Climbing High: A Woman's Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In May 1996, Lene Gammelgaard became the first Scandinavian woman to reach the peak of Mount Everest. The next day she made history again by surviving the mountain's deadliest disaster. The catastrophic blizzard that killed eight climbers, including Gammelgaard's friend and expedition leader Scott Fischer, spurred controversy over the commercialization of Everest, and has been exhaustively chronicled in accounts such as Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

Fortunately, Climbing High offers an original, insightful view of the tragedy and steers clear of the need to explain what went wrong: "You cannot expect anyone to help you ... up there. Your fate is in your own hands, your own two feet." Gammelgaard kept journals throughout the expedition, and her account stays true to this form: short, intense, and subjective entries on the pressures of financing the climb, the fierce physical and psychological challenges women face in extreme sports, and the tricky cluster of personalities that can make or break a summit bid. Yes, there are gripping moments, such as the desperate night she and seven others spent exposed in the storm above 20,000 feet, but Gammelgaard is at her best when providing insights into what drives people to risk--and sometimes lose--their lives. --Svenja Soldovieri

From Publishers Weekly

Months before John Krakauer's Into Thin Air conquered bestseller lists, Gammelgaard, a member of the 1996 Mountain Madness Mt. Everest expedition, wrote an account of the catastrophe that became a bestseller in Denmark and is at last available in English. Those who have followed the controversy surrounding the tragedy will welcome this even-handed version. A lawyer and psychotherapist, Gammelgaard intended to become the first Scandinavian woman to climb Everest. Her physical and mental training for a grueling ascent without oxygen (a publicity stunt that was later aborted) may have saved her life: she climbed quickly and reached the summit early. During the team's descent in the deadly snowstorm, she was also able to trade her full canister of oxygen for a weaker teammate's nearly empty one. Gammelgaard offers keen insights into the motivations and characters of the lead climbers and guides, and frankly discusses the "megalomania" that drove her to risk her life. Dismissing accusations that hers was a glamour expedition for wealthy amateurs, she emphasizes that her co-climbers were accomplished mountaineers and that the high price of admission paid for the best quality food, equipment and support team. Still, she has powerful regrets about the loss of life, confessing, "I just didn't know how high a price the Mother Goddess of the World would exact to show us humans the consequences of hubris." Photos. 7-city author tour. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press; illustrated edition edition (June 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580050239
• ISBN-13: 978-1580050234
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #796,424 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A big disappointment, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

I had "high" hopes about this book and really was quite disappointed by it. After having read "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" (the first of which I thought was excellent, the second less well written but gripping nonetheless) I was anxious to read Lene's account of the same story. I had met her at a local bookstore where she did a slide show presentation and book signing and she is definitely a strong and impressive woman face to face. But I thought her book was poorly written (or poorly translated) and did not convey any of the drama or nail-biting suspense that the others did. Her thoughts jump around from sentence to sentence and never seem to stick together well enough to make what I consider a good read. I'm glad I didn't waste the energy to carry it around with me on my recent Everest trek as I was going to do. I probably would have left it in one of the villages only to leave it to another disappointed reader. For a beautiful and well-written mountaineering adventure from a woman's perspective, read Arlene Blum's "Annapurna: A woman's place on Top."

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Self aggrandizing psycho-babble,, October 16, 1999

By	moi (Il de France) - See all my reviews

The book is poorly written with a lot of name dropping and gossipy insinuations. Into Thin Air, Climb, High Exposure are all better written and far more interesting. I think she figures if she refers to the "mother goddess" enough times she can pass the book off as feminist treatise. Lucky for Gammelgaard, she's a better climber than writer, or she'd be just be another fossil on the mountain. Don't waste your money.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing after Into Thin Air and The Climb, December 30, 1999

By	Scott Wharton (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After being nearly obsessed with Into Thin Air and The Climb, I eagerly awaited the latest book from Lene (I also lived in and speak Danish -- an added bonus). However, I found Lene's chronicle pretty weak, with little background or insight in the writing. This book was written more like a journal without analysis and should have been billed as such. For gaining insight into the state of mind for Lene, it was interesting. For better writing and deeper analysis about the 96 tragedy, stick to the other 2 books.