Hell Is Above Us

Gird yourself for adventure on a massive scale!

Everest is not the tallest mountain in the world. Just as Pluto has recently been demoted to a floating rock, so is Everest about to be taken down a peg.

“Hell Is Above Us” explains how such a gross piece of misinformation could have persisted for so many years, presented by way of a thrilling tale of two men – enemies to the last – who raced each other to the summit of the true king of mountains: An active volcano called Fumu.

This work of “non-non-fiction” was ostensibly written by a British journalist in the 1950’s who walks us through the lives and misadventures of two American climbers, William Hoyt and Aaron Junk, whose dislike for one another sets the scene for a series of races to some of the planet’s most harrowing peaks. All the while Fumu - a mountain so aggressive it almost seems alive - waits for them, biding her time murdering lesser climbers who are foolish enough to attempt her summit.

When a Sherpa acquaintance shares the rumor of Fumu’s dominance with the two rivals, the stage is set for their final battle. They assemble their separate colorful teams and head out for Fumu in August of 1941. Given that the world is at war, even getting to the volcano in the Kingdom of Nepal becomes a life-threatening ordeal.

In the process of reaching the summit, the challenges that Hoyt and Junk face become increasingly bizarre, preposterous, and often terrifying. Lava eruptions, high-altitude cannibals, and rogue Gurkhas are the least of their problems. The greatest impediment to success turns out to be their own inner demons…