Chuckles Mini Reviews Catchup part 2

I review everything I read, on my blog and on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! So lets catch up with some reviews from May.

1) Andy Hall-Denali's Howl
In 1967, twelve young men attempted to climb Alaska’s Mount McKinley—known to the locals as Denali—one of the most popular and deadly mountaineering destinations in the world. Only five survived. Journalist Andy Hall, son of the park superintendent at the time, investigates the tragedy. He spent years tracking down survivors, lost documents, and recordings of radio communications. In Denali’s Howl, Hall reveals the full story of an expedition facing conditions conclusively established here for the first time: At an elevation of nearly 20,000 feet, these young men endured an “arctic super blizzard,” with howling winds of up to 300 miles an hour and wind chill that freezes flesh solid in minutes. All this without the high-tech gear and equipment climbers use today.

As well as the story of the men caught inside the storm, Denali’s Howl is the story of those caught outside it trying to save them—Hall’s father among them. The book gives readers a detailed look at the culture of climbing then and now and raises uncomfortable questions about each player in this tragedy. Was enough done to rescue the climbers, or were their fates sealed when they ascended into the path of this unprecedented storm? 

This book tells the story of the 1967 climbing disaster on Denali which killed seven climbers in a storm as they attempted a climb. The son of the park superintendant has researched all the available documents and talked to the survivors and rescuers about the events of the disaster, trying to discover what went wrong and if more could've been done to save them. I found it to be a balanced account that sets the scene and the background to the climb, the conflicting personalities of the climbers and the harsh environment that they were going into. It goes into a brief history of climbing on Denali, the training and recruiting of team members, the journey to the mountain, who was working in the park and how the expedition got under way. I found the detail to be pretty interesting and it helped us get to know the various climbers before following them on the mountain, as well as the pilots and park staff who would be drawn into the disaster.

As the climb progressed, the group became split as the strongest climbers pushed ahead to gain the summit before retreating down the mountain to rest and recover at a lower camp, which is the accepted way of doing things. The others waited to make their attempt on alater day which is when the storm hit the mountain. The book looks at the men who were safer and the struggles they faced in trying to raise the alarm for their missing colleagues. It also looks at how a rescue plan was put together and the way that the weather prevented any chance of rescue until the storm had ended. It asks all the difficult questions about a series of decisions taken on and off the mountain and ponders if the expedition was doomed from the start. I felt that this seemed to be a fair account which allowed all the major players to put their point across and I thought it was an interesting book to read. I would certainly recommend it to people interested in expeditions and mountain disaster books.

Read April 2020
3.5 stars  

2) Art Davidson-Minus 148 degrees
In 1967, eight men attempted North America's highest summit: Mount McKinley (now known as Denali) had been climbed before but never in winter. Plagued by doubts and cold, group tension and a crevasse tragedy, the expedition tackled McKinley in minimal hours of daylight and fierce storms. They were trapped at three different camps above 14,000 feet during a six-day blizzard and faced the ultimate low temperature of 148 F. Minus 148 is Art Davidson's stunning personal narrative, supplemented by diary excerpts from team members George Wichman, John Edwards, Dave Johnston, and Greg Blomberg. Davidson retells the team's fears and frictions and ultimate triumph with an honesty that has made this gripping survival story a mountaineering classic for over 40 years. 

This book is about the deadly attempt to do the first winter ascent of Denali in 1967 and the life and death struggle which came as a deadly storm hit the mountain and trapped the men at different places across the mountain. The story is mainly told by expedition photographer Art, who is brutally honest about every aspect of the climb, and also from diary extracts written by other climbers in the group. It starts with a couple of near misses when members of the team failed to adhere to accepted safety in an area known for hidden crevasses. The lack of attention to these details was always going to lead to a disaster and so it unfolded. The details about the crevasse falls were fascinating and it shows how dangerous Denali actually is even before you hit bad weather around the peak. After a bad accident the team have to look at their own ambitions and decide whether or not to continue with the climb. 

The next part of the book has all the niggles and bickering that you would expect on this kind of climb, and I enjoyed reading about it. I did find all of the men to be good and normal guys who make mistakes, but don't disguise any of it for the book, which I appreciated. As the climb gets tougher, the weather starts moving in and traps them on the mountain. One group are in the area of the summit when they become trapped away from any of their camps with limited supplies and no chance of rescue. At the lower camps, their friends wait anxiously for news or the chance of a rescue attempt. It is a book full of tension as we see through the diary entries what the men were thinking and feeling. I don't want to give anything away but I found it to be an excellent book for anyone interested in mountain expeditions in harsh winter climates. An excellent read.

Read May 2020
3.5 stars