In the Zone: Epic Survival Stories from the Mountaineering World »

In the Zone is a masterful account of three extraordinary humans and a fascinating depiction of the struggle for survival in the mountaineering world. This gripping trilogy retells the true stories of climbers who narrowly escaped death on some of the world's most renowned peaks. Each harrowing tale highlights the dangers, struggles, and instinct for hopeful survival in mountain climbing. Author Peter Potterfield's extensive interviews provide first-hand accounts, some published here for the first time, that share the thoughts and emotions of three men who confronted the ultimate challenge in this extreme sport.

Publishers Weekly

When a climb goes wrong, shows Potterfield, it can become the threshold to a grim, life-changing experience. Along with the survival stories of others, veteran climber Potterfield tells a harrowing tale of his own brush with death and dramatic rescue on Chimney Rock in the Cascades in 1988. Then there is Colby Coombs, who, after an avalanche killed his two companions on Alaska's Mount Foraker in 1992, struggled for five days to make his way down, despite a broken neck, shoulder and ankle. Potterfield's other story features Scott Fischer and his determination to climb K-2, in Pakistan's Karakoram, in 1992. On his first attempt, Fischer fell into a crevasse and dislocated a shoulder. Crippled and in pain, he and his partner persisted; they saved the lives of three other climbers before reaching the summit. Potterfield eventually pieced together the details of his own rescue, which was the most technically elaborate in memory. It involved 100 peopleclimbers, law enforcement officials, army helicopter pilots, ham-radio operatorsin a 36-hour operation. (Oct.)