Product Description

Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's famous account of the 1996 Everest disaster, INTO THIN AIR, will remember the story of Beck Weathers: the gregarious Texan climber who went snow-blind in the Death Zone below the summit and who spent a night out in the open during a blizzard that took the lives of a dozen colleagues and friends. Even as he staggered back into Camp 4 the next morning, Beck's condition was such that the other survivors assumed he would not make it back down the mountain. He was effectively left for dead, but drawing upon reserves of determination and courage he didn't know he had - as well as the extraordinary selflessness and bravery of a Nepalese helicopter pilot he'd never met - he finally made it to safety. Only then could a new battle begin: to rebuild his life with a family he'd taken for granted for too long. Heartstoppingly exciting and ultimately very moving, LEFT FOR DEAD is a terrific read.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24462 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 286 pages

Review
'An engaging memoir . . . Candid [and] moving . . . Weathers' upbeat attitude perhaps yields the biggest clue about how he got home from Everest' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

About the Author
Beck Weathers trained as a medical doctor and now lectures across the United States. His co-writer, Stephen G. Michaud, is a former editor at NEWSWEEK and the co-author of eight books.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
The first two chapters were an excellent account of what is now a well known story. However, after that, the book switches from the climbing to the history of the Weathers' family. I found this added little to the story. If it's a climbing book you want, I would ignore this.

Left to live!!
This epic starts out as a tale of tragic loss and human suffering but it develops into so much more.Beck Weathers drags the reader kicking and screaming up and down some of the highest peaks in the world.For what purpose? Maybe to escape the depths of depression he tries to conquer the euphoric heights of achievment and continually pushes his bodies limits.Its no surprise then when it all ends in tragedy but even severe frostbite resulting in amputation cannot quell this remarkable mans indomitable spirit.

This is a moving account of one mans attempt to conquer the highest mountain and also the deepest darkest recesses of his own mind.

Not what I expected
The big problem with this book is its been billed as a book on mountaineering and often placed in the adventure sections. Its not a book on mountaineering. Its more of an apology to his long suffering wife and family for being a self obsessed climber. Unless I was studying pyschology I won't bother. I read it, the hubby got bored when he realised the mountain story was only two chapters. It is well written and it is a good book but its not a mountaineering or travel or adventure book.