A review by bookishwendy
Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day by Peter Zuckerman
4.0
I'm a sucker for mountaineering books. The best by far is [b:Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster|1898|Into Thin Air A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster|Jon Krakauer|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388181915s/1898.jpg|1816662], but others such as the history-packed [b:Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest|11602442|Into the Silence The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest|Wade Davis|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1390769552s/11602442.jpg|16544751] and this much slimmer volume Buried in the Sky don't pull their emotional punches, either.
K2 is the popular name of the mountain that is is "shorter than Everest, but much harder" (according to the t-shirt of one of this book's climbers). It's also called The Savage Mountain because 1 in 4 people who attempt it die trying, in contrast to 1 in every 100 who attempt Everest. As much as I love the outdoors, I don't see myself ever tackling an 8000 meter mountain. But I will read the hell out of them.
At first I expected Buried in the Sky to be basically an extended Outside Magazine article, but it's unique in that it focuses on the sherpas and high-altitude porters who are often--and initially were in the 2008 disaster--ignored or discounted. Along with the expected sufferings of high altitude exertion and extreme climate, there's an interesting undercurrent of complex culture clash among the ambitious/entitled Western climbers, the highly experienced Nepali sherpas brought to K2 for their Everest accomplishments, and the local Pakistani high altitude crews who have less altitude experience, much know the local environs better. This sounds like a recipe for disaster--and it is--but also seeds some unexpected heroism.
This one won the Banff Mountain Book Award, the National Outdoor Book Award an others...and it's easy to see why. My main criticism is that it feels short, and perhaps doesn't delve as deeply into difficult questions the way Krauker does in Into Thin Air. But it's very well researched, has helpful (if somewhat spoiler-y) graphics, and is gripping to boot.
Next up (in the near-ish future, that is) in the mountaineering line-up is [b:Annapurna: A Woman's Place|306659|Annapurna A Woman's Place|Arlene Blum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328746346s/306659.jpg|297640].
K2 is the popular name of the mountain that is is "shorter than Everest, but much harder" (according to the t-shirt of one of this book's climbers). It's also called The Savage Mountain because 1 in 4 people who attempt it die trying, in contrast to 1 in every 100 who attempt Everest. As much as I love the outdoors, I don't see myself ever tackling an 8000 meter mountain. But I will read the hell out of them.
At first I expected Buried in the Sky to be basically an extended Outside Magazine article, but it's unique in that it focuses on the sherpas and high-altitude porters who are often--and initially were in the 2008 disaster--ignored or discounted. Along with the expected sufferings of high altitude exertion and extreme climate, there's an interesting undercurrent of complex culture clash among the ambitious/entitled Western climbers, the highly experienced Nepali sherpas brought to K2 for their Everest accomplishments, and the local Pakistani high altitude crews who have less altitude experience, much know the local environs better. This sounds like a recipe for disaster--and it is--but also seeds some unexpected heroism.
This one won the Banff Mountain Book Award, the National Outdoor Book Award an others...and it's easy to see why. My main criticism is that it feels short, and perhaps doesn't delve as deeply into difficult questions the way Krauker does in Into Thin Air. But it's very well researched, has helpful (if somewhat spoiler-y) graphics, and is gripping to boot.
Next up (in the near-ish future, that is) in the mountaineering line-up is [b:Annapurna: A Woman's Place|306659|Annapurna A Woman's Place|Arlene Blum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328746346s/306659.jpg|297640].