Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs on the 8,000 - Meter Giants by Ed Viesturs, David Breashears (Introduction), Peter Potterfield

From the Publisher

Himalayan Quest offers an unforgettable glimpse into the remarkable world of Ed Viesturs, America’s best-known high altitude climber, and the breathtaking landscape in which he works. It is an unparalleled showcase of both the heartbreaking tragedy and the ineffable joy Viesturs has experienced while striving at the limits of human endurance. Written with Peter Potterfield, an award-winning mountaineering journalist, Viesturs narrates his quest to climb the 14 highest mountains in the world—those peaks above 8,000 meters in height. To date, Viesturs has succeeded in summiting 12 of the peaks, including five separate ascents of Mount Everest. For these ascents he has been profiled in Outside and Sports Illustrated, People, Newsweek, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, and has appeared on NBC’s Today. As a spokesman for Microsoft, he is often positioned at the top of the company's Web site.

At the center of this extraordinary account of his mountaineering adventures are Viesturs’s own awe-inspiring photographs from the top of the world. This collection of images will show readers, like never before, the deadly beauty and haunting menace of the Himalaya. A unique, inspiring, and spine-tingling glimpse into the rarified world of the extreme climber, Himalayan Quest will appeal not only to Viesturs's significant fan base (fondly known as Edophiles or Edheads), but to outdoor aficionados and armchair adventurers everywhere.

Publishers Weekly

For mountaineers, the 14 peaks above 8,000 meters-all located in the Himalayan range near the border between China and India-have a special status. In 1986, Austrian Reinhold Messner became the first person to scale all of them without the use of supplemental oxygen. Viesturs is currently on a quest to become the first American to reproduce this astonishing feat. This book presents photographs from his expeditions on the 12 tallest mountains in the world. A world-class climber, Viesturs is blessed with an "unusual physiology"; his body's ability to process oxygen extraordinarily well allows him to remain unusually alert and vigorous even at oxygen-scarce altitudes. That clarity of mind is amply demonstrated in these stunning photographs. Viesturs emphasizes the difficulty of taking pictures at such heights and even charmingly includes imperfect shots (from a technical perspective) that have special meaning to him. Standout images include the vast, ridged, snowy valley framed by Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse; the "maze of crevasses" of the Khumbu Glacier in the Western Cwm; and the carpet of clouds draped across the several peaks of Makalu, Lhotse, Everest and Cho Oyu taken from the vantage point of Kanchenjunga. Replete with helpful maps, this book almost doubles as a travel guide; the lack of hotels doesn't make it any less informative for the tiny number of people eager to see these staggering vistas for themselves. No book consisting solely of prose could ever produce gasps like the pictures contained herein. (Feb.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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Table of Contents