on Mt. Madison, 24 August 1986, is incredibly moving, both for its appalling details of the death by exposure and the agony of the hut crew as they realized they had no choice but to leave Barr to his fate. I wept in sympathy and empathy. Extraordinary book, researched not only in the archives but on the peaks as well.(I'm 69 years old)