Customer Reviews

One Mountain Thousand Summits: The Untold Story Tragedy and True Heroism on K2

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I will be entirely honest, I picked up this book with a hint of skepticism in my brow. I love the mountains but I have never loved climbing literature. This book not only tells the compelling story of the 2008 tragedy on K2 but it boldly explores the multidimensional worlds of climbing, international relations and the media. Wilkinson does a magnificent job of gracefully transitioning between thoughtful explanations of elaborate climbing scenarios and carefully detailing the relationships, infrastructure and social constructs that have grown from the pursuit of big mountain climbing. If you lust after high altitude adventure...If you are curious about the economic impact of tourism in third world nations...If you have ever found yourself in a unique leadership position this book will resonate with you.

Lastly, I encourage you to read slowly and look for the flashes of "pure Freddie" scattered throughout the book. Mr. Wilkinson's humor and zest for life are presence in terrific one liners throughout the novel.

BUY THIS BOOK!

Freddie Wilkinson should be highly commended for writing a book about a mountaineering tragedy from the climbing Sherpa's point of view. There are other books on the market which deal with the K2 tragedy, but this is the only one which focusses on the locals involved. In fact, in nearly a hundred years of Himalayan climbing, it is only one of three books to look at that enterprise from the Sherpa point of view.

As others have mentioned, it is also well written, insightful, ironic, and done from the perspective of someone who climbs and knows the right questions to ask. We can only hope that this book will start a new trend in mountaineering literature and that the indigenous people who do most of the work and account for the ultimate success of nearly every expedition, will finally begin to receive the credit they deserve. Fortunately, Wilkinson has set a high standard in this regard.

My only quibble is that a number of the sources, including my own on the Sherpas of Rolwaling, could have been better documented. If a person's research is worth mentioning, then so is the correct reference.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Freddie Wilkinson from whom we hope to see more good books in the future.

Jan Sacherer

Freddie Wilkinson's personal alpine climbing and mountaineering experience add a layer of credibility, understanding and explanation to this perspective of one of mountaineering's deadliest moments. Told from an inclusive background with interviews from sources both Sherpa and Western, it gives the full perspective. Must read.

This book is in desperate need of additional editing. The story weaves from one subject to another until I almost lost track of it's theme. Also, pictures of the characters involved would have added greatly to the readers attachment and understanding of the people and the story. I almost thought I should read it again to see if I could get a better grasp of the story, but nixxed that idea quickly.

This book kept me up for five nights in a row. It explores perspectives that are seldom discussed in the 8,000 meter peak climbing world -- those of the porters and Sherpas -- but it does it honestly, not through rose colored glasses. It makes clear the ridiculousness of the atmosphere surrounding high altitude mountaineering, extreme peak bagging and the media that follow it. And it is written from a climber's perspective, and Wilkinson asks questions only a climber would ask, but he breaks things down so any armchair mountaineer can understand the nuances. If you like adventure buy this book; you won't be disappointed.

The mountaineer author tells the story of the 2008 K2 tragedy in two sections - one the story of how the story broke on the internet and in the media, the other focusing on the heroes including Gerard McDonnell, Pemba Gyalje, Tsering (Chhiring) Bhote, and Big Pasang Bhote. There are 8 pages of bw photos and two climbing routes.

Wilco van Rooijen, the leader of the Dutch Norit expedition, used his satellite phone to call in live updates to both his internet webmaster Marten van Eck and his wife Heleen on summit day and as the tragedy unfolded. Initially using the Norit website, the media frenzy started looking for more information fed from other blogs and people at K2 Base Camp. Where the Norit website was cautious in giving out only verified information, some of the other blogs and people gave more information, including speculation and rumours on what was happening. This fueled some misinformation as the story continued to unfold, "until the spin itself threatened to taint the survivors' recollections and the factual evidence at hand." We also acutely feel the worry of those at home vigilantly watching the internet for any word of their loved ones.

For the second half of the book, the author interviewed many of the western survivors and travelled to Kathmandu several times to interview the surviving Sherpas to piece together the story. What he discovered was the selfless heroism that shone through the tragedy.

Gerard McDonnell selflessly worked for many hours to free two Koreans and Jumik Bhote who were tangled in ropes on the Traverse, only to be swept to his death when an ice avalanche from the serac hit him descending the Traverse. ExplorersWeb gave their Best of ExplorersWeb 2008 Award to Gerard McDonnell: "The most selfless effort was made by Irish Gerard MacDonnell, who after two nights on K2's upper slopes including one in an open bivouac, resolved to alone stay and help two Korean climbers and a Nepali Sherpa, climbers he didn't know. Gerard knew well that his effort seriously put his own life at risk. His action is almost unmatched on the 8000ers. ... Gerard was called 'Jesus' by his peers. 'Hero' is a better word."

Pemba Gyalje, Chhiring Dorje, and Pasang Lama down climbed the Traverse and Bottleneck to Camp IV in the dark without fixed ropes with pieces of the serac falling around them and Pasang Lama without an ice-axe. Pemba Gyalje went back up the next day to bring down Marco Confortola who had fallen asleep at the bottom of the Bottleneck. After rousing Marco and starting to descend, an ice avalanche occurred and Pemba grabbed Marco and was able to pull him out of the way of the falling ice, covering him with his own body. Later Pemba went out in search for the lost Wilco van Rooijen and, after Wilco was spotted descending slightly off the Cesan route, descended to Camp III and the next day found Wilco and helped him back to base camp.

Tsering (also spelled Chhirring) Bhote, Jumik's brother, and Big Pasang Bhote left Camp 4 at midnight on August 1 to climb up to the stranded climbers, but they found a lost Korean Go Mi-sun and brought her back to camp IV. The next morning they went out again to climb to the stranded climbers, found Marco at the bottom of the Bottleneck and phoned Pemba Gyalje to come up and bring him down. The ice avalanche (where Pemba saved Marco's life) killed Big Pasang Bhote, the two Koreans and Jumik Bhote. Luckily, Tsering Bhote was a bit lower than Big Pasang Bhote and was able to run to some large rocks that protected him.

I highly recommend this book to understand the frightening and heroic story of K2 in 2008 from the internet and media perspective, the heroic rescues of the stranded climbers, and providing insights and details of the Sherpas invoved. The use of sat phones to provide live feeds to internet websites and blogs, and how the media frenzy unfolded is interesting and reflects so much modern media stories. I enjoyed reading about the Sherpas, their personalities, how money fuelled them to become climbers, and how they live in Kathmandu. I was disappointed in the small number of photos, not even in colour.

For one man's harrowing story of survival, I recommend Surviving K2 by: Surviving Three Days in the Death Zone by Wilco van Rooijen.

For a minute-by minute summary of the events, including all the players in the K2 2008 tragedy, I recommend No Way Down: Life And Death On K2 by Graham Bowley.

Ed Viesturs devotes a chapter of his excellent book K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain to share his views on the heroes and the contributing factors to the tragedy.

Let me start with this: the prologue in "One Mountain Thousand Summits" is astounding. There is no other word for it. If you're not on a bit of an adrenalin rush by the end of it, you probably have trouble fogging a mirror too. The prologue alone is worth the price of the book.

And the rest ain't bad either. However, it's not what the prologue, and other climbing books, might lead you to expect. It's not a blow-by-blow account of the various expeditions on K2 in 2008, leading up to a big finish on the summit day and its immediate aftermath. The majority of the hard-hitting mountaineering action is in that prologue.

Instead, Freddie Wilkinson backs off and looks at the role -- for better and for worse -- that modern, Internet-driven media played in revealing one version of the story to the world. That version, as it turned out, was founded mostly on rumor, second-hand reports, and the recollections of the "first world" survivors, who weren't in the best shape to accurately perceive all that was happening. Once he's deconstructed that story, Wilkinson then digs in and talks to some of the other climbers who were on the summit that day: the Sherpas.

There is no frivolous agenda here: the surviving Sherpas made hard decisions, some of which the reader may or may not disagree with, acted with great physical courage and strength, but, as Freddie reveals, so did some of their clients, particularly Gerard McDonnell, an Irish mountaineer. Still, there's no avoiding the fact that in August 2008, no one in the western media world was asking the Sherpas what happened at 28,000 feet. Maybe next time they will.

The book would have benefited a bit if the author had laid out his thesis near the beginning, to give the reader some idea of the direction he'd be going. But I'd not want the author to have taken anything away from the book's roaring start.

"Four voices spoke in the night." Many months later, some of those voices spoke again and brought light to a story only half told.

This book is well researched and well written. Beautifully edited. I never thought a route descripition would be as exciting as this one was. Any rock climber would be as fascinated as I was. I read it cover to cover on a ten and a half hour drive from Reno to San Diego and back (no I wasn't driving) and it kept my attention rivited the entire way.

Finally, a mountain climbing adventure book willing to take a close and unflinching look at the racial dynamics and cultural mishaps of guided and professional climbing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book -- even when it made me feel uncomfortable. There is less raw angst here than in "Into Thin Air." Wilkinson's role is clear as a knowledgeable researcher and writer. He isn't confused about his own role, and yet he doesn't pretend he's not part of this community as well. It's a skillful navigation. Excellent read -- will be thinking about this book for a long time.

I have to agree with other readers that the organization of this book leaves a lot to be desired. The author does a good job of tracking down the information and full story as best as can be done, but does not present it well. It starts out better than I thought given the reviews and so I did buy it after reading the previews. The first part of the story seems to tell it with the info present initially in blogs and news reports in relatively sequential order. However, this is all the info that was available prior to the authors research. After that, he goes back to fill in the gaps. This part is told mostly in the order he received the info (but not entirely) and has all the stories unrelated to the incident there as well. It might have been OK, if at some point he consolidated it all into a summarized chronologic retelling so you could piece everything together, but he doesn't. I still found the book interesting hence the 3 stars, but it is hard to follow.