Hello friends! Couple of weeks ago I stumbled across Everest. No, not the actual mountain *insert smug face* but the movie on Amazon Prime. It’s based on the true events about the storm on Everest in May 1996 that sadly cost the lives of 8 climbers in one of the worst mountaineering disasters in history. Absolutely incredible movie, highly recommend. I quickly sought out literature to feed my curiosity about mountaineering further and that’s when I found Ascent into Hell by Fergus White.
Ascent into Hell by Fergus White
5 out of 5
Pub date 11 December 2017 (independently published)
Available to order from Amazon
Blurb: There is but one aim: the summit, the summit of Mount Everest.
What starts with a trouble-free trek into the Nepalese highlands explodes into a gripping tale of hardship, peril, and adversity. Pushed beyond their physical and mental limits, climbers drop by the wayside. Their primal instincts for survival battle with their dogged resolve to drag themselves to the top of the world. But the focus remains: battle to the summit, and if successful, somehow get back down again.
White plunges the reader into a land of subzero temperatures, asphyxiating air, and ever increasing danger. Base Camp and the Himalayan world above it come to life in this riveting, true novel. The inner workings of an Everest expedition team and what it takes to climb the world’s highest mountain are laid bare. Some return from the death zone injured. Some do not return at all.
Success and failure vie for supremacy throughout.
This personal, day-by-day chronicle takes the reader along every step of an Everest climb. A must for climbing enthusiasts, lovers of adventure, and extreme sport junkies; the closing chapters will leave you breathless.
My thoughts: Ascent into Hell is the author’s own account about the most dangerous and scary climb of his life to the summit of the world highest mountain – Mount Everest. Despite being inexperienced in high altitudes and not a particularly “gifted” climber, White pushed on for the summit.
It’s written in a way that I found very easy to follow. The descriptions of the scenery and the actions were so vivid that they made me feel as if I was climbing the mountain with the crew. Trust me, I was exhausted after each climb! Perhaps that was another reason why I crawled through it very slowly.
Although I understand this to be non-fiction, there were quoted dialogue in the overall text, which in my opinion added to the overall enjoyment of the story. I particularly loved the friendships that were formed throughout the couple of months in the mountain, acclimatizing and eventually proceeding to the climb for what everyone were there for. The friendship between Fergus and Greg was just beautiful!
I’m very new to mountaineering, and I’m sure there are plenty of amazing stories out there about mountain climbing, but in my humble opinion this book was very enjoyable, it kept me at the edge of my seat and it’s a true story. What more could you want from a book?
Personally I would highly recommend it.
