I came across a fellow named Ed Viesturs while reading a copy of Outside magazine in the waiting room of Tim’s orthopedist.
In the magazine he was interviewed, along with several other super-experienced mountain climbers, regarding what’s currently going on with expeditions to Mt. Everest. The magazine was from last fall, shortly after the tenth anniversary of the climbing disaster on Everest in 1996, where eight people died in one day. There’s a well-regarded book about the series of incidents causing the deaths, entitled Into Thin Air. I’ve never read the book.
I was intrigued by Viesturs because he’s only the sixth person, and first American, to summit all fourteen of the 8,000 meter (that’s 26,247 feet) mountains in the world (all in the Himalayas) without bottled oxygen. An amazing feat. It took him 17 years, and his motto was "Getting to the top is optional, getting back to the bottom is mandatory."
So I decided to read his recent autobiography, No Shortcuts to the Top.
It was a very enjoyable read – a real life adventure about a personal quest. My own outdoors experiences are limited to day hikes in the Hudson valley and Catskills, car camping with my family, and one or two night jaunts on the Appalahian Trail. On the other hand, Viesturs never played rugby!
The book begins with Viesturs and companion Scott Fisher having a close call in 1992 on the face of K2 (the world’s second highest mountain at 8,611 meters), with Viesturs doing a "self-arrest" to keep them from plunging 8,000 feet. They were actually in the midst of trying to reach and help two other very experienced climbers who’d gotten into trouble further up the mountain – everyone survived the situation.
Later in the expedition, Viesturs, Fisher and another American climber did reach the summit of K2, but Viesturs believes their decision to push for the summit was the worse decision he ever made on any of his Himalayan climbs. Even though they got to the top and back down again without serious incident, the weather conditions and timing were much too risky. Viesturs references that decision, and the fact that they were extremely fortunate to have made the summit and gotten back down again without a disaster, on a number of occasions later in the book.
The remaining seven chapters and epilogue blend in Viesturs early family life, his learning curve as a climber and guide on Mount Rainier, his struggle to become a professional climber (as in making a living through his climbing), Himalayan summit efforts, and his family life with a wife and three children.
He explains his reasoning for not using oxygen assistance when attempting a summit (however, he does use oxygen when working the Himalayas as a guide/expedition member – he feels he owes it to his clients who are depending on his expertise and aid). His rationale is that you are not meeting the mountain, on it’s own terms. In a very real sense you are lowering the mountain, since you are breathing an oxygen mixure that is not found at the highest altitudes.
Viesturs views himself as a risk manager, not a risk taker. He makes the point (continuously!) that it’s not good enough to get to the mountain summit, you have to get down again! Viesturs plans his climbs starting with the return from the summit, not getting to the summit. He feels one of the main reasons for fatalities on the mountains is the failure to plan for the descent, as people single-mindedly are interested in summitting and over-push themselves, leaving no physical and mental reserves for the climb down, or they arrive at the summit too late in the day and suffer the combined consequences of exhaustion, bad weather, and darkness. This was the cause of most of the deaths in 1996 on Everest, including his friend Scott Fisher, who was the head of one expedition (he probably died of pulmonary edema), as well as the head of the another expedition, the New Zealander Rob Hall. Viesturs was on the mountain that day (at a lower camp) and was involved in resuce efforts – there could easily have been many more deaths.
On several occasions, including Viesturs first effort on Everest, he cut short his climb even though near the summit, because in his judgement a summit push would have involved too much risk. He was actually only 100 vertical feet from the top of Everest on his first attempt, when he and hs partner made the decision to descend. His attitude was always that he could come back in another season and reach the top. It actually was only on his third attempt on Annapurna, in 2005, that he got to the top. That was the last of the fourteen 8,000 meter peaks Vieturs needed to climb to complete his quest. He’d failed on Annapurna in 2000, and again in 2003.
And that, of course, begs the question. Why get involved in such a risky, life-threatening sport? For every seven climbers who summit Everest, one dies. And Everest is by no means the riskiest Himalayan mountain! For every two who summit Annapurna, one climber dies.
You’ll have to read the book for Ed Viesturs answer.
So, an enjoyable read, which has given me an appetite for reading some other books on mountaineering.
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