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  • The Will to Climb

  • Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna - the World's Deadliest Peak
  • By: David Roberts, Ed Viesturs
  • Narrated by: Fred Sanders
  • Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (95 ratings)
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The Will to Climb

By: David Roberts, Ed Viesturs
Narrated by: Fred Sanders
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Summary

The bestselling author of No Shortcuts to the Top and K2 chronicles his three attempts to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest peak, Annapurna in the Himalaya, while exploring the dramatic and tragic history of others who have made -- or attempted – the ascent, and what these exploits teach us about facing life's greatest challenges.

As a high school student in the flatlands of Rockford, Illinois, where the highest objects on the horizon were water towers, Ed Viesturs read and was captivated by the French climber Maurice Herzog's famous and grisly account of the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950. When he began his own campaign to climb the world's 14 highest peaks in the late 1980s, Viesturs looked forward with trepidation to undertaking Annapurna himself. Two failures to summit in 2000 and 2002 made Annapurna his nemesis. His successful 2005 ascent was the triumphant capstone of his climbing quest. In The Will To Climb Viesturs brings the extraordinary challenges of Annapurna to vivid life through edge-of-your-seat accounts of the greatest climbs in the mountain’s history, and of his own failed attempts and eventual success.  In the process he ponders what Annapurna reveals about some of our most fundamental moral and spiritual questions--questions, he believe, that we need to answer to lead our lives well.

"Of all fourteen of the world's highest mountains, which I climbed between 1989 and 2005," writes Viesturs, "the one that came the closest to defeating my best efforts was Annapurna.” Although it was the first 8,000-meter peak to be climbed,  Annapurna is not as well known as the world's highest mountain, Everest, or second highest, K2. But as Viesturs argues, Annapurna, while not technically the most difficult of the 8,000ers, is the most daunting because it has no route--no ridge or face on any side of the mountain--that is relatively free of what climbers call "objective danger"—the threat of avalanches, above all, but also of collapsing seracs (huge ice blocks), falling rocks, and crevasses. Since its first ascent in 1950, Annapurna has been climbed by more than 130 people, but 53 have died trying. This high fatality rate makes Annapurna the most dangerous of the 8,000-meter peaks.

Viesturs and co-author David Roberts chronicle Ed's three attempts to climb Annapurna, as well as the attempts of others, from the two French climbers who made the landmark first ascent of Annapurna on June 3, 1950, through the daring and tragic campaigns of such world-class mountaineers as Reinhold Messner and Anatoli Boukreev. Viesturs's accounts and analyses of these extraordinary adventures serve as a point of departure for his exploration of themes vividly illustrated by Annapurna expeditions, including obsession and commitment, fear and fulfillment, failure and triumph--issues that have been neglected in the otherwise very rich literature of mountaineering, and that can inform the lives and actions of everyone.

©2011 David Roberts, Ed Viesturs (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"The Will to Climb captures the essence and spirit of the great sport of mountaineering. For anyone who loves the outdoors and for those who admire the will of mankind, this book is a must-read.” (Tod Leiweke, CEO, Tampa Bay Lightning)

“A detailed, nicely told account of a man’s endurance and perseverance in achieving a singular goal.” (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Will to Climb

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A true, engaging documentary

I coupled listening to the book with watching videos of Ed Viesturs, of Annapurna, and I googled many of the info/details he provided. So yes, I loved the book and I will buy a hard copy.

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White men can’t

I forgot that anyone rich and privileged enough to pay to climb the 14 highest mountains (or whatever) would have and be blinded to his incredible privilege. It’s dull, this one.

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my type of book

great book .. lots of stories and interesting information on great expeditions of the 8000's from the past .

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Amazing

If you could sum up The Will to Climb in three words, what would they be?

Awe Inspiring, Inspirational

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Will to Climb?

The end of the book - without giving anything away, the juxtaposition of the history with Eds own persoanl attempts on the mountain made this a genuinely emotional listen

Which character – as performed by Fred Sanders – was your favourite?

I felt like I knoew Ed Visteurs well by the end of the book!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The final successful climb.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book - genuinely inspirational and a fascinating exploration of the history of the mountain, risk assessment and mountaineering.

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