By Ed Viesturs, David Roberts
The bestselling writer of No Shortcuts to the pinnacle and K2 chronicles his 3 makes an attempt to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest height, Annapurna within the Himalaya, whereas exploring the dramatic and tragic background of others who've made -- or tried – the ascent, and what those exploits educate us approximately dealing with life's maximum challenges.
As a highschool scholar within the flatlands of Rockford, Illinois, the place the top items at the horizon have been water towers, Ed Viesturs learn and was once captivated via the French climber Maurice Herzog's recognized and grisly account of the 1st ascent of Annapurna in 1950. while he begun his personal crusade to climb the world's 14 maximum peaks within the past due Nineteen Eighties, Viesturs seemed ahead with trepidation to project Annapurna himself. disasters to summit in 2000 and 2002 made Annapurna his nemesis. His profitable 2005 ascent used to be the effective capstone of his mountaineering quest. within the Will To Climb Viesturs brings the intense demanding situations of Annapurna to shiny existence via edge-of-your-seat debts of the best climbs within the mountain’s background, and of his personal failed makes an attempt and eventual luck. within the strategy he ponders what Annapurna finds approximately a few of our so much basic ethical and non secular questions--questions, he think, that we have to solution to steer our lives well.
"Of all fourteen of the world's optimum mountains, which I climbed among 1989 and 2005," writes Viesturs, "the person who got here the nearest to defeating my top efforts used to be Annapurna.” even though it used to be the 1st 8,000-meter height to be climbed, Annapurna isn't really to boot often called the world's optimum mountain, Everest, or moment optimum, K2. yet as Viesturs argues, Annapurna, whereas no longer technically the main tough of the 8,000ers, is the main daunting since it has no route--no ridge or face on any aspect of the mountain--that is comparatively freed from what climbers name "objective danger"—the possibility of avalanches, notably, but in addition of collapsing seracs (huge ice blocks), falling rocks, and crevasses. for the reason that its first ascent in 1950, Annapurna has been climbed through greater than one hundred thirty humans, yet fifty three have died making an attempt. This excessive fatality fee makes Annapurna the main harmful of the 8,000-meter peaks.
Viesturs and co-author David Roberts chronicle Ed's 3 makes an attempt to climb Annapurna, in addition to the makes an attempt of others, from the 2 French climbers who made the landmark first ascent of Annapurna on June three, 1950, in the course of the bold and tragic campaigns of such world-class mountaineers as Reinhold Messner and Anatoli Boukreev. Viesturs's money owed and analyses of those notable adventures function some degree of departure for his exploration of topics vividly illustrated through Annapurna expeditions, together with obsession and dedication, worry and success, failure and triumph--issues which were missed within the another way very wealthy literature of hiking, and which could tell the lives and activities of everyone.