Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 6526
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 186
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0385488181
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.522
EAN: 9780385488181
ASIN: 0385488181
Publication Date: May 19, 1997
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Condition: LIKE NEW COND.,,,,CLEAN TEXT,,,,FAST SHIPPING,,,,
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Amazon.com
No matter what the actual temperature may be, several pages into Eiger Dreams you will begin to shiver. Halfway through you will acquire a new appreciation for your fingers, toes, and the fact that you still have a nose. And by the end of this collection, you'll define some commonly used phrases in an entirely different way. The understated "catch some air" and the whimsical "log some flight time" are climbers' euphemisms for falling, while "crater" refers to what happens when you log some flight time all the way to the ground. "Summiting," the term for reaching the top of a mountain, seems almost colorless in comparison. The various heroes, risk-takers, incompetents, and individualists Krakauer captures are more than colorful, whether they summit or not. The author is more interested in exploring the addiction of risk--the intensity of effort--than mere triumph. There's the mythical minimalist climber, John Gill, whose fame "rests entirely on assents less than thirty feet high," and the Burgess brothers--freewheeling, free-floating English twins who seem to make all the right decisions when it counts, and hence most often fail to reach the top. Of course, they are alive. Over these and other talented climbers hangs a malignant, endlessly creative nature--its foehn winds can make people crazy and its avalanches do far worse. Eiger Dreams is an adrenaline fest for the weary, an overdue examination of a stylish, brave subculture. As one of the heroes Krakauer outlines says of his occupation, "It's sort of like having fun, only different."
Product Description
No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant victories and hardships more brilliantly than Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest essays and reporting, Krakauer writes of mountains from the memorable perspective of one who has himself struggled with solo madness to scale Alaska's notorious Devils Thumb.
In Pakistan, the fearsome K2 kills thirteen of the world's most experienced mountain climbers in one horrific summer. In Valdez, Alaska, two men scale a frozen waterfall over a four-hundred-foot drop. In France, a hip international crowd of rock climbers, bungee jumpers, and paragliders figure out new ways to risk their lives on the towering peaks of Mont Blanc. Why do they do it? How do they do it? In this extraordinary book, Krakauer presents an unusual fraternity of daredevils, athletes, and misfits stretching the limits of the possible.
From the paranoid confines of a snowbound tent, to the thunderous, suffocating terror of a white-out on Mount McKinley, Eiger Dreams spins tales of driven lives, sudden deaths, and incredible victories. This is a stirring, vivid book about one of the most compelling and dangerous of all human pursuits.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
 Amusing April 18, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an amusing conglomeration of climbing stories. Humor, greed, suicide, and sheer bravery all included in these stories. Parts of these traits could be in a single story depending on which stage of the climb you are in. Written well, and it seems to put you right in touch with the climbs. However, through fault of the writer or of the storytellers themselves some of this seems to be a bit over the top. He could have been a mixing it up for entertainmnet value or for some other reason. But it should still be read by anyone who is into climbing.
 Living Your Challenging Dreams February 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
People have always pushed to accomplish more. When one of my best friends took up mountain climbing well into his fifties after he back wasn't up to golf any more, I began to wonder what the sport was all about. Having remembered that Jon Krakauer is both a wonderful writer and an adventuresome climber, it seemed like I might learn the answers by reading this book. I was more than amply rewarded for my curiosity.
Knowing that adventures are better heard as a story rather than read, I also opted for Philip Franklin's reading for Books on Tape. This was a stunningly good choice. Mr. Franklin makes you feel like you are right there as you look down from dizzying heights of thousands of feet while being held up by a small patch of crumbling ice.
The diversity of the stories is remarkable, from those who want to set records for getting up dangerous new routes to those who want to set records for speed in sport climbing (lots of strength and technique but not much risk). I was very surprised by some of the stories, including the ones about climbing "impossible" boulders that might be only 30 feet high and tall columns of crumbling frozen water . . . unattached to any nearby rock.
Mr. Krakauer has a wonderful ability to bring you into the stories by recounting his own fearful beginnings as a climber and the ways that he has sought release from humdrum cares by climbing. You'll find yourself chilled to the bone in places, even though you may be sitting in front of a roaring fire. It's a great trip!
I don't think I'll take up climbing, but I am indebted to this brilliant exposition of climbing's appeal.
What an incredible book. October 27, 2007
40 out of 41 found this review helpful
What an incredible book. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to set it down. I even got yelled at by my boss for reading the book on company time. I've read it 4 times and each time is like the first time. There is alot of information to process so get ready be blown away. It's awsome. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.
 Wanna get high? October 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In the same form as his "into Thin Air", Mr. Krakauer has brought the mountains to armchair alpinists all over the world, except through a collection of short stories of a variety of experiences, history and people. The book is educational, easy and interesting to read. The fact that the author himself is a climber adds a very real substance to the story that allows him to write intelligently on the subjects without it being unnatural, and how he can brings information to the forefront of what he is writing that he himself finds amazing.
My only problem with it is with all these places and people, photographs would have helped to enhance the stories he is telling.
For anyone into adventure, climbing, outdoors or even survival, this would be a book that should be read. Not for the lessons but more for the information and enjoyment of it.
Wonderful! February 13, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being deathly afraid of heights, I'm in awe of anyone who'd put themselves on top of a mountain...especially more than once. I'm grateful for the vivid descriptions Krakauer gives us in this thrills and chills collection of wild adventures. He allows me to expand my horizons without leaving the safety of my couch. These tales of mountain men includes a few twists on the extreme sport. This was the first I'd heard of ice climbing. I gritted my teeth as the author described the dangerous climb up frozen waterfalls! The book also highlights some of the personalities of the men and women who scale enormous structures. I especially loved the chapter on the 'Burgess Boys'. In his final chapter, Krakauer gives us a personal glimpse into a segment of his youth as he journeys back to the early lure of the mountains after his first taste of climbing; how they shaped him and what they mean to him now. I think he best explains his inner debate with mountain climbing in the words he uses to describe his early climb up Devil's Thumb: "It taught me something about what mountains can and can't do, about the limits of dreams. I didn't recognize that at the time, of course, but I'm grateful for it now."
Chrissy K. McVay
Author of 'Souls of the North Wind'
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