Friday, November 29, 2013

The Vast Unknown by Broughton Coburn - Book Review

BookThe Vast Unknown: America's First Ascent of Everest
AuthorBroughton Coburn
Genre: History 
Publisher/Publish DateCrown / April, 2013
Source: First Reads/GoodReads
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5
GoodReads  •  Amazon

It's no secret that I love books about Everest. While in some ways the stories are all fairly similar, this one tells of America's first assent. Back when climbing Everest was still very new, and a lot more challenging and complicated than it has become today.

America's first expedition team, in 1963, was made up of a young, free-spirited, independent group of climbers, many of whom worked as guides in the Tetons. The climb was a mix of their own hopes of dreams of summiting as well as political and international strategy. In many way the goal of summiting mimicked the space race, which was happening during this time period.

It was not an easy climb. A life was lost. An attempt to summit by a new route was unsuccessful. But their journey made an impact on American climbing and on the lives of each man involved. Coburn does a great job following up with the climbers, showing us the path each of their lives took in the years following their Everest climb.

Thank you GoodReads for a signed copy!

No comments:

Post a Comment