Listen free for 30 days
-
Just for the Love of It
- Narrated by: Stevie Zimmerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Women
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £18.29
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Structured Chaos
- The Unusual Life of a Climber
- By: Victor Saunders
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders’ follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram.
-
-
A well crafted book
- By Girdle Traverse on 07-12-21
-
Lessons from the Edge
- Inspirational Tales of Surviving, Thriving and Extreme Adventure
- By: Aldo Kane
- Narrated by: Aldo Kane
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his debut audiobook, Lessons from the Edge, Aldo will inspire listeners with his jaw-dropping stories and show them how to survive and thrive through sheer strength of mind and sharp decision-making. It will reveal how this tough military man was able to cope with suddenly feeling worthless, how he overcame doors literally slamming in his face, how he came to realise that you can't wait for things to happen and instead how he rediscovered his identity and harnessed his emotions to his advantage to find determination, purpose and a renewed sense of belonging.
-
-
Great adventurer but didn’t come across as it should
- By JC on 11-01-22
-
The Shining Mountain
- By: Peter Boardman
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It’s a preposterous plan. Still, if you do get up it, it’ll be the hardest thing that’s been done in the Himalayas." Thus spoke Chris Bonington when Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker presented him with their plan to tackle the unscaled West Wall of Changabang - the Shining Mountain - in 1976. Bonington’s was one of the more positive responses; most felt the climb impossibly hard, especially for a two-man, lightweight expedition.
-
-
Excellent
- By Mrs Susan J Fraser-Smith on 01-10-20
-
The Next Everest
- Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again
- By: Jim Davidson
- Narrated by: Jim Davidson, Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.
-
Ascent into Hell
- By: Fergus White
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Best mountain book i've listened to
- By RonanFromEire on 19-05-20
-
Everest the Cruel Way
- By: Joe Tasker
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 30 January, 1981 Joe Tasker and Ade Burgess stood at 24,000 feet on the west ridge of Mount Everest. Below them were their companions, some exhausted, some crippled by illness, all virtually incapacitated. Further progress seemed impossible. Everest the Cruel Way is Joe Tasker's story of an attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth - an attempt which pushed a group of Britain's finest mountaineers to their limits. The goal had been to climb Mount Everest at its hardest: via the infamous west ridge, without supplementary oxygen and in winter.
-
-
People Will Climb Mountains
- By SocialGoose on 28-09-19
-
Structured Chaos
- The Unusual Life of a Climber
- By: Victor Saunders
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders’ follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram.
-
-
A well crafted book
- By Girdle Traverse on 07-12-21
-
Lessons from the Edge
- Inspirational Tales of Surviving, Thriving and Extreme Adventure
- By: Aldo Kane
- Narrated by: Aldo Kane
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his debut audiobook, Lessons from the Edge, Aldo will inspire listeners with his jaw-dropping stories and show them how to survive and thrive through sheer strength of mind and sharp decision-making. It will reveal how this tough military man was able to cope with suddenly feeling worthless, how he overcame doors literally slamming in his face, how he came to realise that you can't wait for things to happen and instead how he rediscovered his identity and harnessed his emotions to his advantage to find determination, purpose and a renewed sense of belonging.
-
-
Great adventurer but didn’t come across as it should
- By JC on 11-01-22
-
The Shining Mountain
- By: Peter Boardman
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It’s a preposterous plan. Still, if you do get up it, it’ll be the hardest thing that’s been done in the Himalayas." Thus spoke Chris Bonington when Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker presented him with their plan to tackle the unscaled West Wall of Changabang - the Shining Mountain - in 1976. Bonington’s was one of the more positive responses; most felt the climb impossibly hard, especially for a two-man, lightweight expedition.
-
-
Excellent
- By Mrs Susan J Fraser-Smith on 01-10-20
-
The Next Everest
- Surviving the Mountain's Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again
- By: Jim Davidson
- Narrated by: Jim Davidson, Tim Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.
-
Ascent into Hell
- By: Fergus White
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Best mountain book i've listened to
- By RonanFromEire on 19-05-20
-
Everest the Cruel Way
- By: Joe Tasker
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 30 January, 1981 Joe Tasker and Ade Burgess stood at 24,000 feet on the west ridge of Mount Everest. Below them were their companions, some exhausted, some crippled by illness, all virtually incapacitated. Further progress seemed impossible. Everest the Cruel Way is Joe Tasker's story of an attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth - an attempt which pushed a group of Britain's finest mountaineers to their limits. The goal had been to climb Mount Everest at its hardest: via the infamous west ridge, without supplementary oxygen and in winter.
-
-
People Will Climb Mountains
- By SocialGoose on 28-09-19
-
The Climb
- By: Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston DeWalt
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Climb is a true, gripping, and thought-provoking account of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest: On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by experienced leaders attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world, but things went terribly wrong...
-
-
The Climb
- By Guy on 15-06-07
-
Everest: It's Not About the Summit
- By: Ellis J Stewart
- Narrated by: John Weston
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2014, Mount Everest was closed to all climbers after a devastating avalanche claimed the lives of 16 Nepali mountain workers ferrying loads up through the Khumbu Icefall on the mountain's southern approach through Nepal. Almost a year to the day later, in late April 2015, the mountain was once more rocked to its core after a large earthquake struck Nepal, sending shock waves rippling across the Himalayas.
-
-
Interesting for certain people,but perhaps not all
- By Ben Waddams on 02-10-20
-
Winter 8000
- Climbing the World's Highest Mountains in the Coldest Season
- By: Bernadette McDonald
- Narrated by: Merryn D. Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the games mountaineers play on the world’s high mountains, the hardest - and cruelest - is climbing the 14 peaks over 8,000 meters in the bitter cold of winter. Ferocious winds that can pick you up and throw you down, freezing temperatures that burn your lungs and numb your bones, weeks of psychological torment in dark isolation - these are adventures for those with an iron will and a ruthless determination.
-
-
Often a Harrowing Listen
- By SocialGoose on 31-10-21
-
In Some Lost Place: The First Ascent of Nanga Parbat’s Mazeno Ridge
- By: Sandy Allan
- Narrated by: Saethon Williams
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 2012, a team of six climbers set out to attempt the first ascent of one of the great unclimbed lines of the Himalaya - the giant Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain. At 10 kilometers in length, the Mazeno is the longest route to the summit of an 8,000-meter peak. Ten expeditions had tried and failed to climb this enormous ridge.
-
-
No Scottish narrators?
- By Tosca Marletta on 03-10-21
-
No Shortcuts to the Top
- Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks
- By: Ed Viesturs, David Roberts
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 18 years, Ed Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's 14 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But 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. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go.
-
-
Are you an 8000 m mountain nerd?
- By Emma on 04-02-07
-
A Lasting Impression
- A Belmont Mansion Novel
- By: Tamera Alexander
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Tamera Alexander has won numerous awards, including the Christy Award and RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance. Set in Nashville’s historic Belmont Mansion, A Lasting Impression is an affecting tale of romance between an aspiring artist and a man determined to rise from near ruin.
-
K2
- Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain
- By: Ed Viesturs, David Roberts
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, Viesturs explores the remarkable history of the mountain and of those who have attempted to conquer it. At the same time he probes K2's most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering - questions of risk, ambition, loyalty to one's teammates, self-sacrifice, and the price of glory.
-
-
Fascinating chronicle of the difficulties of K2
- By D. J. Pritchard on 08-11-15
-
Lessons from Everest
- 7 Powerful Steps to the Top of the World
- By: Dr. Tim Warren
- Narrated by: Dr. Tim Warren
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a devastating failed attempt to climb Mt. Everest in 2007 and a brief period of mourning, Dr. Tim Warren became focused on learning the lessons that had been revealed to him while hiking alone for three days down the Khumbu Valley of Nepal to heal his damaged lung tissue in the luxury of oxygen-rich lower altitude. Lessons from Everest describes seven lessons, each a stepping stone to greater understanding and awareness of the reader's inner journey to their own Everest.
-
Through Sand & Snow
- A Man, a Bicycle, and a 43,000-Mile Journey to Adulthood via the Ends of the Earth
- By: Charlie Walker
- Narrated by: Charlie Walker
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age 22, Charlie Walker left home in search of adventure. Fleeing the boredom that comes with comfort, he set off on a secondhand bicycle. The aim was simple: to pedal to the furthest point in each of Europe, Asia, and Africa. He didn’t train or plan. He just started. The journey was an escape from an unremarkable existence, a pursuit of hardship, and a chance to shed the complacency of middle England. From the brutality of winter on the Tibetan plateau, to the claustrophobia of the Southeast Asian jungle, the quest provided Charlie with ample opportunity to test his mettle.
-
-
A travel book with a bit of a difference.
- By Sophie on 28-10-20
-
Savage Arena
- By: Joe Tasker
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Tasker lies, struck down by illness, in a damp, bug-infested room in the Himalaya, wondering if he will be well enough to climb Dunagiri, his first venture to the "big" mountains. One of Britain’s foremost mountaineers and a pioneer of lightweight climbing, he is about to attempt one of the first true "Alpine-style" climbs in the Greater Ranges. The Dunagiri attempt forms part of Tasker’s striking tale of adventure in the savage arena of the mountains.
-
-
wow 👏 what a book great listen
- By travel18 on 06-01-21
-
A Life on the Edge
- Memoirs of Everest and Beyond
- By: Jim Whittaker
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In May of 1963, Seattle mountaineer Jim Whittaker stepped into world history by becoming the first American to summit Mount Everest. More than 50 years later, he is still regarded as a seminal figure in North American mountaineering, as well as an astute businessman who helped create the outdoor recreation industry. A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond is Jim's courageous, no-punches-pulled autobiography and a look at a peripatetic, sometimes difficult life.
-
-
A really interesting and inspiring book
- By Victoria S. on 08-04-22
-
The Altitude Journals
- A Seven-Year Journey from the Lowest Point in My Life to the Highest Point on Earth
- By: David J. Mauro
- Narrated by: David J. Mauro
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When David Mauro was in his 40s, his life hit rock bottom. With nothing to lose, he left everything he knew behind and set out on an epic international adventure. For the next seven years, Dave trudged across glaciers and frozen wastelands and through dense, dangerous forests. He communed with penguins and elephants, kept company with cannibals and gunrunners, and spoke with the dead. And though he’d never been a climber, he ended up joining history’s courageous few when he ascended into the clouds to stand at the summit of Mt. Everest.
-
-
Outstanding
- By Kevin J. Lear (MotorBikeTV) on 05-06-18
Summary
At 8:00 a.m. on May 29, 1999, Cathy O'Dowd, a 30-year-old mountaineer from South Africa, stepped onto the summit of Everest and into history. She had become the first woman to climb the highest mountain in the world from both its south (Edmund Hillary) and north (George Mallory) sides. To achieve this, Cathy has had to face the ultimate risks of Everest.
During her first ascent from the south in 1996, she and her team were trapped in the killer storm described in Jon Krakauer's best seller Into Thin Air. They finally reached the summit, only to have the thrill of success snatched away when a team member disappeared on the descent. In 1998, Cathy, attempting the north side of Everest, stopped only a few hundred meters from the summit to try and help a dying American climber. The woman's first words were "don't leave me". Yet Cathy eventually had to leave her to save her own life.
Now Cathy has captured the drama of her Everest climbs, her passion for the challenge of climbing mountains, and her love for wild places in this story of her four attempts on the mountain. Cathy tries to answer the question of why, if climbing Everest can be so dangerous, people still want to do it.
This is a book of challenge, adventure, love, and life and death. This is about Everest, the world's highest mountain, climbed "just for the love of it".
More from the same
What listeners say about Just for the Love of It
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P Lee
- 04-03-19
Surprisingly good
I really didn’t want to like this book after all I had read about Cathy in other books, but it was really good to get her perspective on events that happened on Everest. Good to read alongside Everest 96 and into thin air. I really enjoyed the book.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mrs jlh milborrow
- 14-01-19
Gripping. Enjoyed the writing and the narration
Enjoyed audio book this very much. Well written gave a fascinating insight into mountaineering and good narration.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- "moony85"
- 11-01-19
Breath of fresh mountain air
Everybody who loves mountain and adventure books should listen to this one. I adore Cathy's optimism and matter-of-fact writing. Her climbing accomplishments leave me in awe. Also, it's nice to hear about climbing Everest from a non-Krakauer, not everything-is-terrible perspective.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- andrew bateson
- 06-01-19
Great story well written
not long enough finished to quickly . painted a wonderful adventure. Will listen again soon
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John McCluskey
- 03-09-18
Another perspective
Not the worst book I’ve listed to but I don’t think it went deep enough to make me care for the character or be more inclined to believe her perspective on several events. These mountain climbers intrigue me and I can only only admire their achievements to scale the highest peaks. Without giving the plot away it gives a perspective in the 1996 Everest tragedy I had only got from the other books which were not so flattering about Cathy’s partner, to an absolute tragedy that on the face of it I think Cathy and Ian were harshly criticised for to the achievement of the second summiting. A remarkable lady for sure.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 30-09-17
thought provoking enjoyable read
great read , well narrated, and makes you see all the angles of climbing a mountain
-
Overall
- Ali S.
- 20-05-17
Good read
I have read a lot of mountaineering books and this is refreshing in the way that it is as much about the human interactions in the expeditions as the climbing. I'd have liked just a little more about the mountain though, as some parts of the route are skipped over so quickly that I kept going back in case I'd dozed off and missed a bit. I couldn't really warm to the narrator whose voice doesn't sound like it belongs to someone who ventures up mountains and lacks passion for the subject, but it didn't detract too much from the story.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CSP
- 15-03-16
Not just for climbers
A fascinating view of what makes people challenge themselves Cathy on Everest but it might be someone challenging themselves to get fitter or anything else. Cathy writes in a nicely paced style with witty asides and also thrilling details of her climbing life all over the world but mainly in the Himalaya. I was a rock climber before disability stopped that and her descriptive writing reminded me of why I used to do it and the thrills and excitement of climbing.
The narration is nicely done my openly slight criticism is I kept trying to change Stevies accent into a South African one but her style is fresh and with enough enthusiasm in her voice to express the story really well.
All in all a great listen.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- CMAYO
- 21-03-16
Strong story, even better storytelling
O'Dowd's writing generally has an effective balance of technical information about mountaineering and more personal observations about her ambitions and relationships - both of which Zimmerman brings to life with her narration. If I had been reading this book, I might have gotten bogged down in the technical details of the climb that I couldn't see, but Zimmerman's energy and pace make it a fascinating story to listen to. It's exactly what I like in an audiobook - getting to enjoy a story I would have otherwise missed!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Leslie
- 10-02-16
If you love adventure books, you will love it
What did you love best about Just for the Love of It?
I liked Cathy O'Dowd's honesty about her perceptions, even when she was grumpy or angry, she was honest about it. I've never mountain climbed but I can imagine it's not all sunshine and roses, there are many challenges and it would take a toll. I very much enjoyed hearing a woman's story. I love books about Everest and K-2 but so few are written by women. She also tells her perception from a completely different vantage point about the 1996 Everest disaster. I've been fascinated by these events and based upon the extreme conditions and effect on one's cognitive abilities, what really happened remains a mystery. For those of us who have never climbed a mountain, it's truly hard to envision the conditions and how someone can be healthy and energetic at the peak and die a short time later. She does a good job of telling what she knows about this and helping the listener to understand the extreme conditions. It was exciting and I loved listening on my long runs or commute to work.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I love that the author was a woman, there are not many extreme adventure books written by women and it offers a completely different perspective.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The moment that I knew she was going to lose someone in her group and what she was going through.
Any additional comments?
If you love books about extreme mountain climbing, this is a good one. Not only does she talk about the 1996 Everest disaster but that is only a small part of the book. She goes on to talk about other climbs, both successful and unsuccessful where they had to turn back.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Maya
- 08-01-16
A truly fascinating and enjoyable listen
Would you listen to Just for the Love of It again? Why?
No but only because I loved every second of it the first time and listened intently.
What other book might you compare Just for the Love of It to and why?
Into Thin Air but less sensationalistic
What does Stevie Zimmerman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Her tone of straightforward description but also her subtle changes of character for different people really brought it to life.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Spoiler alert! At one point Cathy meets someone who is dying on the mountain. Even though it is obvious the woman won't survive, Cathy decides to leave her own ambitions to climb Everest again. There is no ego involved. She just does a human thing.
Any additional comments?
This is a fascinating account by a woman who pulls no punches about her experiences and the people she encountered along the way. And it is brought very fully to life by the narrator. I bought this because I have enjoyed the narrator in other books, but completely different books, and I'm glad I did.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jennifer
- 30-06-16
Can't put it down!
Cathy O'Dowd, a South African Mountaineer, opens this book with how she got into high altitude climbing and her first Everest expedition which took place in the notorious 1996 climbing season, the deadliest on record. The first section of this book is downright addictive. It's the kind of book that makes you want to go take a walk or a long drive just to listen to it. O'Dowd wrote great descriptions of climbing and surviving in high altitude. She also wrote candidly of the personal dynamics that occur on a large expedition and the tough moral issues every climber must face. She had a clear voice and an incredible story to tell: attempting to climb all three of Everest's faces, wow! This is a great read, makes me want to climb a mountain! If you love stories about big mountain climbing don't miss this one.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Diptonlad
- 05-12-21
Great descriptions of the magical world
This is a very human story, and at the same time describes beautifully the magic of climbing high in wild places, and especially well the night !!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Rick Kay
- 15-01-20
Don't Bother
As an avid reader of most anything written about Mt. Everest I was looking for something more engaging about the 1996 season in particular. I found inconsistencies in this story based upon reading many other accounts of the tragedy in 1996. The narration was very bland and on a few occasions I was tempted to request an exchange with Audible but in the end I didn't bother.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Hala Al-Adwan
- 14-05-17
Disappointed
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
The writing was disappointing and it got in the way of what should have been a great and interesting story. Almost every other sentence started with "However" though towards the end she mixed it up with "nevertheless". I was left wondering if the book had an editor.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Chris J.
- 17-03-17
Purely personal story
This book is purely a personal story of one woman's climbing trips. It does not claim to be anything else. As such I still found it interesting, at least for the reason as she provides so much detail about the small things of the trips. The type of detail you would not get from other authors. This was a refreshing change from some authors who throw in the entire history of the mountain and relegate their own story to second place. This book also contains little to zero back story about the author. It does not have chapters and chapters of boring back story. It gets to the good stuff and stays there.
I found her descriptions of climbing the north side of Everest to be quite thrilling. In such detail too! I now think it would be absolutely frightening to climb the north side at all.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gordon
- 14-11-16
This book does get bogged down in petty squabbles but if you can get past that it is an enjoyable read.
Cathy, Does have a hard time concealing her disdain for the male, but it only shows through in a few places. The petty squabbles and politics of the people who climb mountains is an interesting topic of conversation.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Frank
- 03-11-16
Good insightful perspective
I like the detailed word pictures of the climbs ND the honest reflections of the challenges.