Monthly Archives: April 2016

Everest (2015) Movie Review

Everest (2015)  Just in the nick of time! Hollywood has finally had their hack at the story of the 1996 disaster on Mt. Everest, and just in time for me to review it!  The first pleasant surprise provided by this film was that it is not just Into thin Air rehashed and dramatized. The second nice surprise was…

A Fighting Heart (Seven Summits – Book Review)

Seven Summits – Dick Bass & Frank Wells with Rick Ridgeway (Rick Ridgeway wrote it, Dick Bass and Frank Wells were the major contributors of information) For the mountaineering reader who wants it all comes Seven Summits, the chronicle of Dick Bass’s endeavor to summit the tallest peak on each continent. You’ll get your dose of disaster…

The Eiger Sanction

The Eiger Sanction, both directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, is one of those tacky classic action movies from the mid 1970’s. I chose this movie because I was looking for something cliché and cheesy, and in that endeavor, I succeeded. It was quite humorous each time there was a widely thrown punch followed by a poorly placed yet over exaggerated punching…

No Picnic on Mount Kenya

No Picnic on Mount Kenya gives an interesting account of life in a POW camp during World War Two. Unlike Seven Years in Tibet, the author is on an express adventure to climb, not to escape. The story embodies notions of heroism that we have discussed in class, as it depicts three men off on…

180º South Film Review

180º South, a documentary film about one mans journey, Jeff Johnson, to Patagonia in order to climb the mountain Corcovado and Cerro which was only previously summited by his long time hero Doug Tompkins in the 1960’s who stated when seeking to climb this mountain “We didn’t want to be apart of the military complex”. They believed thoroughly…

No Way Down – Book Review

Book Review of “No Way Down” Bryant Lymburn Historically climbing has segregated certain peaks towards certain countries who possessed the drive and means to climb them. Mount Everest was segregated to British control, Annapurna to the French, Masherbrum to the Germans, and K2 to the Italians and Americans. Each of these 8000 meter peaks possess…

The Wildest Dream – Film Review

Film Review of “The Wildest Dream” Bryant Lymburn For the film review I wanted to explore Mount Everest a explore further into the lives, equipment, and struggles that these early mountaineers faced battling against this great monolith. In doing so I came across the National Geographic film / documentary called “The Wildest Dream.” In this…

The Climb By Anatoli Boukreev and Weston DeWalt Book Review

The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev and coauthored by Weston DeWalt seeks to present the Mount Everest disaster of 1996 through a different lens.  With the help of the authorship Anatoli Boukreev and other members of Fischer’s Mountain Madness, the title of his company, seek to show their perspective of what occurred on the fateful day…

The Mountains of My Life review

The Mountains of My Life, written by Walter Bonatti is a 427 page memoir detailing his many ascents and the struggles to go with them, as well as the victories, and his emotions throughout the process of each. His climbing career was filled with many climbs including three North Face climbs on the Grandes Jorasses,…