Everest: The West Ridge, Anniversary Edition

  • 288 pages
  • Mountaineers Books
  • 978-1-59485-707-2
  • Mar 5, 2013

Hardback
$39.95
Add to cart

Mountaineers Members Discount

Log in to access the promo code and receive 20% off your order.

Description
2023 National Outdoor Book Award Winner in Classics

"Not only did Hornbein play a crucial role in one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in the history of mountaineering, his account of the feat is one of the finest things ever written about this peculiar, hazardous, and uncommonly engaging pursuit." —Jon Krakauer


* Special anniversary edition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest via the West Ridge
* The West Ridge remains the least attempted and most deadly of recognized routes on Everest

In 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest via the South Col route. Roughly two weeks after Whittaker's achievement, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld, fellow American mountaineers on the same expedition, became the first climbers ever to summit the world's highest peak via the dangerous and forbidding West Ridge—a route on which only a handful of climbers have since succeeded.

This special 50th anniversary edition reintroduces the adventure in a larger format with full-color photographs by members of the expedition, including leader Norman G. Dyhrenfurth and team doctor Jim Lester. In addition to a new foreword by Jon Krakauer, this volume also features a new preface by Hornbein along with a series of prefaces he wrote for earlier editions, including the original from 1965, and a map by Dee Molenaar. Updated bios of all the American Mount Everest Expedition team members, written by climber Broughton Coburn, are now accompanied by contemporary portraits from the expedition.

Contributors

Foreword by Jon Krakauer
Details
  • 288 pages
  • Mountaineers Books
  • 978-1-59485-707-2
  • Mar 5, 2013
Reviews
  • There was absolutely no doubt about it when this book arrived in the judges’ hands. Everest: The West Ridge is a classic in outdoor literature.... Re-issued by the Mountaineers Books on the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication, this is a collector’s item: all original text, all original photographs, all beautifully presented and packaged with a hardbound cover.
    — National Outdoor Book Award Judges
  • This is the story of one of the greatest achievements in American mountaineering history: Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein climbing to the top of the world from Everest’s West Ridge, descending from the South Col and bivouacking at 28,000-feet. It is a great story of determination, passion and friendship.... One of my favorite things about this book is the many outstanding photographs paired with quotes about mountains.
    Katie Sauter, American Alpine Club Library
  • If you love mountaineering, you’ll hold this book reverently and marvel at the guts and determination good humor and unselfish teamwork Tom Hornbein brings to life. If you love outdoor photography, there’s a wonder of it in this book.
    Bill Hoke, The Kitsap Sun Sports Weekly Paper