About this title: For 18 years, Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. However, "No Shortcuts to the Top" is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Broadway
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780767924702ISBN:0767924703
Description: Very Good-Used in Very Good jacket. / 0767924703. Dj has some shelf wear. Book is clean and tight. Ships with confirming email. 100% money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Broadway Books, New York, NY, USA
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780767924719ISBN:0767924711
Description: VERY GOOD. NOT ex-library. Cover has light shelving bumps and scuffs; no tears or creases. Clean, unmarked, flat pages. No gift inscriptions or previous owner names. Uncreased, straight spine. 102509gs. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Broadway
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780767924702ISBN:0767924703
Description: New. First Edition. First printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Slight shelf wear. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Broadway Books, New York
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780767924702ISBN:0767924703
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. 8vo. viii, 358pp, 8pp b/w photos, mountains climbed, glossary, index, end-paper maps. Or cl boards in dust-jacket. A living legend of extreme mountaineering makes his assault on history, one 8, 000-meter summit at a time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Broadway Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780767924702ISBN:0767924703
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. Signed by Author Signed by author on title page, minor edge wear, nice copy. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Broadway Books, New York
Date Published: 2006
Description: Signed by Author. F/F. 8vo. original blue textured paper boards in dustwrapper (spine ends a trifle rubbed); pp. x (last blank), 358, with illustrations & endpaper map. A fine copy, as new. Inscribed on title page by Ed Viesturs. read more
Description: Good. No dust jacket. Book is GOOD with average wear to cover and pages. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
"While not necessarily the best written book (these types of books rarely are), I found the book entertaining. I appreciated learning more about his life as well as the lives of some of his fellow climbers. I also enjoyed the details he provided around the actual climbs, including specifics such as what he would wear, how he would camp, what he would eat/drink, and how he would use the bathroom high up on the mountain. It absolutely amazes me that people are able to climb such high peaks in such crazy conditions. In the book he also provides an interesting perspective into the 1996 disaster on Everest as he was part of the IMAX team at a lower camp during the ill-fated events."
"Read with white-out in hand and written like a man speaking over beers with his buddies. The information about climbing and descriptions of his climbs was interesting. Ed has climbed all 14 of the 8000 meeter peaks and this book is about his experiences. I enjoy books written about people going to extremes - this one did not require my intellect ..."
"I have to recommend this book to anyone interested in the climbing genre. While mountain climber Veisturs recounts adventure after adventure, this is the first climbing books I've read that addresses the "why" behind why some people feel compelled to engage in such risky behavior. This adds to the impressive literature devoted to climbing. Don't miss it!"
"Following Ed Viesturs on his Expedition 8000 was strenuous to say the least. While he claims that this is just not another climbing book, recounting his ascents, I find that to be only partially true.
The book does follow him on his journey to conquer the world's 14 highest peaks which of course is quite a laudable feat! The first half of the book does prove to be rather enticing as Viesturs recounts a number of heroic rescues that he was involved in. In no way does he do so in order to toot his own horn but rather simply to point out how mountaineering is a sport of compassion and self-sacrifice.
Later on the book kind of drags out as Ed continues to push on towards his final goal with seemingly endless setbacks. Sure, they're interesting to hear about but how many times can you describe climbing the same mountain before the reader grows a little weary.
The message the Ed leaves us with is however pretty poignant. He does not fail to admit that on a number of occasions, he made judgment calls to turn around which prevented him from reaching summits that were literally only steps away. This is not because he is over protective, scared or unprepared but rather, as he himself claims, a 'risk manager.'
His motto, especially once raising a family, was that 'Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.' This type of attitude allowed him to persevere and never push onwards in unsafe conditions, only ever accepting personally manageable risks. To his credit, the strategy played out near perfectly has he has no major tragedies to or accidents under his belt as a climber. In a sport riddled with accidental and spontaneous death, this is not a trivial statistic.
Ed did what only six other people in the world have done and yeah, that's saying a lot about the guy. He sounds like an amazing man with a great message and a wonderful story to tell. Too bad he couldn't have gotten Krakauer to write the book for him instead!"
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