Review of "No Way Down"

As a reader who loves to read about topics that I could never experience, mountaineering is a sport about which I am craving to find more books.  When this one was offered at a deeply discounted price, I had to jump on the offer and I wasn't disappointed.  I completed the book in one sitting - my flight back to New York from Minneapolis.  This is my review of "No Way Down."

Title/Author:

“No Way Down: Life and Death on K2” by Graham Bowley

Tags:

Mountain climbing, death

Publish date:

June 29, 2010

Length:

288 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Climbing K2, the second highest mountain in the world, is considered by many to more challenging than climbing Mount Everest. This can become even more daunting when the season is cut short due to weather, which in turn makes the mountain more crowded when several teams of climbers, porters and Sherpas make the journey at the same time.  This happened in the summer of 2008 and this gripping account of that ascent that began August 1, 2008 and resulted in the deaths of 11 people makes for a terrific book.

One difference between this book and others on dangerous mountain climbing expeditions is that Graham Bowley is not a climber.  Instead, he is a journalist so his information sources were research and hundreds of interviews in order to write his stories and describe what the climbers were experiencing.  While this may result in a book that has less detail and technical description of the climbers’ actions and equipment, I felt this fact made it a very entertaining non-fiction “novel” if you will, making it very easy to read.

Some of the descriptions of the more tragic events on the mountain, such as the death of the husband from a fall while his wife was climbing to the summit, were heartbreaking.  The joy that people in the camps felt when they discovered that some who were feared dead were found alive will be felt by the reader as well.  It is an educational journey for those readers who are not familiar with mountaineering and an emotional story as well.  This book comes highly recommended for readers who enjoy these types of publications. 

Book Format Read:

E-book (Nook)

Buying Links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/no-way-down-graham-bowley/1100564795?ean=9780061834790