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The Death Zone: Climbing Everest Through the Killer Storm

By: Matt Dickinson
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
ISBN: 0099255723
ISBN-13: 9780099255727
Released: 02 Jul 1998
RRP: £8.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

As thrilling a read as you will ever get. - By: Stunt Goat, 11 Feb 2007
The context of the book is that the author is there to cover another Brian Blessed attempt on Everest. What ensues is a truly frightening account of what happens when things go wrong in extreme conditions. Other books in this genre can get a bit heavy in the philosophy of such things yet Dickinson writes with pace & with meaning. You are left in no doubt how dire things can get. I also enjoyed The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger for the same macabre reasons. Had a bad day at work? Grab a cuppa & read this for an hour. It'll put things back in perspective...
Truly compelling. - By: , 10 Jun 2005
"One of those books that you simply can't put down" - sounds like a cliche, but it sums up Matt's book fully.

It is not a long book, but is one that keeps pulling you back - Matt transports you right back to Everest in 1996 & it keeps moving until the end. This is a book that is perfect for airports etc, as it makes you oblivious to what is happening around you.

I am not a mountaineer, but this book makes for compelling reading with its observations. It is written in a way that makes it easy to grasp the enormity of what is happening, without the reader needing to have had similar experiences. It is every bit as graphic as if it had been a film.

A hypoxic read - By: Kevin Roche, 05 Jan 2004
This is an excellent read that at once portrays the majesty & cruelty of high-altitude climbing. Matt also seems to be a relatively normal human-being, as opposed to the gods of climbing like Alan Hinckes & Reinhold Messner, so you can empathise with him a little more. The tragic events of the "Killer storm" are movingly related especiallly the description of Rob Hallls' final hours which had me choking back tears.

I couldn't put this book down for the last half & I'm about to read "Into Thin Air" off the back of it.

A story of tragedy and success - stunning - By: , 07 Oct 2003
This book provides a harsh realism to the dreams of Everest. One man's story of his ascent, brings to life the harsh realities of a summit attempt on the world's highest peak. Matt Dickinson shows the conflicts between the individuals within team, & bears his inner-most thoughts in a climate where everything should be kept well wrapped up!

In fact this is the most interest part of the book - how the 'players' act & react to what is happening.

Well written, with excellent backup material - the author does not dwell on the mundane planning aspects of such an attempt - but get's right into the action.

Don't be put off - this is not a mountineers book written by a mountineer.

Very impressed.

Oh - & it's a good book for a plane trip or holiday, stimulating, interesting & not too long! You won't be disappointed.

KILLER STORM...KILLER STORY... - By: Lawyeraau, 24 May 2003
This is a gripping account of the deadly storm which engulfed Mt. Everest in May 1996 & left a trail of dead bodies in its wake on the south face of the mountain. The author writes about the storm as experienced on the north face: hence, the title of the book. He writes about the tragedy which engulfed the north side of Everest, in which death also came callling.

The author provides many details of his expedition's ascent which is sure to fascinate & delight alll Everest junkies. The narrative is compelling & absorbing. The tragic deaths of three members of the Indian team who reached the summit, only to become engulfed by the storm during their descent down the precipitous north face of Everest, trapping them over night, is heartbreaking. The calllousness of a Japanese expedition who, on their ascent to the summit the following day, passed the Indian climbers, still alive but near death, & refused to aid them in their extremis, is truly shocking.

The author also rehashes the effect of the storm on the south face & the heavy toll of life it exacted there. Jon Krakauer, however, does it better in his gripping book "Into Thin Air". In the final analysis, the author, Matt Dickinson, a novice climber who first ascended Everest that May 1996, comes across as a self-absorbed, selfish sort of lout. Notwithstanding his own personal shortcomings, however, his book still makes for an absorbing read.