The Will to Climb: Obsession, Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--the World's Deadliest Peak
Written by David Roberts and Ed Viesturs
Narrated by Fred Sanders
4.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
The bestselling author of No Shortcuts to the Top and K2 chronicles his three attempts to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest peak, Annapurna in the Himalaya, while exploring the dramatic and tragic history of others who have made -- or attempted - the ascent, and what these exploits teach us about facing life's greatest challenges.
As a high school student in the flatlands of Rockford, Illinois, where the highest objects on the horizon were water towers, Ed Viesturs read and was captivated by the French climber Maurice Herzog's famous and grisly account of the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950. When he began his own campaign to climb the world's 14 highest peaks in the late 1980s, Viesturs looked forward with trepidation to undertaking Annapurna himself. Two failures to summit in 2000 and 2002 made Annapurna his nemesis. His successful 2005 ascent was the triumphant capstone of his climbing quest. In The Will To Climb Viesturs brings the extraordinary challenges of Annapurna to vivid life through edge-of-your-seat accounts of the greatest climbs in the mountain's history, and of his own failed attempts and eventual success. In the process he ponders what Annapurna reveals about some of our most fundamental moral and spiritual questions--questions, he believe, that we need to answer to lead our lives well.
"Of all fourteen of the world's highest mountains, which I climbed between 1989 and 2005," writes Viesturs, "the one that came the closest to defeating my best efforts was Annapurna." Although it was the first 8,000-meter peak to be climbed, Annapurna is not as well known as the world's highest mountain, Everest, or second highest, K2. But as Viesturs argues, Annapurna, while not technically the most difficult of the 8,000ers, is the most daunting because it has no route--no ridge or face on any side of the mountain--that is relatively free of what climbers call "objective danger"-the threat of avalanches, above all, but also of collapsing seracs (huge ice blocks), falling rocks, and crevasses. Since its first ascent in 1950, Annapurna has been climbed by more than 130 people, but 53 have died trying. This high fatality rate makes Annapurna the most dangerous of the 8,000-meter peaks.
Viesturs and co-author David Roberts chronicle Ed's three attempts to climb Annapurna, as well as the attempts of others, from the two French climbers who made the landmark first ascent of Annapurna on June 3, 1950, through the daring and tragic campaigns of such world-class mountaineers as Reinhold Messner and Anatoli Boukreev. Viesturs's accounts and analyses of these extraordinary adventures serve as a point of departure for his exploration of themes vividly illustrated by Annapurna expeditions, including obsession and commitment, fear and fulfillment, failure and triumph--issues that have been neglected in the otherwise very rich literature of mountaineering, and that can inform the lives and actions of everyone.
David Roberts
David Roberts (born 1943) is a climber, mountaineer, and author of books and articles about climbing. He is particularly noted for his books The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative, chronicling major ascents in Alaska in the 1960s, which had a major impact on the form of mountaineering literature. In thirteen seasons spent in the Alaskan wilderness, Roberts is well known for many first ascents, including the Wickersham Wall on Mount McKinley, the West rib of Mount Huntington, climbing in the Western Brooks Range and the Kichatna Spires, and on the East Face of Mount Dickey. Roberts is the son of Walter Orr Roberts and mentor to Jon Krakauer. David Roberts attended Harvard University, where he received a mathematics degree in 1965. He was a member of and former president of the Harvard Mountaineering Club. He also received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Denver in 1970.
More audiobooks from David Roberts
The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah: Two Mountaineering Classics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last of His Kind: The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rosie Revere, Engineer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ada Twist, Scientist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Search of the Old Ones: Exploring the Anasazi World of the Southwest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iggy Peck, Architect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mountain: My Time on Everest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Will to Climb
Related audiobooks
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Teamwork Makes the Dream Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Evolution Is Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wanderers: A History of Women Walking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEverest: The West Ridge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTypee (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHot Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mountain: My Time on Everest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Earth Breathed Fire and Other Real Volcano Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom, 1910-1960 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conquistadors of the Useless: From the Alps to Annapurna Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ascent of Mount St. Elias, Alaska Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmazing Aviators: A2-B1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The American Adrenaline Narrative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Elevation: Fear and Courage on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Explorers: For ages 7–11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of the Depths: A History of Shipwrecks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAhab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of "Moby-Dick" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the World Moves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Her Credit: Historic Achievements—and the Women Who Actually Made Them Happen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShook: An Earthquake, a Legendary Mountain Guide, and Everest's Deadliest Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Special Interest Travel For You
The Peregrine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Over the Edge of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 12-Hour Walk: Invest One Day, Unlock Your Best Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the World's Longest Treasure Hunt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Take More Vacations: How to Search Better, Book Cheaper, and Travel the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Things the Simpsons Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5NPR Road Trips: Family Vacations: Stories that Take You Away Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mud, Sweat, and Tears: The Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Puma Years: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nowhere for Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walking the Americas: 1,800 Miles, Eight Countries, and One Incredible Journey from Mexico to Colombia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5National Park Mysteries & Disappearances: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where the Ghosts Are: The Ultimate Guide to Haunted Houses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest To Track Down The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars In America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Are My Sunshine: A Story of Love, Promises, and a Really Long Bike Ride Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Hands on Deck: A Modern-Day High Seas Adventure to the Far Side of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the Castle: A Guide to Discovering Your Happily Ever After Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Will to Climb
10 ratings0 reviews