Want to write a book about facing death? Climb a mountain!

Updated March 6, 2023
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Lake Oswego Public Library
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The lost explorer : finding Mallory on Mount Everest
Anker, Conrad.
Paper Book
This is the adventure story of the year--how Conrad Anker found the body of George Mallory on Mount Everest, casting an entirely new light on the mystery of the explorer who may have conquered Everest seventy-five years ago. Book jacket.
The Last Season
Blehm, Eric.
Ebook
"As Jon Krakauer did with Into the Wild, Blehm turns a missing-man riddle into an insightful meditation on wilderness and the personal demons and angels that propel us into it alone." -- Outside magazine Destined to become a classic of adventure literature, The...
The climb : tragic ambitions on Everest
Bukreev, Anatoliĭ Nikolaevich
Paper Book
As the climbers of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster vanished into thin air, one man had the courage to bring them down alive... On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by expert leaders attempted to scale the world's largest peak. But things went terribly wrong....
High exposure : an enduring passion for Everest and unforgiving places
Breashears, David.
Paper Book
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge.
Last climb : the legendary Everest expeditions of George Mallory
Breashears, David.
Paper Book
Describes Mallory's final expedition to Mount Everest in 1924, the mystery surrounding his disappearance, and the discovery of his remains in 1999.
Over the edge : the true story of four American climbers' kidnap and escape in the mountains of Central Asia
Child, Greg.
Paper Book
“The climbers swept up in the events of August 2000 are people little different from the rest of us. Though their climbing skills taught them a thing or two about survival, it was their individual characters and their compassion for one another that kept them alive. Like anyone who has...
Where the mountain casts its shadow : the dark side of extreme adventure
Coffey, Maria
Paper Book
Without risk, say mountaineers, there would be none of the self-knowledge that comes from pushing life to its extremes. For them, perhaps, it is worth the cost. But when tragedy strikes, what happens to the people left behind? Why would anyone choose to invest in a future with a high-altitude...
The next Everest : surviving the mountain's deadliest day and finding the resilience to climb again
Davidson, Jim (Professional speaker)
Paper Book
One of Atlas & Boots' Top 10 Adventure Travel Books of 2021 A dramatic account of the deadly earthquake on Everest--and a return to reach the summit. On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released...
The ledge : an adventure story of friendship and survival on Mount Rainier
Davidson, Jim.
Paper Book
"My eyes travel up the frozen walls. I figure it is eighty feet up to the sunlight. The walls above me climb up at about eighty degrees, then they go dead vertical, and then, higher up, they overhang. It is as if I am looking out from the belly of a beast, its jagged white teeth interlocking...
The death zone : climbing Everest through the killer storm
Dickinson, Matt.
Paper Book
The autobiographical account of the author's climb up Mount Everest. Ten expeditions from around the world were preparing for the final climb when a devastating storm hit Everest, leaving eight climbers dead. This is a look at all that happened on the mountain that day.
Dead Mountain : the untold true story of the Dyatlov Pass incident
Eichar, Donnie
Paper Book
A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller - What happened that night on Dead Mountain? The mystery of Dead Mountain: In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects...
Climbing high : a woman's account of surviving the Everest tragedy
Gammelgaard, Lene
Paper Book
On May 10, 1996, Lene Gammelgaard became the first Scandinavian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. But a raging storm and human error conspired to turn triumph into catastrophe. Eight of her team's climbers, including its renowned leader Scott Fischer, perished in a tragedy that would make...
Deep survival : who lives, who dies, and why : true stories of miraculous endurance and sudden death
Gonzales, Laurence
Paper Book
After her plane crashes, a seventeen-year-old girl spends eleven days walking through the Peruvian jungle. Against all odds, with no food, shelter, or equipment, she gets out. A better-equipped group of adult survivors of the same crash sits down and dies. What makes the difference? ...
Deep survival : who lives, who dies, and why : true stories of miraculous endurance and sudden death
Gonzales, Laurence
Paper Book
After her plane crashes, a seventeen-year-old girl spends eleven days walking through the Peruvian jungle. Against all odds, with no food, shelter, or equipment, she gets out. A better-equipped group of adult survivors of the same crash sits down and dies. What makes the difference? ...
Deep survival : who lives, who dies, and why : true stories of miraculous endurance and sudden death
Gonzales, Laurence
Paper Book
After her plane crashes, a seventeen-year-old girl spends eleven days walking through the Peruvian jungle. Against all odds, with no food, shelter, or equipment, she gets out. A better-equipped group of adult survivors of the same crash sits down and dies. What makes the difference? ...
Everyday survival : why smart people do stupid things
Gonzales, Laurence
Paper Book
Laurence Gonzales shows how modern society has made us lazy and susceptible to previously unknown threats. "Curiosity, awareness, attention," he writes. "Those are the tools of our everyday survival...we all must be scientists at heart or be victims of forces that we don't understand."Gonzales turns...
Denali's howl : the deadliest climbing disaster on America's wildest peak
Hall, Andy.
Paper Book
Denali’s Howl is the white-knuckle account of one of the most deadly climbing disasters of all time. In 1967, twelve young men attempted to climb Alaska’s Mount McKinley—known to the locals as Denali—one of the most popular and deadly mountaineering...
Dead lucky : life after death on Mount Everest
Hall, Lincoln
Paper Book
Lincoln Hall's breathtaking account of surviving a night in Everest's "death zone." Lincoln Hall likes to say that on the evening of May 25, 2006, he died on Everest. Indeed, Hall attempted to climb the mountain during a deadly season in which eleven people perished. And he was,...
The white spider : the story of the north face of the Eiger
Harrer, Heinrich
Paper Book
A classic of mountaineering literature, this is the story of the harrowing first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, the most legendary and terrifying climb in history. Heinrich Harrer, author of 'Seven Years in Tibet' and one of the twentieth century's greatest...
Ghosts of Everest : the search for Mallory & Irvine : from the expedition that discovered Mallory's body
Hemmleb, Jochen
Paper Book
The dramatic account of the search for the bodies of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on Everest.
The hill : a true story of tragedy, recovery, and redemption on North America's highest peak
Hommer, Ed.
Paper Book
Chronicles the plane crash that left the author, and pilot of the plane, without his lower legs, documenting the changes in his life and relationships, and his eventual success in reaching the summit of Mount McKinley.
The white death : tragedy and heroism in an avalanche zone
Jenkins, McKay
Paper Book
The day after Christmas 1969, five robust young men set out to climb the imposing north face of Mount Cleveland in Glacier National Park. One of the highest vertical walls in the United States, the face had never before been scaled--and certainly not in winter, when it was bound with ice. But the...
The last man on the mountain : the death of an American adventurer on K2
Jordan, Jennifer
Paper Book
In 1939 the Savage Mountain claimed its first victim. Born into vast wealth yet uneasy with a life of leisure, Dudley Wolfe, of Boston and Rockport, Maine, set out to become the first man to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain and, in the opinion of mountaineers, an even more formidable...
Doctor on Everest : emergency medicine at the top of the world -- a personal account , including the 1996 disaster
Kamler, Kenneth.
Paper Book
Kamler has accompanied four expeditions to the highest mountain in the world, including the ill-fated 1996 attempt. He describes practicing trauma medicine at 27,000 feet and in freezing cold. He also offers climbers medical information based on his experience and that of others. Annotation...
After the wind : 1996 Everest tragedy : one survivor's story
Kasischke, Louis W.
Paper Book
May 10, 1996 is the date of the most historic tragedy in Mount Everest history. Eight climbers died. Lou Kasischke was there. He lived that story. The climbing events and the forces of nature were at the extreme, especially when things went wrong. The drama near the summit was high. But the...
Facing the extreme : one woman's story of true courage, death-defying survival, and her quest for the summit
Kocour, Ruth Anne.
Paper Book
She stepped into a death zone. The climbers on Alaska's Mt. McKinley called her "the woman." Ruth Anne Kocour, a world-class mountaineer, wasn't bothered. It was part of the challenge she faced as she joined an all-male team to conquer North America's highest peak...the mountain the Indians...
Into thin air : a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster
Krakauer, Jon.
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment...
Above all else
Levy, Dana Alison
Paper Book
In a novel as riveting, irresistible, and heartbreaking as Into Thin Air, teen climbing prodigies Rose and Tate attempt to summit--and survive--Mount Everest. Rose Keller and Tate Russo have been climbing for years, training in harsh weather and traveling all over the...
The ascent : a novel of survival
Malfi, Ronald Damien.
Paper Book
Having lost himself in extreme sports since the death of his wife, sculptor Tim Overleigh joins a team of men bent on climbing the Godesh Ridge in Nepal in order to stop his downward spiral, only to find what was supposed to be a journey based in Tibetan mysticism to be an experiment in terror....
The second death of George Mallory : the enigma and spirit of Mount Everest
Messner, Reinhold
Paper Book
When George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared in June 1924, during what would have been the first ascent to the top of Mount Everest, they left behind a seemingly unfathomable mystery. The discovery and identification of Mallory's body by an American-led team three-quarters of a century later...
Between a rock and a hard place
Ralston, Aron.
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND BASIS FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE 127 HOURS One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told--Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of...
Alive : the story of the Andes survivors
Read, Piers Paul
Paper Book
“A classic in the literature of survival.” --Newsweek On October 12, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying a team of rugby players crashed in the remote, snow-peaked Andes Mountains. Ten weeks later, only 16 of the 45 passengers were found alive. This is the story of those...
Alive : the story of the Andes survivors
Read, Piers Paul
Paper Book
“A classic in the literature of survival.” --Newsweek On October 12, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying a team of rugby players crashed in the remote, snow-peaked Andes Mountains. Ten weeks later, only 16 of the 45 passengers were found alive. This is the story of those...
True summit : what really happened on the legendary ascent of Annapurna
Roberts, David
Paper Book
Fifty years after the event, Roberts examines the controversy surrounding Maurice Herzog's classic mountaineering book, "Annapurna", and discovers a richer and more dramatic story about the world's first ascent of an 8,000-meter peak. of photos.
Touching the void
Simpson, Joe.
Paper Book
Forever on the mountain : the truth behind one of mountaineering's most controversial and mysterious disasters
Tabor, James M.
Paper Book
In July 1967, seven young men--members of Joe Wilcox's twelve-man expedition--died on Mt. McKinley, North America's highest peak. Ten days passed with no rescue attempt, while more than half an expedition was stranded and dying at 20,000 feet during a vicious Arctic storm. The...
K2 : life and death on the world's most dangerous mountain
Viesturs, Ed.
Paper Book
The deadly history of the world's most-dangerous mountain illuminates the many lessons both climbers and non-climbers alike can glean from K2, the aptly named Savage Mountain.
Left for dead : my journey home from Everest
Weathers, Beck.
Paper Book
I am neither churchly nor a particularly spiritual person, but I can tell you that some force within me rejected death at the last moment and then guided me, blind and stumbling—quite literally a dead man walking—into camp and the shaky start of my return to life. On May 10, 1996, nine...
Addicted to danger : a memoir
Wickwire, Jim
Paper Book
A high-altitude mountaineer recounts his exploits among the world's highest peaks, including his climbing of K2, his terrifying rendezvous with death, and his addiction to danger.
One mountain thousand summits : the untold story of tragedy and true heroism on K2
Wilkinson, Freddie.
Paper Book
In the early-morning hours of August 1, 2008, more than two dozen men readied in the starry darkness for their final ascent to the summit of K2, the world's second-highest mountain.
The boys of Everest : Chris Bonington and the tragedy of climbing's greatest generation
Willis, Clint.
Paper Book
This book tells the story of a band of climbers who reinvented mountaineering during the three decades after Everest's first ascent. It is a story of tremendous courage, astonishing achievement and heart-breaking loss. Their leader was the boyish, fanatically driven Chris Bonington. His inner...
A bolt from the blue : the epic true story of danger, daring, and heroism at 13,000 feet
Woodlief, Jennifer.
Paper Book
From the author of A Wall of White, the thrilling account of a spectacular mountain rescue after six climbers are struck by lightning. FIVE INJURED CLIMBERS. TEN SEASONED RANGERS. ONE IMPOSSIBLE RESCUE. On the afternoon of July 26, 2003, six vacationing...
Buried in the sky : the extraordinary story of the Sherpa climbers on K2's deadliest day
Zuckerman, Peter.
Paper Book
When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world's most dangerous...

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