Product Description

In 1996, eight climbers died atop Mount Everest in a single storm in a story that made headlines across the globe and formed the basis of Jon Krakauer's monumental bestseller Into Thin Air. But instead of being scared off by this event, even more people wish to beat the mountain and pay more than $65,000 to get a piece of the action. Where once climbers like Sir Edmund HIlary enjoyed noble and brave reputations, in the 21st century the criminal element has turned Everest into a place where beatings, thefts, drugs, prostitution, threats and abandoment reign.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #197607 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Customer Reviews

The dark side of Everest
Michael Kodas is more than qualified to spill the beans on the avarice that has engulfed the worlds tallest mountain. Working on a pulitzer prize winning team of journalists at the Hartford Courant Kodas has two unsuccessful summit attempts of Everest under his belt.

In 2004 Kodas and his wife decided to taste first hand the exhilaration associated with climbing Mount Everest, but instead of camaraderie and new friendships he found intimidation,deceit and death. He joined a team that used him for financial gain and abandoned him on the mountain during a crisis, but this was only the beginning.

Kodas exposes the trickery employed by uncertified guides to use wealthy clients to fund their own personal summit ambitions. We see first hand the utter disregard for human life on the mountain with climbers literally stepping over injured and dying people in an attempt to ease their own summit fever. We get an in depth account of Nils Antezana who died on the mountain after being abandoned by his guide and Sherpas and the disgusting behaviour of these individuals who sought " tips " from the dead mans family afterwards. Kodas paints a pretty dim picture of violence, corruption and intimidation among the Himalayas where theft of vital equipment and black market resale is an everyday and almost accepted behaviour. The farcical mountain cleanups and the much maligned charity climbs are mentioned here too with some particularly distressing evidence for the latter, where a climber announces an Everest climb for charity and then uses the money raised to fund the expedition !

This book although factual reads like a novel, it's well written and I had difficulty putting it down. Anyone with a romantic view of mountaineering should read this book , it will not disappoint and may even educate. I certainly learned a lot from it.