Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters

By James M. Tabor

Book Overview

Ten days passed with no rescue attempt, while more than half an expedition was stranded and dying at 20,000 feet during a vicious Arctic storm. The bodies were never recovered. And, for reasons that have remained cloudy, there was no proper official investigation of the catastrophe.

This book begins as a classic tale of men against nature, gambling--and losing--on one of the world's starkest and stormiest peaks. Reckoning by lives lost, it was history's third-worst mountaineering disaster when it occurred--but elements of finger pointing, incompetence, and cover-up make this disaster unlike any other. James M. Tabor draws on previously untapped sources: personal interviews with survivors and those involved in the aftermath, unpublished diaries and letters, and government documents. He consults not only mountaineers but also experts in disciplines including meteorology, forensics, and psychology. What results is the first full account of the tragedy that ended a golden age in mountaineering.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393061744
• ISBN13: 9780393061741
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Chilling and Wonderful!

Tabor has put together a beautiful, extremely balanced account of a tragedy that includes the objective, the subjective, and quite tastefully, the emotions of the survivors. I read it once, and then had to read it again. The story deserved to be told again, and from a person far removed from the story. Tabor does an incredible job of piecing together an investigation some 40 years later. Tabor's descriptions made me want to, as Snyder described, put my parka on in my living room. Having climbed successfully to the top of Denali, I always counted myself lucky. This book shows just how truly lucky I was. A brilliant work!

Preconceived opinions?

While browsing my local bookstore, I saw a book with a title that left no question in my mind about the subject: an event that happened 40 years ago and I could now read about the truth surrounding that tragedy on Mt. McKinley: Forever on the Mountain, by James Tabor. In the summer of 1967 I was full of dreams and anticipation as to what my second season at Mt. McKinley National Park might bring: new adventures, amazing sights, the trill of just the chance to view that magical mountain, Mt. McKinley. At the same time I was living my dreams, another group of young men were about to begin their own adventures and dreams, and attempt to summit the great mountain. As I read on, I realized sometimes in life no matter how well we plan and organize, things happen; attitudes and egos do not mix; politics and bureaucracy diminish the chance for success. In this book, these problems are brought forth and analyzed with a very straight forward approach, giving the public an unbiased solution of what happened and didn't happen in the most tragic disaster in North American climbing history. I thought it was a great read, especially having lived at McKinley during the event, and is important for anyone who has preconceived opinions about what actually took place on the mountain. Gary Smith

Memories

As a person who had close ties to the expedition, both in the planning and the aftermath, I found this book to be an accurate account of the tragic events that occurred. The book brought back 40 years worth of memories, just like they had happened yesterday.

Incredible

"Forever on the Mountain" is a staggering literary work. Serious climber, non-climber and everyone in between will find the account of this horrific accident constantly gripping. There isn't a boring page in this book and not only that, there is not a single page that isn't 100% factually correct. I, myself, am a non-climber and thoroughly enjoyed this book. In all respects, I found this book to be more interesting and thought provoking than "Into Thin Air". If you are simply someone who likes to read a good book, I would whole-heartedly suggest this novel. Kudos to James Tabor for undertaking such a massive task and producing such a fantastic work!