When assembling the team, Robert Bates writes that the climber’s character is more important than their climbing ability. They were looking for humble men; men who would not put their own personal glory above the expedition. I believe that they found the men they were looking for. Peppered throughout the book are instances in…

After reading many works about experienced climbers, who train for climbs, bring proper equipment, travel companions, and have knowledge about the risks they are about to endure, reading “‘Shit Happens’: The Selling of Risk in Extreme Sport” by Catherine Palmer is an interesting take on extreme sports, including mountaineering, and the commodification behind them. Not…

Shit happens, but most of the time it does not. In Catherine Palmer’s article, “Shit Happens, The Selling of Risk in Extreme Sport”, she paints an oversimplified context of extreme sports and the risk takers who endeavor on them. Palmer creates an argument that would have you believe that these sports exist in only her…

K2 the Savage Mountain was in many respects a vast step away from what has been read previously in this class. It is the first recounting of an American Climb, and it is in many ways an introduction to what the themes in the class reading is going to turn to – pure accounts of…

What a disaster. I enjoyed the first three chapters and the appendix of the book because they were so detailed. I think this is the first book we have read that went into that much depth about the history and geography of the mountain and the planning before the expedition in one book. Though it quickly…

Seven Years in Tibet Seven Years in Tibet is unlike any of the books we have previously read in this course. Although it doesn’t concentrate solely on a mountaineering expedition, such as his previous book The White Spider and most mountaineering literature, it does provide us with a much deeper look into the Tibetan culture…

Although Seven Years in Tibet is not a mountaineering book, it adds to the subject invaluably by giving a deep insight into the lives and culture of the main group of people living near high altitude mountains. Harrer isn’t the most lavish writer, as he admits in the beginning, but the facts speak for themselves. The simple…

Strangers in Hiding Bryant Lymburn Seven Years in Tibet is a book that accounts the difficulties, hardships, and ultimate joys of Heinrich Harrer’s travels through Tibet in order to escape the POW camps set up by Britain in India during World War 2. Harrer and his companions were in between expeditions to climb peaks in…

Harrer’s experience in Tibet definitely creates a unique adventure story. It is educational, mellow, shows friendship, and is a primary historical source as well. I have always wanted to know more about high mountain culture and I am glad I had the chance to learn a little through Harrer’s eyes. The other books we have read…