Dark Summit
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
'Enthralling from start to finish, Heil has created a timely, thought-provoking story that will thrill adrenaline junkies and armchair adventurers.'
Publishers Weekly
On 15 May 2006, forty climbers walked past a young Briton named David Sharp as he lay dying on the side of Mount Everest. A week later, another death was reported around the world – that of seasoned Australian climber Lincoln Hall. but the next day Hall was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain without food, and exposed to the brutal elements.
These two events tell the story of modern Everest. Eleven people died while attempting to summit the mountain in 2006. What lures an ever-increasing number of people to Everest? What afflicts the human mind and body at such high altitude? And – the question this season asked so starkly – what is one man's responsibility to another in such extreme conditions?
Climber and writer Nick Heil explores the climbers and companies, the events and expeditions to find the answers. The award-winning Dark Summit is both a thrilling account of this notorious climbing season and troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiralled out of control.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this mountain-climbing narrative, Heil examines the 2006 climbing season on Mount Everest that resulted in 11 deaths. Heil focuses on the fate of two climbers: Lincoln Hall and David Sharp, whose attempt at a solo ascent was his third try at conquering Everest. Heil, a former editor at Outside, analyzes Sharp's climb and subsequent death as he tries to deduce if the young Brit could have survived given the fact he was still alive when 40 climbers passed him on the way to the summit. Lincoln Hall, meanwhile, was left for dead below the mountain's Second Step, but thanks to perseverance and good fortune he made it home alive. Heil seamlessly intertwines these amazing storylines with well-thought out reflections on the ethics of high-altitude climbing and the problems that come with the commercialization of climbing the world's largest peak. Furthermore, Heil, an experienced climber, proves adroit at explaining such climbing perils as freezing death and acclimatization. Enthralling from start to finish, Heil has created a timely, thought-provoking story that will thrill adrenaline junkies and armchair adventurers.
