Climb : Stories of Survival from Rock, Snow and Ice

by c-willis

CLIMB: STORIES OF SURVIVAL FROM ROCK, SNOW AND ICE offers the world's best writing about mountaineering in all its forms - from the rigours and risks of high altitude climbing on Everest to the challenges of scaling E1 Captain's 3, 000 vertical feet. Like it's predecessors in the Adrenaline series, CLIMB examines its subject though the eyes of gifted writers with great stories to tell. Many of the selections in CLIMB are about danger and its consequences In it you can read about > The three fatal mountaineering accidents David Roberts witnessed before he had turned 22 > A crevasse fall that has haunted Jim Wickwire for 18 years > The confusion and drama of an attempt to rescue climbers on the Grand Teton in a story by pete Sinclair These stories reveal climbing's allure as well as its terrible risks. Legendary Yosemite veteran John Long recalls the joys of climbing the world's hardest rock routes in the company of friends whose boldness scares even him. Scotsmen Hamish MacInnes, Tom Patey and Andrew Greig aal feature, too in stories from the Eiger's dreaded North face, Mustagh Tower in the Karakoram and the Alps.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Survival, Mountaineering, Audiobook, Climbing, Travel

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 1999

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best of this was H.G. Wells' story "Little Mother Up the Morderberg". What a fun ride up and down a mountain.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazingly varied anthology covering 100+ years of writing devoted to climbing, with humor and heartfelt emotion vying with adventure and page-turning fear in the mountains. I’ll be sending my copy to the friend who first showed me a carabiner and a belay rope. Climbing may not be for everyone but this volume works for me, an armchair adventurer.

[Joshua Tree · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag. It is nice to have short, episodic writing in relation to mountains and Alpinism, however, there is little that makes the volume a consistent package. There is no overarching motif and therefore one story crashes into another's tone thoughtlessly. Therefore it is not so much the works themselves, but their arrangement in this collection, which makes this book somewhat of a grind to get through. That said, several entries, like H.G. Wells' "Little Mother Up the Morderberg", are absolutely delightful. Maureen O'Neill's "Queen of all she Surveys" is maybe some of the most poetic writing I've read on the sport, reflecting on the inherent risk of climbing and the finality of death that haunts not only mountaineers. I wish very much that I could find more of her work. This book is best for when your time is short or your attention is focused on other things but you still want to get a little Moutain-Reading time in.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There have been joys too great to be described in words, and there have been griefs upon which I have not dared to dwell; and with these in mind I say, climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are naught without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end." Edward Whymper, Scrambles Amongst the Alps

Climber and armchair mountaineer Clint Willis has put together 16 writings (mainly true, some fiction) gleaned from the pens of gifted writers and climbers. In reading these stories, it is more than a little sobering to realize the number of young lives lost through this sport. In any event the stories will keep the reader engrossed.

[GeneralTHC · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-stars
CLIMB is a pretty mixed bag, IMO. It contains fiction and non-fiction short stories about mountain climbing ranging from silly to serious. I actually enjoy this topic quite a lot, but I'm pretty "meh" about short stories generally. Probably most people who like travel literature would enjoy it.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of the mountaineer and her mother was by far the best story in this anthology. I love how it goes to show that some mountaineers are snooty people who could be put in their place by the least of suspecting people.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several good climbing stories to pass the time. This would be a decent book to add to the library of anyone who enjoys the chronicles of outdoor adventure, as there are a several doozies here.

Shortcoming, on audio, I am rarely able to reverse the playback and review an interesting point or plot-advancing fact. would be fun to hav in a library and read occasionally.

[Daniel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know anything about climbing, but the book looked interesting to me anyway. It was pretty amazing how most of the stories dealt with some kind of tragedy with the climbers, but they all accepted it as a fact of life. There was lots of excitement in here and you could feel the pain they all encountered as well as the challenges they faced on the climbs. I can definitely appreciate what they go through now more than before reading this book.

[Elwin Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I liked it" - 3 out of 5 star rating.

Overall, this book is quite sad. I have personally lost a family member to rock climbing who fell to his death, so this hits very close to home.

The pursuit of rock climbing is just such an amazingly dangerous "sport" (which I personally think a very debatable/unfitting label... if you'd like to discuss go for it), the risk for injury and death is so high, I personally really struggle with why people go down this path. I suppose being young, without children or significant others, things that create danger, adventure, and excitement, rock climbing is the perfect filler for people who otherwise live extremely well off and comfortable lives.

This human behavior reminds me tremendously of when I was a Recruiter for the US Army about a decade ago. People who lived in poor income zones, struggled with gang violence, poverty, and simply putting food in their stomachs... most of the time they wanted jobs in the Army that gave them the highest level of safety possible. Human resources, logisticians, computer related jobs, etc. On the flip side, go to the rich high school where it looks like a car dealership pulling up in the parking lot (thanks to their parents) ... these kids? Combat Engineer, Infantry, Cavalry Scout, all of these type jobs - all day. Looping back to the life of comfort seeking danger, versus struggling and desiring stability, safety, and a better quality of life for themselves and their families for the future.

Getting back on track about Climb: Stories of Survival... yeah, this is a book full of short stories of self inflicted near death and actual death for people who decided to pick up the hobby of rock climbing. The final story where the fellow climbers cover their buddy with stones and other natural objects available to attempt to mitigate birds and other scavengers from eating the flesh of their dead friend's corpse... just sad.

There's a chapter on quitting, from a 'biting off more than you can chew' perspective (which usually leads to death of oneself, or others, or severe injuries, or barely surviving with life long injuries gifted) in the heat of the moment on the individual climb, to also quitting the entire pursuit of the 'sport' itself. I've personally seen the machismo (and whatever you'd call the female variant of this term) live out there on the rock. The peer pressure, while maybe is thought of encouraging... leads to everything from torn ligaments, broken bones, or in pretty much every case within this book - death.

My final thoughts:
- Stick to the plastic rocks with padded floors inside of indoor gyms if you really want to climb.
- There are many other ways to stay physically active that doesn't have such a critical risk state.
- Thrill seekers and the like, I hope you get it out of your system before you have spouses, children, etc. Sadly though, a lot of these thrill seekers never reach these life milestones, because they don't make it because of their decision to actively pursue such lifestyle/hobby choices.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

CLIMB was a book filled with short experts from many different stories. Some of the contributions were made by people such as Pete Sinclair, David Roberts, and John Long for example. The stories are filled with many different plots of survival and rock climbing. I believe in total there are 16 or 17 stories all but one being non-fiction. This book was made as praise for other great adrenaline stories put together by Clint Willis.

I liked this book. I borrowed this book from my dad because I thought these would be cool stories to read as preparation for my trip to yellowstone. It was a little to difficult for me so sometimes I couldn't really follow the story at heart. Also I'm not a climber so reading this felt boring and confusing at times because it was out of my level and not really my hobbie. Even though it wasn't perfect for me I still appreciated the stories and liked the difference in what I'm used to. If you are a climber go ahead and read it! It wasn't the perfect thing for me but it may have been for you!

[Peter McGinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of these essays. They include elements of humor, drama, excitement, truth and often a sense of either elation and victory or tragedy and regret. To join the brotherhood/sisterhood of the rope is to take on all of these aspects of climbing.

The pieces that were fiction rather than essays felt out of place to me, though I admit that perhaps was largely due to my knowing they were fictitious, as if the feelings and challenges expressed inthem cannot be accepted as valid even if they were based on actual experience.

Still, my letdown in having those stories included in this volume did not deter me from reading the entire selections. If one does not have time to read every book on climbing and climbers, this Adrenaline series is a good way to test the books through these excerpts and decide if I want to obtain them to read in their entirety.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good but if you're reading this review and have recos for me, I want to hear more voices like Maureen O'Neill's, the lone female voice in a volume of male voices. I get that this is 30 years old and that the sport may have traditionally been "male-dominated." But just a general request: Can we please hear from more women in the adventure memoir space? Please???

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audibook which is a collection of essays or stories from other writers and books. These stories date back to the 1950's up to about the 1970's or 1980's and some are tragic.

I was surprised at the number of climbers in these stories that smoke and I guess times were different when these stories were written.

The last story actually had some humor to it.

I have a hard time recommending this book.

[Almudena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colección variopinta de relatos sobre montañismo, escritos en primera persona por diversos autores. Tiene pasajes especialmente bonitos, reflexiones sobre el miedo, el compañerismo, la adrenalina y las decisiones difíciles que a menudo acompañan a este contexto. Le dan ganas a uno de ponerse las botas y salir a buscar cimas.
Especialmente conmovedor: el relato de Maureen O'Neill.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Audiobook) I quite liked the short stories collected in this anthology. The narration added a fun and realistic component to the stories. The last story was probably the hardest for me to wrap my head around. Ended up looking up the incident afterwards (teton rescue involving Sinclair and Grieg?). My favorite was probably Little Mother. Great road trip listen.

[Jean Dupenloup · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthy collection of tales about mountaineering and climbing.

This anthology packs a decent punch. David Roberts and Greg Child are just two of the celebrity climbing writers.

A nice way to sample a few different voices.

[Lisa Jo Frech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having done a little climbing myself, I understand and shudder sometimes when reading tales of high risk in remote and rugged country with unforgiving conditions, and incredible fortitude to make it up and back safely.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting stories, but some are not so much. Its a mixed bag, but if you love climbing perhaps all of them would have some interest for you.

[Rory Eisele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most anthologies some stories are better than others. Overall, some great selections.

[Mattine · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are interesting short stories of some harrowing climbs. The end is very offputting.

[Becky S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense stories of climbers from the old. Short stories with so much literal perspective.

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of stories, some better and more interesting than others. It was interesting to hear H G Wells sounding like P G Wodehouse.

[Rainier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book, both thought-provoking, and exciting and action-inspiring.

[Tim Wester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Amy Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, IF you are a climber. Basically just trip reports (exception for HG Wells' humorous story poking fun at climbing purists)

[Darla Ebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite tepid as adventure stories go. A couple of the "shorts" were compelling to a degree but not enough substance over all. Over-hyped (personal opinion)

[Scott Sargent]

nan

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection of raw stories about life and death, celebrating the perspective of those who chose to live life in the mountains.

[Melinda Brasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning: I listened to the audio version (I'm trying to make myself like audio books, and not always succeeding). My impressions may have been quite different had I been reading.

Most of these pieces were too technical for me, so I didn't really understand what was going on, and it seemed the survival drama was often eclipsed by the technical jargon. This would probably not be a problem for mountain climbers. When the pieces weren't being too technical for me, they were often being too poetic (though some of this may be the fault of the readers or very likely the fault of me, who doesn't like hearing long descriptive, poetic, or philosophical passages read aloud, and often finds the reader too earnest, which tends to make me feel that even serious subjects are overblown.) I also heard a LOT of similes. They can be good, but too many can weaken writing, and most of these pieces were absolutely full of them, until I wanted to scream at the narrators, "If you say 'like' or 'as' ONE more time, I'm going to turn you off!" And I did, a few times.

As for individual entries:

Although it felt a bit out of place, my favorite piece was H.G. Wells' "Little Mother up the Moerderberg."

I'm fascinated by why mountain climbers climb, why they purposely put themselves in danger, how they view mortality, and other such issues. I've even written about it myself. Some of these essays tackled these topics, and there were some very interesting sections of those. I think "Queen of All She Surveys" by Maureen O'Neill was one. I'm frustrated that I can't quickly look back and give other examples, since it's an audio book, and even the table of contents on Amazon for the e-book isn't jogging my memory enough.

Though there was too much technical jargon for me, I liked the one about a rescue on the north face of…maybe…Grand Teton? Again, I'm so frustrated because I didn't write it down as I was listening, and now can't figure out what that particular piece was called or who wrote it or even where it took place.

Anyway, I'm fascinated by this general subject but don't have technical expertise, so based on that, I'm giving the collection a 3. If I had more technical expertise, my rating might be higher.

[Seth Taplin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming from Rock & Ice, this had a lot of detail for the climbing audience. There's a broad selection of stories, from modern to historical, from rock to ice and mountaineering. The H.G. Wells piece felt a little out of place, but was interesting none the less.