First, big big thanks to Matt and Jess Norcross, owners of the independent booktore McLean and Eakin in Petoskey, Michigan. This book was listed in their Bookseller Recommendation session at a reader's retreat and was enticingly described. I was riveted to the crazy idea that 12 people would seek an adrenaline high by climbing Mt. Denali in no more than the weekender camping gear available in 1967. Many of them were students, and barely had the money to buy necessities and equip the car with supplies and gas needed to drive the hundreds of miles to reach the mountain base. The author is a journalist who was a small boy at the time of this tragedy. His dad was the park superintendent in Alaska. Andy Hall remembers riding around with his unusually somber father in the truck as he was trying to save the remaining climbers that fateful July.
I feel weird giving a book like this a star rating. We get a lot of necessary geographical facts, biographies of the climbers, and mind-boggling statistics on the extreme weather systems that produced a superarctic storm that had previously been unrecorded. I applaud Andy Hall for his telling of this tragedy. A book like this can be easily sensationalized for sales reasons, but he provided an unbiased account based on radio transmissions, agency records, and extensive interviews. He honestly admits when there are conflicting accounts of one situation. He presents the various statements, and will occasionally remark if one was plausible considering the conditions and supplies available, and moves on- stating simply that it's impossible to know for sure. Some things must remain a mystery. Occasionally, truth is found. In one case, a climber was obviously lying by stating a pressure release valve malfunction on a stove was the reason for a cooking fire. The model didn't even have a pressure release valve. Oops.
This story is a scary reminder of the force of human nature. At the end of the day, regardless of preparation, if the force is against you..not a lot can be done except hunkering down (if possible). In this case, the sheer brutality of the winds and temperature- sustained not over the course of a few hours but a full week, became insurmountable. Rescue planes that needed to make tight turns for crevasses while carrying additional supplies were grounded. This is an epic adventure story that will make you want to stay inside this winter (if you have my temperament at least!). This mission helped bring about important changes in rescue organization, radio communication, and requirements for climbing applications to be approved. I enjoyed that Andy Hall caught up with the survivors close to publication and gave an update on what their lives became after this harrowing event. Great, great nonfiction.
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