Book Review: The Mountain By Ed Viesturs

For those looking to expand their library of books on adventure and mountaineering, a new book written by Ed Viesturs (and David Roberts) hit the shelves today that may be of interest. That book is entitled The Mountain: My Time on Everest and as the name implies, it is focused almost entirely on Ed's 11 expeditions to the tallest mountain on the planet.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the book and have written a full review of it for the Wenger Blog. You can read that review here but if you want the shortened version, I'll simply say this: If your'e a fan of Ed's previous books or are an Everest junkie, you'll certainly enjoy reading The Mountain. It does a good job of both presenting both the history of Everest and Ed's own personal experiences there. Those experiences include seven successful summits from both the North and South side of the mountain, many weeks spent in Base Camp and at altitude, while interacting with a host of characters that befit the larger than life status of this peak. Ed was also on Everest in 1996 when the events of that tragic season went down.

The book is an extremely easy and quick read. Ed and his co-author are good storytellers that move their narrative along at a brisk pace and leave you turning pages long after you've said "just a few more." His wealth of experience on big mountains is undeniable and much of that is shared here. The book is also approachable for readers who are new to the genre, although there are times where references are made that may be a bit confusing for those who don't have much of a background in mountaineering lore. For the most part though, The Mountain ranks right up there with Ed's previous three books, which I happened to enjoy quite a bit.

For more detailed thoughts, be sure to read my full review.