Authors: Clint Willis (Editor), Maria Coffey (Contribution by), David Roberts (Contribution by), Conrad Anker
ISBN-13: 9781560254997, ISBN-10: 1560254998
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Date Published: April 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)
It’s been a half century since Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing made the first ascent of Everest. Their success capped a thirty-year struggle that cost more than a dozen lives—and touched off a new era in the history of the mountain. The past fifty years have seen Everest become an even greater magnet for adventurers—both foolish and heroic. Some of the world’s best climbers have carved out incredibly dangerous new routes on the peak, and many have died trying. Meanwhile, hundreds of nonclimbers have taken on Everest, with mixed results. This history has created an entire literature in itself—a story of triumph and tragedy of epic proportions. Whether it’s Peter Boardman on being forced to leave a friend to die near the summit, Stephen Venables on spending a night out near the summit—an experience only a handful of men have survived—or Chris Bonington on the death of Boardman and Joe Tasker on the Northeast Ridge, almost every great climbing writer has tackled some aspect of the mountain, and Epics on Everest includes their best work.
Introduction | ix | |
from The Lost Explorer | 1 | |
from Mountain Men | 23 | |
from Quest for Adventure | 47 | |
from South Col | 79 | |
from Ascent | 89 | |
All the Winds of Asia | 105 | |
Messner and Habeler: Alone at the Top | 111 | |
from Blind Corners | 127 | |
from Beyond Everest | 163 | |
from Fragile Edge | 177 | |
Absent Friends | 203 | |
from Everest: Alone at the Summit | 209 | |
from Sheer Will | 239 | |
from Climbing High | 283 | |
from The Climb | 303 | |
from Above the Clouds | 321 | |
Acknowledgments | 329 | |
Permissions | 330 | |
Bibliography | 332 |