Best of
Mountaineering

1997

Death Zone


Matt Dickinson - 1997
    Ten expeditions from around the world were preparing for their summit push, gathered together to try for mountaineering's ultimate prize. Twenty-four hours later, eight of those climbers were dead, victims of the most devastating storm ever to hit Everest. On the North face of the mountain, a British expedition found itself in the thick of the drama. Against all odds, film-maker Matt Dickinson and professional climber Alan Hinkes managed to battle through hurricane-force winds to reach the summit. In Death Zone, Matt Dickinson describes the extraordinary event that put the disaster on the front cover of Time and Newsweek. The desperate attempts of teams on the southern side of the mountain, fatal errors that led to the deaths of three Indian climbers on the North Ridge and the moving story of Rob Hall, the New Zealand guide who stayed with his stricken client, and paid with his life. Based on interviews with the surviving climbers and the first-hand experience of having lived through the killer storm, this gripping non-fiction book tackles issues at the very heart of mountaineering. Death Zone is an extraordinary story of human triumph, folly and disaster.

Deep Play: A Climber's Odyssey from Llanberis to the Big Walls


Paul Pritchard - 1997
    A series of stories creates a portrait of the author as he moves from climbing the crags of the local quarry to major expeditions and first ascents In South America and Antarctica. While recognizing that he is perceived as something of a rebel in society, Pritchard hopes that he has given something to climbing by "offering steep, mind-testing challenges for climbers to test themselves out".

The Duke of the Abruzzi: An Explorer's Life


Mirella Tenderini - 1997
    Elias. Includes photos and details of his colorful personal life.