Dark Summit, Nick Heil
Dark Summit, Nick Heil
5 Rating(s)
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Dark Summit
The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

Author: Nick Heil

Narrator: David Drummond

Unabridged: 8 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/18/2008


Synopsis

In early May 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall's death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter.

If David Sharp's death was shocking, it was not singular: despite unusually good weather, ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. He introduces Russell Brice, the outfitter who has done more than anyone to provide access to the summit via the mountain's north side—and who some believe was partially responsible for Sharp's death. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus.

Written by an experienced climber and outdoor writer, Dark Summit is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiralled out of control.

About Nick Heil

Nick Heil first wrote about the 2006 climbing season for Men's Journal. Now a freelance journalist based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he was a senior editor at Outside from 1999 to 2006. He has also worked as a climbing and skiing instructor and has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and North America.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Christopher on December 20, 2013

What I've learned: mountain climbers are crazy. Really crazy. Everest used to be my Everest. In my youth, I'd think, "someday I'll conquer that, the nearly unconquerable". The thought of climbing an icy mountain to the highest point on Earth was exhilarating to me, as was the idea of pushing myself......more

Goodreads review by Eric_W on February 24, 2009

Well, finally getting around to making a few notes about this book which I read at the same time as a bunch of other Everest-summiting books. All are pretty good, and I'm about to order some others I ran across, including K2, The Savage Mountain,K2 Triumph and Tragedy, The Last Step The American Asc......more

Goodreads review by Mazola1 on June 20, 2008

Mount Everest is a cold and inhospitable place. After what happened on the mountain in 2006, a lot of people were saying the same thing about the hearts of many of those who climb Mount Everest. Ten people died on Mount Everest that year, but no death provoked more controversy and outrage than that......more

Goodreads review by Auđur on February 23, 2023

3,7*......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on February 18, 2020

"Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality." We've seen countless stories of the commercialization of Everest and the increasing number of deaths due to, among other things, deadly bottlenecks en route to the summit at the perilous altitude of the Death Zone. In 2019, el......more