Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters
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Product Description
In July 1967, seven young men—members of Joe Wilcox's twelve-man expedition—died on Mt. McKinley, North America's highest peak.
Ten days passed with no rescue attempt, while more than half an expedition was stranded and dying at 20,000 feet during a vicious Arctic storm. The bodies were never recovered. And, for reasons that have remained cloudy, there was no proper official investigation of the catastrophe.
This book begins as a classic tale of men against nature, gambling—and losing—on one of the world's starkest and stormiest peaks. Reckoning by lives lost, it was history's third-worst mountaineering disaster when it occurred—but elements of finger pointing, incompetence, and cover-up make this disaster unlike any other. James M. Tabor draws on previously untapped sources: personal interviews with survivors and those involved in the aftermath, unpublished diaries and letters, and government documents. He consults not only mountaineers but also experts in disciplines including meteorology, forensics, and psychology. What results is the first full account of the tragedy that ended a golden age in mountaineering. Maps; 8 pages of illustrations.
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
Great Suprise
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Comment:
I am one of those people that is always in the middle of eight books. I start a book, somewhere along the way I pick something else up, I get busy. this happens to me all the time. Some days I get hours to read other days just minutes - but I read everyday. truly one of my favorite things to do.
This book was something I stumbled on when I got my Kindle as a sample, it is something that is completely out of my normal realm. I am not an outdoor person, not a climber and have never read or really seen anything on the subject.
But from the first page I was completely sucked in and I couldn't put it down. extremely well written, fascinating story and extremely informative to a layman like me who had zero understanding of anything about mountaineering going in.
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Summary:
Chilling and Wonderful!
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Comment:
Tabor has put together a beautiful, extremely balanced account of a tragedy that includes the objective, the subjective, and quite tastefully, the emotions of the survivors. I read it once, and then had to read it again. The story deserved to be told again, and from a person far removed from the story. Tabor does an incredible job of piecing together an investigation some 40 years later. Tabor's descriptions made me want to, as Snyder described, put my parka on in my living room. Having climbed successfully to the top of Denali, I always counted myself lucky. This book shows just how truly lucky I was. A brilliant work!
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Summary:
Forever on the Mountain
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Comment:
Enjoyed the book quite a bit. Thought the author tried to be objective but his appraisals did make themselves known. However, his bias was even-handed and therefore gave a pretty fair picture. Felt the comparison with Everest was not warranted and should not have been brought into the book.
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Summary:
Preconceived opinions?
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Comment:
While browsing my local bookstore, I saw a book with a title that left no question in my mind about the subject: an event that happened 40 years ago and I could now read about the truth surrounding that tragedy on Mt. McKinley: Forever on the Mountain, by James Tabor. In the summer of 1967 I was full of dreams and anticipation as to what my second season at Mt. McKinley National Park might bring: new adventures, amazing sights, the trill of just the chance to view that magical mountain, Mt. McKinley. At the same time I was living my dreams, another group of young men were about to begin their own adventures and dreams, and attempt to summit the great mountain. As I read on, I realized sometimes in life no matter how well we plan and organize, things happen; attitudes and egos do not mix; politics and bureaucracy diminish the chance for success. In this book, these problems are brought forth and analyzed with a very straight forward approach, giving the public an unbiased solution of what happened and didn't happen in the most tragic disaster in North American climbing history. I thought it was a great read, especially having lived at McKinley during the event, and is important for anyone who has preconceived opinions about what actually took place on the mountain.
Gary Smith
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Summary:
Very well researched, gripping account of one of mountaineering's greatest tragedies
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Comment:
This book is impeccably research and presents a very controversial subject in an unbiased manner. Tabor does about as good a job as could be done at presenting the facts, providing analysis, and drawing conclusions, while giving all sides the benefit of the doubt.
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