Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalaya [Paperback]

Greg Child (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

Above an eerie realm of endless snow covered spires . . . Each step appears increasingly impossible. Disorientation and fatigue make the climber's head swim and the body threaten to collapse. For Greg Child it happened at 8,000 meters on an all-out alpine-style climb marked by tragic loss.

In this spellbinding chronicle, Greg Child takes us step by nerve-shattering step through the world's most remote regions - as he cracks the "death zone" above 26,000 feet, and attacks "by fair means" the world's most perilous pinnacles.From Child's assault on Gasherbrum IV to a season of tragedy and carnage on K2, "Thin Air" is more than one man's story - it is an intimate portrait of mountains and those who climb them: what bonds clients together and what separates them, and what the mountains teach us all about life -- and death . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Recipient of the 1987 American Alpine Club's Literary Award for excellence, Child chronicles three rigorous climbs he undertook on the Indian subcontinent in 1977, 1983, and 1986. In addition to a gripping personal narrative of one climber's physical, mental, and emotional triumphs and defeats, Child provides some political history and generally nonjudgmental observations on cultural, economic, and environmental conditions, as well as East-West differences. Although Thin Air would be improved by the addition of political maps, an index, and more rigorous copy editing, it is a worthwhile contribution to the literature of Himalayan climbs, deserving of a place alongside Fosco Maraini's Karakoram ( LJ 9/15/61) and Galen Rowell's In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods (Sierra Club, 1977). Recommended for academic, public, and some special libraries.
- Harry E. Whitmore, Univ. of Maine-Augusta
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Above an eerie realm of endless snow covered spires . . . Each step appears increasingly impossible. Disorientation and fatigue make the climber's head swim and the body threaten to collapse. For Greg Child it happened at 8,000 meters on an all-out alpine-style climb marked by tragic loss.

In this spellbinding chronicle, Greg Child takes us step by nerve-shattering step through the world's most remote regions - as he cracks the "death zone" above 26,000 feet, and attacks "by fair means" the world's most perilous pinnacles.From Child's assault on Gasherbrum IV to a season of tragedy and carnage on K2, Thin Air is more than one man's story - it is an intimate portrait of mountains and those who climb them: what bonds clients together and what separates them, and what the mountains teach us all about life -- and death . . . --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books; 2 Reprint edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898865883
• ISBN-13: 978-0898865882
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Air Travel

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Available Again. Excellant., February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalaya (Paperback)

One of the best books I have ever read or given to family/friends (I have bought 10+ copies since it was first published...too bad the original hard copy version is no longer available...mine is now in rough shape). My favorite climbing book of all time. Inspired. Be humbled with Child, then grab your gear... After this read, 'Deborah & Mountain of my Fear'.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Study In High Altitude Apprenticeship, November 17, 2000

By 

Dr Lawrence Hauser (NYC, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalaya (Paperback)

This is a superb set of essays which describes the transfiguration of a gifted technical rock climber into a high- altitude mountaineer. In addition, it is a well-written, absorbing chronicle of high adventure in one of the most spectacular regions on earth (replete with dozens of stunning photographs).

For me, the chapters on Broad Peak in the Karakoram were the highlight of this collection . Child describes the geography, people and culture of Pakistan as well as the logistics of the expedition with such clarity and force that it is not hard to begin imagining you are there with him before too long.

But it is his deep respect for all the people he encounters and climbs with that makes this narrative so rich and special. In this regard readers will be moved indeed when Child looses his friend and climbing partner Peter Thexton to pulmonary edema after turning back from the summit on Broad Peak (without getting quite to the top). This tragedy is related with such pathos and power. And it makes Child reconsider the entire enterprise to which he has devoted his life, a process that one rarely reads about in the writings of high altitude mountaineers who so often maintain a stoic attitude reflexively. One's life, Child ultimately decides, takes precedence over the conquest of 8,000 meter peaks; no matter how compelling and significant such a goal may seem.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on mountaineering ever written, June 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas (Hardcover)

This is the best book on mountaineer that has been written. Child is a fantastic writer, and the stories he tells are entirely engrossing. Find this book and read it!