The Real Life of Mountaineering

books:

	• A Most Hostile Mountain : Re-Creating the Duke of Abruzzi's Historic Expedition on Mount St. Elias Jonathan Waterman Henry Holt & Company, 1997 - 253 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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The Real Life of Mountaineering

A Most Hostile Mountain was about a mountain climber, the author, who was addicted to mountaineering and alpinism. He had reached the peaks of many Alaskan mountains and was getting settled to climb one last mountain. While on Mt. Fairweather, he spotted the nearby Mt. St. Elias a few miles away. He was captivated by the mountain's beauty and so he decided as the last mountain he would ever climb, he would summit Mt. St. Elias. He needed a partner, so he called up his friend, Jeff, to accompany him to the peak. They packed up their supplies and set off in a yacht to the mountain. Jonathan Waterman also compares his journey with the Duke of Abruzzi's trip. The Duke was the first one to reach the top of Mt. St. Elias, also called Yasetaca, and because of his trip, he made Italy famous. The Duke also traveled by ship to the mountain with his whole team of climbers, this was in the early 1900s, with heavy equiptment and luxuries a climber today would never bring on his or her trip. So as the Duke faces many difficulties on his climb, Jonathan also faces difficulties physically and mentally as well.

I thought the book was interesting in the way that I've never read a book that was more like a journal of someone's trip. Also, I never knew that much about mountain climbing before I read the book, but this book taught some important skills in mountaineering. Furthurmore, I like how Jonathan Waterman tells the real truth about people and their weaknesses while in a stressed and uncomfortable condition. The daily routines of a mountaineer is reavealed in this book and I can see why mountain climbing is such a difficult sport and why alpinists are so addicted to this hobby of theirs.

My favorite is when Jonathan and Jeff starts to get irritated at each other and accidents starts to happen. For example, when Jonathan mistakened the yellow gaderade bottle as Jeff's kindness towards him, but really, it was Jeff's bathroom wastes. Also, when Jeff and Jonathan first landed on the shores of Yasetaca, the swarm of mosquitos came buzzing at the two climbers and tried to suck the climbers dry. Desperately, Jonathan sets up their tent and so the two victims hide in the tent. Inside, the climbers watch as the mosquitos try to get past the mosquito netting but the bugs get their needles stuck in the holes. Joyfully, Jeff and Jonathan pull the needles off of the mosquitos as the insects continued to struggle. A good book for the reality reader.

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Great travel story

Another brilliant book by Waterman. Even if you aren't interested in mountain climbing this is a fascinating book. Waterman has the ability to reveal his heart and soul in his writing in a very eloquent way. This, combined with his skill at describing the world around him makes for a great book.

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Adventure and History

When Jonathan Waterman decided to recreate the climb of Duke Abruzzi's climb to Mount St. Elias, he knew he was in for one of the most difficult climbs ever. While most expiditions have their supplies airdropped, Waterman sailed more than a thousand miles with everything that he needed, or so he thought. An adventure story turns quickly into survival. Waterman also gives a great account of the Duke Of Abruzzi's life and his passion of mountain climbing despite his attachment to royalty.

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provacative and amazingly glib

orginal, provacative, playful . Not the usual for a mountaineering story that could have been a tedious epic. Two different men, 2 different times, two different backgrounds, but one goal in common over the years, elusive St.Elias. Two different ends for two different men. Refreshingly funny at the most unexpected of times.

In 1897 an Italian nobleman--Luigi of Savoy, the duke of Abruzzi--set out to climb North America's second-highest peak, the 18,008-foot Mount St. Elias (known to the native Tlingit people of Alaska as Yasetaca). A century later, the author of A Most Hostile Mountain attempts to recreate this same land-sea journey by sailing north out of Seattle and into the Gulf of Alaska. While Abruzzi traveled with an army's worth of supplies and numerous porters to shoulder creature comforts fit for a duke, Jonathan Waterman chooses the relative quiet of a single companion in his attempt to retrace the duke's historic expedition. Once on the mountain, after a hectic passage via a small sailboat, the climbers endure a variety of difficulties: harsh weather conditions, avalanches, a lack of food. As their circumstances become increasingly dire, Waterman finds refuge in the journals of the duke and his men. Taking his cue from these voices of the past, the author seeks solace in ideals held worthy in the Age of Exploration--a pure desire for adventure and knowledge that transcends the more modern notions of ego-driven success. The result is an engaging narrative that has its crampons firmly imbedded in the ice.

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