Review: Superb...don't let the price fool you...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 28, 2012
While I've never done much serious climbing myself, I've been enthralled with this pursuit for years and have read many books on the adventures of many. Recently in Men's Journal Magazine, I saw a review of "Buried in the Sky" and knew I had to include it in my summer reading. Along the way, I noticed this book by climber Wilco, who plays a prominent role in the ill-fated 2008 season that "Buried in the Sky" delves into.It was free, and I parked it on my Kindle...assuming that it probably was a hastily thrown together diary or sketch of one climbers account. I have a lot of free books on my Kindle that I've never around to reading for that very reason.Some time after I had completed "Buried in the Sky" I stumbled across "Surving K2" on my Kindle and decided I'd skim through it and just jump to the good parts. From the first few pages, it did not take long for me to realize that this book is well-written and meticulously detailed account of the author's multiple attempts on K2. Because it gets into the head of a climber who has almost died more than once on K2...it's a more visceral and gets into the heart of the struggle that climbers face in trying to reconcile facing death every time they climb and the cost to their families. Isn't this a stupid, selfish and not mention expensive thing to do? When you read this book you'll wonder whether these guys really have all their marbles. And yet...you as the spectator and there rooting on because your yourself wish you had the guts to do the same....Mallory said, "because it's there." And when you read Wilco's book, you probably won't be able to boil it down to anything more than that.