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Amazing what the being is capable of! Apr 11, 2010
Beck describes the unimaginable--a true inspiration from one's soul!Murder on Everest (A Summit Murder Mystery)
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 If you are looking for a good Everest book - THIS IS NOT IT!! Mar 30, 2010
After reading Into Thin Air and The Climb I was anxious to find another viewpoint about the Everest disaster so I turned to this book. That was a mistake. I suffered through the family history at the beginning which is extremely dull. I felt cheered when I began to get to the part about Everest which was fine and going well until he began to malign Anatoli Boukreev. Many of his objections (climbing without oxygen - coming down the mountain quickly) I felt were just parroting what Jon Krakauer was saying. One wonders how Beck Weathers honestly had any idea what Anatoli was doing considering he spent most of his time sitting in one spot, snowblind, waiting for Rob Hall. It's interesting that he and Krakauer (both complete amateurs in high altitude climbing) feel the need to criticize someone that was considered one of the foremost experts in high altitude climbing. But let's get past that. After Beck complains about Anatoli not using oxygen (which actually would have left them even more short of oxygen than they already wore and more than likely would have caused at least one more death) claiming that, in effect, he was not properly caring for his clients, he then goes on to complain that Anatoli did not rescue he and Namba when he was rescuing the others. He puts it basically like this: Anatoli rescued Pittman, Fox and Madsen "(Mountain Madness Clients)" and left me and Yasuko "(Adventure Consultant clients)". So now we are to believe that Anatoli did not care properly for his clients by not climbing with oxygen but should have left his clients and rescued Beck and Yasuko? What sense does that make?
I wonder that Beck was not annoyed that Mike Groom (who had actually been with them for some time) walked off back to Camp IV without EITHER him or Namba?? I wonder that Beck commended Rob Hall for staying with Doug Hansen knowing that he was likely to die also. I wonder that Beck doesn't come to the obvious conclusion (as anyone else should that has read anything about the Everest expedition) that Rob Hall should never have gone up to the summit with Doug Hansen at all and that in doing so, he chose to forego the well being of all his other clients (and guides!). But that obviously is not as big a crime as climbing without oxygen when oxygen was in short supply.
The real question should be: why did Beck even NEED to be rescued? When he realized he was snow blind he should have been returned to camp by one of the guides or the Sherpas. What kind of client care is it to tell your client to sit and wait while you go up to the summit and back down again (likely a period of possibly 12-16 hours) while your client cannot see and has no way to go up OR down the mountain???? And then when you know you have a snow-blind client waiting for you to sit just under the summit with another client who is clearly not going to make it and refuse to leave?? Rob Hall had 3 clients and one guide who desperately needed help and he chose to remain with only one client and leave everyone else to fend for themselves - causing the death of two and severe injuries to the third. What kind of client care is THAT??
Anyow, after I read that I could not in good conscience continue with the book. Beck Weathers probably needs to keep his opinions to himself regarding who did the right thing and the wrong thing on Everest and remember that the Mountain Madness team had all of its clients survive and with very little injury thanks mostly in part to Anatoli Boukreev.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Left for Dead whould be Left on the Shelf Feb 01, 2010
I have read several books and many articles relating to the 1996 Everest disaster and was looking forward to reading Beck Weather's account.
Instead, we get a whiny, pathetic tale of poor little rich man who needs to indulge his every obesession and whim at the expense of his family and friends. Although his tale of survival on Everest is amazing, in the context of this book the reader will be amazed that Mr. Weathers lasted so long as to get to Everest in the first place.
The writing is horrible and self-serving, with interludes from various people in his life, including his wife and friends, many of which seem to have nothing nice to say about him.
Conversely, one may find it tough to relate to Mr. Weathers or those who interject themselves into the narrative, in particular his wife Peach whose life seemingly revolves around the gossip of other North Dallas housewives and standing a top a high perch of revolting moral righteousness [at one point, she acts like a divorce is akin to cold blooded murder]. About two-thirds of the way through the book I was hoping that somehow Mr. Weathers and his wife would both find themselves trapped in a hopeless cold, this time without such a happy ending.
disappointed Oct 15, 2009
I was a little disappoined in this book. If you have read "Into Thin Air", you know how riveting it was, and it gave lots of details of the tragedy on Everett. Beck Weathers, in his autobiography, does not provide much more detail about what happened to him and how he survived. Worth reading, but i was looking for more.
 Beck Weathers survival on Everest Jun 10, 2009
This is a very interesting and heartfelt book about Beck Weathers and his family and the effect that his mountain climbing had on their life. When he was in serious trouble and thought to be dead on the mountain, he made several promises to himself about his family and he has followed through. A sad tragedy with his wife's brother cemented his agenda and he and his family are now in better shape. This book is very touching and I recommend that anyone who followed the tragic events on Mount Everest in 1996 add this to their library.
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