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Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters | 
 enlarge | Author: James M. Tabor
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $5.50
You Save: $10.45 (66%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 37187
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0393331962
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780393331967
ASIN: 0393331962
Publication Date: June 2, 2008
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Product Description
Winner of the 2007 Banff Mountain Festival Book Awards Grand Prize (The Phyllis & Don Munday Award): "A riveting account of a long-ago mountaineering disaster."—Time
In 1967, seven young men, members of a twelve-man expedition led by twenty-four-year-old Joe Wilcox, were stranded on Alaska's Mount McKinley in a vicious arctic storm. All seven perished on what remains the most tragic expedition in American climbing history. Revisiting the event in the tradition of Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire, James M. Tabor uncovers elements of controversy, finger-pointing, and cover-up that combine to make this disaster unlike any other. Maps, 8 pages of photographs.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
Thorough and comprehensive August 6, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I highly recommend this book, although I have not read (yet) the books written by expedition leader Joe Wilcox and expedition member Howard Snyder.
You don't get much more thorough than this book, and yet it's not at all boring. It's a fascinating exploration into the history of this expedition: what is known and what can only be guessed at. Even more interesting is that Tabor interviews many of the principals (as many as he could find), including Bradford Washburn and his wife, Joe Wilcox, and Howard Snyder.
I've seen reviews to the effect that this book is "anti-Washburn." Hmmm. But Washburn wasn't "anti-Wilcox" (or "pro-hypocrisy")? I think Tabor probably did think that Washburn was being a tiny bit vindictive, not to mention hypocritical, but - as he should - he reports the facts and lets them speak for themselves. (An interesting sidenote: check out this account of Washburn's vindictiveness ca. 1994: http://www.cookpolar.org/mckinley.htm)
The conclusion reached by this book is that there was more than one factor in the tragedy. Where I felt Tabor punted was on the responsibility that Jerry Clark (in my opinion) bore, but perhaps it's tacky to call his judgement into question. *koff* [if you know who Jerry Clark is, you know why it might be considered tacky]
Other than that, though, this is a remarkably balanced book and the interviews with Wilcox and Snyder at the end are absolutely fascinating in the context of the rest of the book. This is a must-read if only for the skill Tabor demonstrates in reporting history. If you're into history, that is, as opposed to literature.
 Great Suprise April 17, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I am one of those people that is always in the middle of eight books. I start a book, somewhere along the way I pick something else up, I get busy. this happens to me all the time. Some days I get hours to read other days just minutes - but I read everyday. truly one of my favorite things to do.
This book was something I stumbled on when I got my Kindle as a sample, it is something that is completely out of my normal realm. I am not an outdoor person, not a climber and have never read or really seen anything on the subject.
But from the first page I was completely sucked in and I couldn't put it down. extremely well written, fascinating story and extremely informative to a layman like me who had zero understanding of anything about mountaineering going in.
Chilling and Wonderful! January 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Tabor has put together a beautiful, extremely balanced account of a tragedy that includes the objective, the subjective, and quite tastefully, the emotions of the survivors. I read it once, and then had to read it again. The story deserved to be told again, and from a person far removed from the story. Tabor does an incredible job of piecing together an investigation some 40 years later. Tabor's descriptions made me want to, as Snyder described, put my parka on in my living room. Having climbed successfully to the top of Denali, I always counted myself lucky. This book shows just how truly lucky I was. A brilliant work!
 Forever on the Mountain October 19, 2007
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Enjoyed the book quite a bit. Thought the author tried to be objective but his appraisals did make themselves known. However, his bias was even-handed and therefore gave a pretty fair picture. Felt the comparison with Everest was not warranted and should not have been brought into the book.
Preconceived opinions? October 17, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
While browsing my local bookstore, I saw a book with a title that left no question in my mind about the subject: an event that happened 40 years ago and I could now read about the truth surrounding that tragedy on Mt. McKinley: Forever on the Mountain, by James Tabor. In the summer of 1967 I was full of dreams and anticipation as to what my second season at Mt. McKinley National Park might bring: new adventures, amazing sights, the trill of just the chance to view that magical mountain, Mt. McKinley. At the same time I was living my dreams, another group of young men were about to begin their own adventures and dreams, and attempt to summit the great mountain. As I read on, I realized sometimes in life no matter how well we plan and organize, things happen; attitudes and egos do not mix; politics and bureaucracy diminish the chance for success. In this book, these problems are brought forth and analyzed with a very straight forward approach, giving the public an unbiased solution of what happened and didn't happen in the most tragic disaster in North American climbing history. I thought it was a great read, especially having lived at McKinley during the event, and is important for anyone who has preconceived opinions about what actually took place on the mountain.
Gary Smith
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