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No Way Down: Life and Death on K2
In the tradition of Into Thin Air and Touching the Void, No Way Down by New York Times reporter Graham Bowley is the harrowing account of the worst mountain climbing disaster on K2, second to Everest in height... but second to no peak in terms of danger. From tragic deaths to unbelievable stories of heroism and survival, No Way Down is an amazing feat of storytelling and adventure writing, and, in the words of explorer and author Sir Ranulph Fiennes, “the closest you can come to being on the summit of K2 on that fateful day.”
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 29, 2010
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April 2, 2022
Historia, mająca miejsce na K2 w 2008 jest okrutna i pod jakimś względem wspaniała, ale sama książka mocno średnia. Autor miał zero wrażliwości dla tematu, bo sam jest nijak niezwiązany z górami.
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May 29, 2012(EDIT: I have since read "One Mountain Thousand Summits", which I find to be a more detailed and accurate portrayal of the 2008 K2 disaster. If you have time to only read one book, read that one).
"No Way Down" is probably the single most detailed account of the 2008 K2 disaster in which 11 people died on the mountain. Graham Bowley, writer for the New York Times, does an admirable job collecting interviews from survivors and teammates and putting together an easily digestible and gripping narrative - I read this book in a day - that makes sense of what happened during that August week. This reads very much like an extended New York Times Magazine piece with all its positives and negatives.
Since the writer is a journalist and not a mountaineer or historian as is normal, there are a couple things that stand out in this book. The first is that the writing is much better than a typical mountaineering book. Cuz, let's face it, even thought this is written like an NYT mag piece, traditional mountaineering writing sucks. So it's nice to read something by someone who can actually write.
The second is that this book packs a lot of information. It's very clear from the story that Bowley spent a lot of time interviewing previously taciturn climbers and getting them to relay their stories. Because of this, previously unknown details about the lives (and deaths) of the mountaineers emerge in this book. Typical mountaineering books, either out of sense of moutaineering propriety or something else, remove a lot of detail that would actually be helpful to the reader. I think Bowley does well to depict gruesome events on the mountain while still being respectful to the family and friends of the dead.
Being a journalist and not a mountaineer, however, has hindered Graham Bowley from making this a great book instead of merely an enjoyable one. My main problem with the book is that Bowley is unable to judge the events on the mountain. Unlike mountaineers/writers Jon Krakauer or Ed Viesturs, Bowley merely relates the events on the mountain without being able to determine whether or not those actions were safe, stupid, or otherwise. "Into Thin Air" would not have the moral sting had not Jon Krakauer been so pissed at mistakes made on Everest which seem so innocuous to a non-climber's eye, and I would have never appreciated Fritz Wiessner's failed 1939 K2 summit attempt had not Ed Viesturs, in "K2: Life and Death on the World's Second Highest Mountain", told me how Wiessner attempted a much more technically demanding section in order to sidestep the less demanding but possibly more dangerous section which ended up killing 8 climbers in 2008. The problem is that high altitude mountaineering (HAM) is such an alien sport that we don't have the mental tools to independently judge actions on the mountain. Unfortunately, neither does Bowley.
Related to this point is that the writer doesn't have sufficient context to write authoritatively on the subject. In the epi-epilogue, Bowley lists background reading he did for writing the book. To his credit, Graham read a LOT of books on K2 and seems to have a good sense of the history of K2. In not reading HAM stories on other mountains such as Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, or Everest, Bowley, I feel, fails to convey how K2 compares with other 8000m peaks and how truly difficult an ascent of K2 actually is.
My final problem with "No Way Down" is that it attempts to fit a journalistic "single narrative" onto events that did not occur so neatly. Bowley himself mentions how gathering the information was a "postmodern mess" since many of the survivors related different and often clashing stories. Much of this seems to stem from the effects of hypoxia on the brain above 25,000ft, which from numerous stories indicates that the lack of oxygen plays tricks on the brain. Krakauer misremembers who he saw descending to him at a campsite during the 1996 Everest disaster, causing controversy in the climbing community. Reinhold Messner, widely considered the best high altitude climber ever, remembers seeing his dead brother during his climbs. Confortola, one of the climbers in this book, thinks he sees a non-existent snow leopard (I think, but could have seen this somewhere else). With such poor high altitude memory, I find it hard to say that the journalist approach is the best way to recount a high altitude mountain climbing story. In fact, I would say that "postmodern" writers have the tools to make a great book. Any fiction writers willing to take a shot?
"No Way Down" is probably the single most detailed account of the 2008 K2 disaster in which 11 people died on the mountain. Graham Bowley, writer for the New York Times, does an admirable job collecting interviews from survivors and teammates and putting together an easily digestible and gripping narrative - I read this book in a day - that makes sense of what happened during that August week. This reads very much like an extended New York Times Magazine piece with all its positives and negatives.
Since the writer is a journalist and not a mountaineer or historian as is normal, there are a couple things that stand out in this book. The first is that the writing is much better than a typical mountaineering book. Cuz, let's face it, even thought this is written like an NYT mag piece, traditional mountaineering writing sucks. So it's nice to read something by someone who can actually write.
The second is that this book packs a lot of information. It's very clear from the story that Bowley spent a lot of time interviewing previously taciturn climbers and getting them to relay their stories. Because of this, previously unknown details about the lives (and deaths) of the mountaineers emerge in this book. Typical mountaineering books, either out of sense of moutaineering propriety or something else, remove a lot of detail that would actually be helpful to the reader. I think Bowley does well to depict gruesome events on the mountain while still being respectful to the family and friends of the dead.
Being a journalist and not a mountaineer, however, has hindered Graham Bowley from making this a great book instead of merely an enjoyable one. My main problem with the book is that Bowley is unable to judge the events on the mountain. Unlike mountaineers/writers Jon Krakauer or Ed Viesturs, Bowley merely relates the events on the mountain without being able to determine whether or not those actions were safe, stupid, or otherwise. "Into Thin Air" would not have the moral sting had not Jon Krakauer been so pissed at mistakes made on Everest which seem so innocuous to a non-climber's eye, and I would have never appreciated Fritz Wiessner's failed 1939 K2 summit attempt had not Ed Viesturs, in "K2: Life and Death on the World's Second Highest Mountain", told me how Wiessner attempted a much more technically demanding section in order to sidestep the less demanding but possibly more dangerous section which ended up killing 8 climbers in 2008. The problem is that high altitude mountaineering (HAM) is such an alien sport that we don't have the mental tools to independently judge actions on the mountain. Unfortunately, neither does Bowley.
Related to this point is that the writer doesn't have sufficient context to write authoritatively on the subject. In the epi-epilogue, Bowley lists background reading he did for writing the book. To his credit, Graham read a LOT of books on K2 and seems to have a good sense of the history of K2. In not reading HAM stories on other mountains such as Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, or Everest, Bowley, I feel, fails to convey how K2 compares with other 8000m peaks and how truly difficult an ascent of K2 actually is.
My final problem with "No Way Down" is that it attempts to fit a journalistic "single narrative" onto events that did not occur so neatly. Bowley himself mentions how gathering the information was a "postmodern mess" since many of the survivors related different and often clashing stories. Much of this seems to stem from the effects of hypoxia on the brain above 25,000ft, which from numerous stories indicates that the lack of oxygen plays tricks on the brain. Krakauer misremembers who he saw descending to him at a campsite during the 1996 Everest disaster, causing controversy in the climbing community. Reinhold Messner, widely considered the best high altitude climber ever, remembers seeing his dead brother during his climbs. Confortola, one of the climbers in this book, thinks he sees a non-existent snow leopard (I think, but could have seen this somewhere else). With such poor high altitude memory, I find it hard to say that the journalist approach is the best way to recount a high altitude mountain climbing story. In fact, I would say that "postmodern" writers have the tools to make a great book. Any fiction writers willing to take a shot?
January 20, 2022
Chef's kiss. Another fantastic entry in mountaineering disaster canon, and a must-read if you're particularly interested in the 2008 disastrous K2 season. This one in particularly I liked the angle of a journalist who is NOT a mountaineer tackling this complicated story from all angles. It's free of some of the editorializing you get when a serious mountaineer-also-journalist tries to explain "but you don't understand the lure of the summit!" or tries to excuse away stupidity on the mountain out of deference to their colleagues. Those narratives and perspective have their place, as well, (I'm currently reading Ed Viesturs take on this) as expert narratives/analysis, but sometimes it's good to pull away and have an outsider take a narrative approach, as Bowley does.
Like all the best narrative non-fiction, you feel like you are on the mountain with the climbers. You feel their triumphs and anguish. That said, since I have also read books by mountaineers who HAVE made these exact climbs--there are moments where I missed the very specific description of gear, maneuvers, locales that someone who has climbs the mountain is able to give.
Still, Bowley takes you so in-depth with a half dozen or so interconnecting stories, weaving them together beautifully, with lots of emotional detail and treats the story--and the people in it--with great care and respect. The book is never mocking or callous--there's a quiet respect and reminder repeatedly: these were living, breathing human beings with hopes and dreams and families, and they died. It's all so sad. And terrifying. To give you a comparison of the kind of specificity you'll get--I just read a passage in Viesturs K2 book that covers Rolf Bae's death and his wife's Cecilie's getting down the mountain in a paragraph or so. He gives her credit for how remarkable she was to make it down after suffering such a loss. But I was glad to have read Bowley's book just before, to recall how horrific and paralyzing and devastating Cecilie's loss was, how she wanted to give up several times, before finally getting off the mountain--hers is one of the stories told over the course of the book. It's heartbreaking. I just love this type of narrative non-fiction. Not just what happened, but how and who and why.
Just a lovely piece of narrative journalism about a horrific tragedy, that also acknowledges the complex, complicated, and sometimes divisive people who chose to climb it and the decisions they made on the mountain. Also pays due respect to the high altitude porters and Sherpa porters who lost their lives--many stories will gloss over it, but several of the "characters" you get close to are HAPs/Sherpa climbers and you care as much for their fates as any of the Western climbers--and not all mountaineering disaster books do that.
Like all the best narrative non-fiction, you feel like you are on the mountain with the climbers. You feel their triumphs and anguish. That said, since I have also read books by mountaineers who HAVE made these exact climbs--there are moments where I missed the very specific description of gear, maneuvers, locales that someone who has climbs the mountain is able to give.
Still, Bowley takes you so in-depth with a half dozen or so interconnecting stories, weaving them together beautifully, with lots of emotional detail and treats the story--and the people in it--with great care and respect. The book is never mocking or callous--there's a quiet respect and reminder repeatedly: these were living, breathing human beings with hopes and dreams and families, and they died. It's all so sad. And terrifying. To give you a comparison of the kind of specificity you'll get--I just read a passage in Viesturs K2 book that covers Rolf Bae's death and his wife's Cecilie's getting down the mountain in a paragraph or so. He gives her credit for how remarkable she was to make it down after suffering such a loss. But I was glad to have read Bowley's book just before, to recall how horrific and paralyzing and devastating Cecilie's loss was, how she wanted to give up several times, before finally getting off the mountain--hers is one of the stories told over the course of the book. It's heartbreaking. I just love this type of narrative non-fiction. Not just what happened, but how and who and why.
Just a lovely piece of narrative journalism about a horrific tragedy, that also acknowledges the complex, complicated, and sometimes divisive people who chose to climb it and the decisions they made on the mountain. Also pays due respect to the high altitude porters and Sherpa porters who lost their lives--many stories will gloss over it, but several of the "characters" you get close to are HAPs/Sherpa climbers and you care as much for their fates as any of the Western climbers--and not all mountaineering disaster books do that.
April 25, 2021
No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 was the latest book chosen for a mountaineering-themed ongoing Buddy Read.
While the book was a solid introduction to the 2008 disaster on K2, it was not a great read.
The author could not make up his mind what to include in the book and as a result floods you with too many irrelevant details while leaving out details that would have been important to know.
Also, it did not help that the author is not a mountaineer himself. I felt that for much of the book I had to fill in information that was missing from the book with information I had learned in other books.
What really pissed me off, however, was the author’s epilogue in which he described how he went about getting some of the interviews that make up the basis of this author’s work.
Some of the approaches he took seem to me to me nothing short of stalking and harassing people, some of whom were still traumatised by their experiences on K2. All in all, judging by the direct quotes the author supplies, their interviews seemed to have added little to what had already been reported at the time.
I have no intention to read more by this author.
While the book was a solid introduction to the 2008 disaster on K2, it was not a great read.
The author could not make up his mind what to include in the book and as a result floods you with too many irrelevant details while leaving out details that would have been important to know.
Also, it did not help that the author is not a mountaineer himself. I felt that for much of the book I had to fill in information that was missing from the book with information I had learned in other books.
What really pissed me off, however, was the author’s epilogue in which he described how he went about getting some of the interviews that make up the basis of this author’s work.
Some of the approaches he took seem to me to me nothing short of stalking and harassing people, some of whom were still traumatised by their experiences on K2. All in all, judging by the direct quotes the author supplies, their interviews seemed to have added little to what had already been reported at the time.
I have no intention to read more by this author.
November 18, 2010
Yikes. This book is rather more gruesome than most of the mountain-woe books I've read. People just go sliding right off cliffs, someone finds another team member's eyeball in the snow after an avalanche and later on, that same person's penis is described as "frozen." Which makes sense in its bluntness & leads me down all sorts of unpleasant avenues regarding man bits and why no one has ever mentioned before what goes on down there at 28,000 feet. And what about the women? How exactly does one go at such a height? I find it unpleasant enough when we're just camping & I'm not hanging from a rope or some such.
June 27, 2016
Like everyone else who read Krakauer's Into Thin Air, I've been obsessed ever since with tales of high-altitude climbing, particularly when that climbing goes wrong. This book is about the 2008 disaster on K2, which left 11 climbers dead. One climber saw her husband die in an avalanche that barely missed her and another climber; another one saved a fellow Sherpa who has lost his ice axe, only to lose his cousin the following day during a separate rescue mission. This story shares some similarity to the 1996 Everest story: overcrowding on summit day, miscommunication, questionable decisions, incredible acts of heroism and selfishness, and a natural disaster that left many climbers stuck after sundown in the Death Zone (the area above ~26,000 feet.)
Unlike Krakauer's book, Bowley-a reporter for the New York Times-wasn't there during the event. Instead, he interviewed most of the participants after the fact, and tries painstakingly to piece the narrative together. Still, the confusion as to what exactly happened remains much the same as when Krakauer went through this exercise. Altitude sickness and physical exhaustion impairs memories, no one wants to look bad, people get separated and just don't know what happened to their climbing partner, and so on. His epilogue is interesting and shouldn't be skipped, as he goes into the details of how he secured interviews with some of those climbers, his impressions of them, and his thoughts on the remaining questions and controversies surrounding the event.
Having read several books about Everest at this point, I find it's more interesting to read about K2. While the mountain isn't as tall, it is widely acknowledged to be a more difficult, technical and all-around dangerous climb. While stats vary, around 1 person dies for every 4 who summit.
If this story interests you, there is also a movie called The Summit currently streaming on Netflix in the US. It mixes interviews, pictures and footage filmed by someone in Camp Four during this event pretty seamlessly with re-enactments. It'll help you put faces and locations to the names in this book.
Unlike Krakauer's book, Bowley-a reporter for the New York Times-wasn't there during the event. Instead, he interviewed most of the participants after the fact, and tries painstakingly to piece the narrative together. Still, the confusion as to what exactly happened remains much the same as when Krakauer went through this exercise. Altitude sickness and physical exhaustion impairs memories, no one wants to look bad, people get separated and just don't know what happened to their climbing partner, and so on. His epilogue is interesting and shouldn't be skipped, as he goes into the details of how he secured interviews with some of those climbers, his impressions of them, and his thoughts on the remaining questions and controversies surrounding the event.
Having read several books about Everest at this point, I find it's more interesting to read about K2. While the mountain isn't as tall, it is widely acknowledged to be a more difficult, technical and all-around dangerous climb. While stats vary, around 1 person dies for every 4 who summit.
If this story interests you, there is also a movie called The Summit currently streaming on Netflix in the US. It mixes interviews, pictures and footage filmed by someone in Camp Four during this event pretty seamlessly with re-enactments. It'll help you put faces and locations to the names in this book.
January 31, 2011
In August 2008 several international teams of climbers began their ascent of K2, the world's second highest peak. New York Times reporter Graham Bowley provides a riveting account of the disaster that befell them. Bowley's comprehensive account of one of the worst tragedies in mountaineering history held me spellbound--I couldn't put it down. And, for me, the Colorado connections only added to its appeal. This is an extraordinary tale of death and survival that you won't soon forget.
June 9, 2024
The story of the deadliest single accident in K2 mountaineering history. Out of 25 climbers, 11 died in one day and 3 were seriously injured. The books is based on the interviews and stories of the survivors so there is still not a clear understanding of some events but we know the main cause was an avalanche taking out the ropes at The Bottleneck, probably the most challenging area of the hike. The victims were from France, Ireland, South Korea, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, and Serbia.
November 17, 2017
This book presents an explanation of the tragedy that occurred on K2 in 2008, during which eleven people died. The author provides an unbiased account of what took place, who did what, and why. Bowley exposes the many factors involved, including lack of communication, delays in the ascent, questionable judgments, and bad luck. Once oxygen deprivation to the brain is added to the mix, it became the proverbial recipe for disaster.
The human drive to conquer conditions of extreme cold fascinates me: to explore, to test the limits of endurance, to prove it can be done. This book delivers on that score. Where it falls short is in presentation, such as numerous typos, lack of proper punctuation, and segments that appear to be poor English translations from another language. These annoyances detracted significantly from my reading experience and should have been caught before publishing.
I think any book on mountaineering benefits from the author having “been there, done that.” This is more of a factual account, which was fine, but I was expecting something akin to Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. This book suffers by comparison. Recommended to readers who want to understand why mountaineering tragedies occur in hope of preventing them in the future.
The human drive to conquer conditions of extreme cold fascinates me: to explore, to test the limits of endurance, to prove it can be done. This book delivers on that score. Where it falls short is in presentation, such as numerous typos, lack of proper punctuation, and segments that appear to be poor English translations from another language. These annoyances detracted significantly from my reading experience and should have been caught before publishing.
I think any book on mountaineering benefits from the author having “been there, done that.” This is more of a factual account, which was fine, but I was expecting something akin to Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. This book suffers by comparison. Recommended to readers who want to understand why mountaineering tragedies occur in hope of preventing them in the future.
May 27, 2015
Good companion to Ed Viestur's K2 book. That one is more straight up reporting whereas this one recounts the 2008 disaster using a suspenseful narrative style. It reads like fiction, with lots of dialog, cliffhangers and foreshadowing.
Knowing what happened already, it was hard to read this book-- I had a pit in my stomach and dreaded what was to come. But that means it works as a suspense novel.
Remind me not to climb K2.
Knowing what happened already, it was hard to read this book-- I had a pit in my stomach and dreaded what was to come. But that means it works as a suspense novel.
Remind me not to climb K2.
July 14, 2012
The hour-by-hour story of the infamous K2 expedition in 2008 that claimed the lives of eleven climbers. The author interviewed many of the survivors and pieced together the most likely series of events from their accounts, although in spots his delving into minds of those who died, while probably as accurate as one could be, still remain speculative. Nevertheless, there are segments of nail-biting suspense
After having waited several months into the very short summer climbing season on K2, the second highest mountain in the world, and considered one of the most difficult and dangerous, several teams of climbers attempted a summit. Despite delays along the way that should have had them postpone their climb toward the top, many continued on. The most dangerous part of each climb is the return trip when climbers are exhausted and often suffering the effects of high altitude.
A glossary of names might have been helpful and there were passages that felt as if they had been amateurishly translated from another language. If you don’t want to read a whole book about the incidents, you might want to just look at the Wikipedia entry which is quite detailed and good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2...
An excellent addition to mountain climbing literature.
After having waited several months into the very short summer climbing season on K2, the second highest mountain in the world, and considered one of the most difficult and dangerous, several teams of climbers attempted a summit. Despite delays along the way that should have had them postpone their climb toward the top, many continued on. The most dangerous part of each climb is the return trip when climbers are exhausted and often suffering the effects of high altitude.
A glossary of names might have been helpful and there were passages that felt as if they had been amateurishly translated from another language. If you don’t want to read a whole book about the incidents, you might want to just look at the Wikipedia entry which is quite detailed and good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2...
An excellent addition to mountain climbing literature.
January 31, 2022
As a person who has a weird obsession with mountaineering disasters (Books, tv shows, movies, podcasts, all of it), this book was just what I needed for my own snowy January. While it doesn't top Into Thin Air, which in my opinion is the best mountaineering disaster - and non-fiction - book I've ever read, No Way Down was brilliantly researched and retold by someone who wasn't on the mountain - but made it seem like he was. (Honestly, I'm not sure how you could beat a first-person account, but Bowley comes close, which is a monumental achievement in itself.)
While I will never understand the mental gymnastics that drives people to this insanely dangerous attempt, I can understand the intellectual obsession with the mountains that give life...and take it.
While I will never understand the mental gymnastics that drives people to this insanely dangerous attempt, I can understand the intellectual obsession with the mountains that give life...and take it.
December 5, 2012
It is hard not to compare this book to Into Thin Air by Jon Krakuaer. However, there are some noticeable differences which I believe make this book a more pleasurable read. The latter spent a far greater number of pages detailing the rich cultural history of Everest and the individuals who climbed it. This book propels the reader more or less straight into the action and, although there are segments which are dedicated to the history of K2, this in itself often provides the same enthralling read as the main story itself. In the same vein, Into Thin Air slowly builds to a climactic and tragic finale. All The Way Down provides a steady stream of adrenalin fuelled excitement, more or less throughout the entire text.
It could be argued that some of the events and emotional aspects which are written are spurious in their accuracy. This would be a justifiable charge. However, I believe the book is a far more gripping read as a result, that Bowley has attempted to strike a balance between drama and accuracy and that he has achieved this well, bearing in mind the difficulties which always will be present when trying to recollect events which occurred at such high altitude and in such life threatening circumstances. Also, without these emotional aspects, accurate or otherwise, the book would simply read like a dry textbook, stating the facts. This would be far less readable and therefore the emotions of those involved play a large part in ensuring that the readers attention is maintained.
The book conveyed the tragic loss which one would feel were they actually climbing along with the mountaineers. Into Thin Air lacks details and therefore loses that sense of intimacy and immediacy which No Way Down possesses. I definitely preferred this to its predecessor and my personal opinion is that it is a must for any mountaineering enthusiast, or indeed anyone who enjoys reading about mountaineering enthusiasts.
It could be argued that some of the events and emotional aspects which are written are spurious in their accuracy. This would be a justifiable charge. However, I believe the book is a far more gripping read as a result, that Bowley has attempted to strike a balance between drama and accuracy and that he has achieved this well, bearing in mind the difficulties which always will be present when trying to recollect events which occurred at such high altitude and in such life threatening circumstances. Also, without these emotional aspects, accurate or otherwise, the book would simply read like a dry textbook, stating the facts. This would be far less readable and therefore the emotions of those involved play a large part in ensuring that the readers attention is maintained.
The book conveyed the tragic loss which one would feel were they actually climbing along with the mountaineers. Into Thin Air lacks details and therefore loses that sense of intimacy and immediacy which No Way Down possesses. I definitely preferred this to its predecessor and my personal opinion is that it is a must for any mountaineering enthusiast, or indeed anyone who enjoys reading about mountaineering enthusiasts.
November 8, 2015
The story itself was good, but there were some issues with how the book was laid out that I did not like.
For instance, the narrative often jumped time without much warning (flashbacks, and within the timeline of the events transpiring on K2). Sometimes it was difficult to keep track of who was doing exactly what where, and while I totally understand the equivalent of the 'fog of war' on the mountain, the book was written with the help of hindsight, so I think the overall narrative structure could've been a bit clearer.
There were also references to mountaineering events which were treated unevenly, such as the detailed description of 'The Belay' (though never mentioning that that's what Pete Schoeding's heroic act became known as), while only touching for the briefest moment on the stories of Beck Weathers and Rob Hall on Everest in '96. Finally, the titles of the sections were a bit misleading too - near the end, one of the chapters was subtitled '3 am,' but the narrative picked up around 7pm and ended just before dawn at between 4-5 am.
I think I'm also getting a bit tired of reading about stupid mountaineers - there is no excuse to be summiting a peak like K2 around dusk, period. It's one thing to have to deal with unavoidable adversity (unexpected storm, avalanche, rope or equipment failures); quite another when the worst predicaments (being caught in the avalanches) were 100% avoidable if the teams had descended the mountain earlier. I think the author could've gone a bit more into detail about the various characters' motivations and this particular day's 'summit fever.'
So overall: interesting story, but hindered from reaching its full potential by the faults in its structure.
Quick update: I just watched the NatGeo documentary about the same events of the book ... it was even more cursory and disjointed (although I appreciated some of the footage).
For instance, the narrative often jumped time without much warning (flashbacks, and within the timeline of the events transpiring on K2). Sometimes it was difficult to keep track of who was doing exactly what where, and while I totally understand the equivalent of the 'fog of war' on the mountain, the book was written with the help of hindsight, so I think the overall narrative structure could've been a bit clearer.
There were also references to mountaineering events which were treated unevenly, such as the detailed description of 'The Belay' (though never mentioning that that's what Pete Schoeding's heroic act became known as), while only touching for the briefest moment on the stories of Beck Weathers and Rob Hall on Everest in '96. Finally, the titles of the sections were a bit misleading too - near the end, one of the chapters was subtitled '3 am,' but the narrative picked up around 7pm and ended just before dawn at between 4-5 am.
I think I'm also getting a bit tired of reading about stupid mountaineers - there is no excuse to be summiting a peak like K2 around dusk, period. It's one thing to have to deal with unavoidable adversity (unexpected storm, avalanche, rope or equipment failures); quite another when the worst predicaments (being caught in the avalanches) were 100% avoidable if the teams had descended the mountain earlier. I think the author could've gone a bit more into detail about the various characters' motivations and this particular day's 'summit fever.'
So overall: interesting story, but hindered from reaching its full potential by the faults in its structure.
Quick update: I just watched the NatGeo documentary about the same events of the book ... it was even more cursory and disjointed (although I appreciated some of the footage).
March 21, 2019
This is an excellent book about the August 2008 season on K2 (second highest mountain in the world) when 11 climbers died. There were a number of different expeditions on the mountain as well as a handful of solo climbers. Graham Bowley, a British reporter for the New York Times, has done an amazing job in interviewing hundreds of people and recounting the events of these disastrous few days when so many perished.
I have read many books about the 1996 disastrous climbing season on Everest but none about K2. I expect there are others about this disastrous season on K2 but I suspect that this is the definitive one to read and am glad I came across it first.
As well as being about the 2008 season it also recounted many other expeditions to summit K2, including the eventual first successful ascent in 1954. It's very well written and researched and was interesting to read of some of the climbers whose names are familiar to me from Everest expeditions. I knew of Peter Schoening as he turned back early in the 1996 Everest attempt due to a health issue. I didn't know that in 1953, as a much younger man, he saved the lives of five fellow climbers who'd tripped and all fallen as a group by digging in his ice axe and taking all their weights. This book was full of all sorts of wonderful snippets like that and will stay with me for a long time.
I have read many books about the 1996 disastrous climbing season on Everest but none about K2. I expect there are others about this disastrous season on K2 but I suspect that this is the definitive one to read and am glad I came across it first.
As well as being about the 2008 season it also recounted many other expeditions to summit K2, including the eventual first successful ascent in 1954. It's very well written and researched and was interesting to read of some of the climbers whose names are familiar to me from Everest expeditions. I knew of Peter Schoening as he turned back early in the 1996 Everest attempt due to a health issue. I didn't know that in 1953, as a much younger man, he saved the lives of five fellow climbers who'd tripped and all fallen as a group by digging in his ice axe and taking all their weights. This book was full of all sorts of wonderful snippets like that and will stay with me for a long time.
November 29, 2020
Nie.
Facet pisze fragmenty, w których wtyka ludziom, którzy umarli na K2 myśli do głowy, ludziom, którzy nie mieli jak komuś opowiedzieć o czym myśleli i co czuli w takiej chwili.
No kurwa nie. Albo piszesz reportaż albo powieść, ale nie robisz z tego mieszanki i wciskasz sobie swoje wyobrażenia tam, gdzie ci się poodba, by dodać dramatyzmu.
Facet pisze fragmenty, w których wtyka ludziom, którzy umarli na K2 myśli do głowy, ludziom, którzy nie mieli jak komuś opowiedzieć o czym myśleli i co czuli w takiej chwili.
No kurwa nie. Albo piszesz reportaż albo powieść, ale nie robisz z tego mieszanki i wciskasz sobie swoje wyobrażenia tam, gdzie ci się poodba, by dodać dramatyzmu.
September 9, 2010
The jacket blurb calls this a "riveting work of narrative non-fiction." Hardly. It reads like a long newspaper article.
June 20, 2016
I have read several books concerning the 1-2 August 2008 tragedy on K2, and I would not recommend this one to anybody. While the author may be a NYTimes journalist, he is clearly not used to writing a full book, as evidenced by the shoddy writing style that is frequently reminiscent of a poorly constructed middle-grade novel. I can only imagine that editing was given a pass in order to get this book out as fast as possible, in front of other books covering the tragedy. In addition to poor style, this book contains poor information, reflected in the notable lack of coverage given to the Sherpas and HAPs, both those who were full expedition members and the porters. This lack is not overly surprising considering the author seems to go out of his way to include not-so-subtle digs and insults at the non-Westerners who climbed. Finally, there is the baffling decision to write certain sections in what appears to be third-person omniscient, giving the content a sense of fact. The bafflement arrises when one realises that the POV is coming from an individual who died on K2 and was not around to give an interview afterwards (unless the author was conducting seances). Granted, many mountaineers keep diaries or journals of their climbs, but even those would only give so much information. Any thought or action that was not said and/or witnessed after the final entry enters the realm of supposition. It gives the whole book a bizarre sense of being a blend of fact and fiction, which should not be the aim of a 'true account' of a recent event. Other accounts of mountain disasters tend to alert the reader when entering the realms of supposition; the accounts of certain actions may be the probable result of their circumstances, and the dialogue makes sense based on what we know of individuals, but there is no way to know the final acts of those who died doomed and alone. I would very much like to know who's idea it was to present supposition as fact and how exactly it got past an editor.
Pros: This book has a few excellent maps and some very nice colour photographs of K2 and the various routes up it.
Pros: This book has a few excellent maps and some very nice colour photographs of K2 and the various routes up it.
September 12, 2011
I kinda feel sorry for all mountain disaster books that follow Into Thin Air, for they will always be compared to Krakauer's masterpiece. On the other hand, they do benefit from the resulting popularity of the genre and probably earn a lot more money thanks to Krakauer.
No Way Down is a decent book-- not great, but decent. I like the way Bowley tells the story through his different characters, tracing each part of the story from the perspective of those involved at that stage of the disaster. First he lets us get to know them, then he tells us of their fate on K2. For example, the first people we get to know are a trio of Norwegians. They are the first to summit, so we follow their journey up and then down. (I shall leave out the details so as not to spoil the book.) We then pick up the story from the next group approaching the summit, and so on to the last climbers to leave the mountain. However, where this book lets me down is in the fact that while Bowley gets me to care about the characters, he never really makes me feel their peril. And this is a story wherein 11 people died. On K2. Yet I never really felt much adrenaline, or "Oh no!" moments. Maybe this is because, unlike Krakauer, Bowley himself has no mountaineering experience. He has never felt fear or danger on a mountain, so how can he impart these feelings on the reader? Furthermore, while Bowley alludes to contradictions in the stories of what happened and who may be blamed for certain aspects of the tragedy, he never gets into it. I felt this left some of the important conflict out of the story. And I felt that a writer who had set out to tell me the truth about what happened on K2 let me down.
No Way Down is a decent book-- not great, but decent. I like the way Bowley tells the story through his different characters, tracing each part of the story from the perspective of those involved at that stage of the disaster. First he lets us get to know them, then he tells us of their fate on K2. For example, the first people we get to know are a trio of Norwegians. They are the first to summit, so we follow their journey up and then down. (I shall leave out the details so as not to spoil the book.) We then pick up the story from the next group approaching the summit, and so on to the last climbers to leave the mountain. However, where this book lets me down is in the fact that while Bowley gets me to care about the characters, he never really makes me feel their peril. And this is a story wherein 11 people died. On K2. Yet I never really felt much adrenaline, or "Oh no!" moments. Maybe this is because, unlike Krakauer, Bowley himself has no mountaineering experience. He has never felt fear or danger on a mountain, so how can he impart these feelings on the reader? Furthermore, while Bowley alludes to contradictions in the stories of what happened and who may be blamed for certain aspects of the tragedy, he never gets into it. I felt this left some of the important conflict out of the story. And I felt that a writer who had set out to tell me the truth about what happened on K2 let me down.
February 7, 2019
storia della tragica spedizione sul K2 dove perirono ben 11 scalatori, spedizione dove prendeva parte anche Marco Confortola...
la lettura è molto scorrevole il mosaico che Bowley crea nello spiegare con interviste, dichiarazioni degli scalatori, e varie persone presente al campo base regge perfettamente e dona al lettore una chiara possibile spiegazione degli eventi..
E' sempre un mistero quando accadono queste cose ma soprattutto di fronte a queste tragedie le maschere degli uomini cadono ed è proprio in queste situazioni o dinamiche che si viene visti per come si è : onesti,altruisti,compassionevoli, o opportunisti,diabolici e bugiardi..
Bowley mette sotto la lente di ingrandimento tutti i componenti di tutte le spedizioni di quel giorno, nessuno viene risparmiato... ed è qui che escono vere sorprese
Dico subito che Bowley, nonostante metta in evidenza sia i lati positivi che le fragilità e qualche oscurità di Confortola, in qualche modo ci fa capire che penda piu' per la versione riportata dallo scalatore italiano, supportata anche dal pensiero di Sherpa Pemba, l'uomo con piu' esperienza di tutte le spedizioni messe insieme di quel giorno rispetto alle accuse da parte della famiglia di Gerard mcdonnell. Comunque sia, risposino in pace tutti gli scalatori morti per giungere ai loro ideali.
la lettura è molto scorrevole il mosaico che Bowley crea nello spiegare con interviste, dichiarazioni degli scalatori, e varie persone presente al campo base regge perfettamente e dona al lettore una chiara possibile spiegazione degli eventi..
E' sempre un mistero quando accadono queste cose ma soprattutto di fronte a queste tragedie le maschere degli uomini cadono ed è proprio in queste situazioni o dinamiche che si viene visti per come si è : onesti,altruisti,compassionevoli, o opportunisti,diabolici e bugiardi..
Bowley mette sotto la lente di ingrandimento tutti i componenti di tutte le spedizioni di quel giorno, nessuno viene risparmiato... ed è qui che escono vere sorprese
Dico subito che Bowley, nonostante metta in evidenza sia i lati positivi che le fragilità e qualche oscurità di Confortola, in qualche modo ci fa capire che penda piu' per la versione riportata dallo scalatore italiano, supportata anche dal pensiero di Sherpa Pemba, l'uomo con piu' esperienza di tutte le spedizioni messe insieme di quel giorno rispetto alle accuse da parte della famiglia di Gerard mcdonnell. Comunque sia, risposino in pace tutti gli scalatori morti per giungere ai loro ideali.
April 24, 2014
There is something about climbing mountains that I am fascinated by. I can't really describe it, but despite my current condition, I still find myself enthralled by it. No Way Down describes a day on K2, the second-highest peak in the world, when eleven hikers were killed when a glacier gave way. K2 is considered to be one of the most dangerous mountains to climb, and has a record of one in four climbers not making it back down again. That's a frightening statistic when you think of it. Bowley goes into the history of K2, the struggle in getting there, as well as the backstory of the mountaineers on that day, and the events leading up to the tragedy. While the writing is fairly sedate, it is story behind it all that is the most interesting. Four stars overall and recommended.
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.bubblews.com/news/3109791-...
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.bubblews.com/news/3109791-...
November 13, 2020
3.5 stars. Scary and detailed, but suffered from a lack of first-hand accounts.
February 12, 2022
Because Into Thin Air is one of my favorite books of all time, and I enjoy mountaineering documentaries, I thought this book about the tragedy on K2 in 2008 might be an interesting read. Bowley did an amazing job interviewing dozens of people and crafting their anecdotes and stories into an easy to follow, understandable timeline of events. Family members of the climbers, the sherpas and porters, and the surviving climbers themselves all had their stories melded into a cohesive whole. He also started the story right away at the interesting part, without missing a beat. There's no backstories of the climbers or extensive history of the mountain. The reader is given just what they need to understand the ensuing events, and you're sent off. That bit was definitely appreciated.
While Bowley did a thorough job of sifting through and prioritizing events and getting to the meat of the story immediately, there is still something missing- the emotion, and the heart of the story. He did well with what he was given, but ultimately, he wasn't there during the climb. He wasn't with Pasang or McDonnell or Rolf or Cecilie, and that makes all the difference. Krakauer was there, on Everest, during the terrifying and horrible events that ensued in May of 1996. Bowley visited the base of K2, and talked to people who had summitted it, but that is nowhere near the same as being there, on the mountain, in the thin air and sub-zero temperatures and not knowing if you will live to see another day. The text is dry in parts, and reads more like bullet points of events rather than a dramatic, cliffhanging story. The dead are spoken of matter-of-factly, with a distinct distance and coldness.
If you want to know hour for hour what happened on August 1-4 of 2008 on K2 on ascent and descent and how all the climbers met their fates, this is the book for you. The bones are here, but the soul is not.
While Bowley did a thorough job of sifting through and prioritizing events and getting to the meat of the story immediately, there is still something missing- the emotion, and the heart of the story. He did well with what he was given, but ultimately, he wasn't there during the climb. He wasn't with Pasang or McDonnell or Rolf or Cecilie, and that makes all the difference. Krakauer was there, on Everest, during the terrifying and horrible events that ensued in May of 1996. Bowley visited the base of K2, and talked to people who had summitted it, but that is nowhere near the same as being there, on the mountain, in the thin air and sub-zero temperatures and not knowing if you will live to see another day. The text is dry in parts, and reads more like bullet points of events rather than a dramatic, cliffhanging story. The dead are spoken of matter-of-factly, with a distinct distance and coldness.
If you want to know hour for hour what happened on August 1-4 of 2008 on K2 on ascent and descent and how all the climbers met their fates, this is the book for you. The bones are here, but the soul is not.
December 23, 2021
You have to wonder who would climb a mountain is dangerous and challenging as K2? What’s more who would climb in the middle of a frenzy of untested and Unproven groups? This is an absolutely fascinating account of life in the death zone and just how close to the edge any climber is when towards the top of the most dangerous mountains. Thank the lord I’m just an armchair mountaineer. I’ll take my adventure and the pages of his book a cracking if tragic read that exposes both courage and hubris in equal measure.
May 28, 2020
Relato brutal do dia mais letal da história da escalada ao K2. Contado a partir de diversos relatos de quem estava no dia, traz uma crueza e uma proximidade com tudo o que aconteceu por lá que chega a dar frio e a doer na gente.
January 11, 2022
Letterlijk adembenemend - waarom willen/kunnen mensen dit ?
January 6, 2024
super interesting story but didn’t love the matter-of-fact writing style!
January 31, 2025
My obsession with mountaineering literature continues. My conviction that I will never climb a mountain remains steadfast… altho admittedly I have only consumed disaster stories! Utterly heartbreaking at points, to face K2 (Everest’s slighter smaller but far more technically more challenging brother) is to look into the face of mortality itself (1 in 10 climbers don’t come back down !) Not quite a patch on Into Thin Air, not least perhaps because Bowley was not present at the disaster itself (and I don’t think I quite buy his rationale that this gives him an “objective” edge), but still a fascinating insight into the trials and tribulations of climbing K2
April 28, 2022
4.5/5 stars.
An interesting read, even if it was rather slow to start, but that is only a minor complaint.
Informative and well researched, this is a good introduction to the K2 tragedy.
My only other (minor) complaint was that, at times, the author inserted speculation as fact in order to gain more of an emotional punch. This was most apparent with the case of Hugues d'Aubarede, where the author wrote about his final moments and 'included' what were his final thoughts. While there was at least one other climber nearby, d'Aubarede effectively died alone, in the dark, suffering the effects of high altitude sickness. Sadly, no one knows what his final thoughts were. The facts of his death are far sadder than ant speculation on what he was thinking.
As I said, minor complaints. A worthy read.
An interesting read, even if it was rather slow to start, but that is only a minor complaint.
Informative and well researched, this is a good introduction to the K2 tragedy.
My only other (minor) complaint was that, at times, the author inserted speculation as fact in order to gain more of an emotional punch. This was most apparent with the case of Hugues d'Aubarede, where the author wrote about his final moments and 'included' what were his final thoughts. While there was at least one other climber nearby, d'Aubarede effectively died alone, in the dark, suffering the effects of high altitude sickness. Sadly, no one knows what his final thoughts were. The facts of his death are far sadder than ant speculation on what he was thinking.
As I said, minor complaints. A worthy read.
July 26, 2023
I recently watched the documentary The Summit and it intrigued me but was so confusing in parts that I decided to find a book about the 2008 disaster . This was much better. The writing is very good and seems to be thoroughly researched. I would put it up there with Jonathan Kraukauer’s Into Thin Air about the Everest disaster.
I love books about mountain climbing and most survival stories because I live vicariously through books about adventure since I am not into it myself!
I love books about mountain climbing and most survival stories because I live vicariously through books about adventure since I am not into it myself!
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