In the Shadow of Denali
Life And Death On Alaska's Mt. Mckinley
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
A classic in the genre of mountain literature—with a new preface by the author
Rising more than 20,000 feet into the Alaskan sky is Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. In this collection of exhilarating and stunning narratives, Jonathan Waterman paints a startlingly intimate portrait of the white leviathan and brings to vivid life men and women whose fates have entwined on its sheer icy peak.
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Veteran mountaineer Waterman ( High Alaska ) here offers a series of essays about his relationship with a particularly dangerous peak, but his stoic attitude about the dangers of climbing may strike some readers as machismo that detracts from the heart-stopping moments he describes. In the preface to this new entry in the Laurel Expedition series, he notes that active mountaineers are annoyed by questions about why they climb--which may explain why he fails to offer any reasonable explanation for continuing his attempts after the deaths of numerous friends and acquaintances. In a touching if ultimately unsatisfying chapter, he profiles an unrelated climber named John Waterman, who disappeared on Denali (the original native name for Mt. McKinley) at a time when the author was also climbing it; descriptions of John Waterman's physical abilities and his failure to commit to anything in life other than climbing, although sometimes poignant, don't add up to a coherent essay. Other pieces detail the writer's experiences as a ranger: the discovery of a dead woman imprisoned in ice; close calls with grizzly bears; and the death of Mugs Stump, a purist who ignored Park Service regulations and climbed solo without a radio. Taut, understated prose captures the commitment of dedicated climbers, though it may not convince those who think the entire sport is for lunatics.
