NATIONAL BESTSELLER • This gripping and triumphant memoir from the author of The Mountain follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time.“From the drama of the peaks, to the struggle of making a living as a professional climber, to the basic how-tos of life at 26,000 feet, No Shortcuts to the Top is fascinating reading.”—Aron … Top is fascinating reading.”—Aron Ralston, author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place and subject of the film 127 Hours
For eighteen years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing’s holy grail: to stand atop the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go.
A preternaturally cautious climber who once turned back 300 feet from the top of Everest but who would not shrink from a peak (Annapurna) known to claim the life of one climber for every two who reached its summit, Viesturs lives by an unyielding motto, “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” It is with this philosophy that he vividly describes fatal errors in judgment made by his fellow climbers as well as a few of his own close calls and gallant rescues. And, for the first time, he details his own pivotal and heroic role in the 1996 Everest disaster made famous in Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air.
In addition to the raw excitement of Viesturs’s odyssey, No Shortcuts to the Top is leavened with many funny moments revealing the camaraderie between climbers. It is more than the first full account of one of the staggering accomplishments of our time; it is a portrait of a brave and devoted family man and his beliefs that shaped this most perilous and magnificent pursuit.
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Ed Viestures is one of the few great mountaineers of his day still alive. His descriptions of the climbs, of the accidents, and of his personal philosophy show a great athlete who has lasted because he knew just how dangerous climbing mountains is. Very good read!
Ed “became the only American to climb each of the world’s 14 eight-thousander peaks.” To say he’s a legend is to diminish his achievement, having climbed without supplemental oxygen and exhibiting an uncanny savvy for eluding insurmountable risk. In this book, NO SHORTCUTS to the TOP, he shares his story.
Ed Viesturs covers his life from early childhood to shortly after he completes the 8000 Endeavor, climbing without oxygen the 14 peaks that are taller than 8000 meters. Some peaks he has to try multiple times before accomplishing the climb, some he accomplishes the climb multiple times, others he barely survives and other climbs are somewhat uneventful. Book was pretty dry in spots and lots of verbiage was used to justify decisions which gives appearance he was possibly trying to convince himself that he made the right decisions. Not having attempted to climb, I am guessing all his decisions were good as he survived his climbs. There were parts of the book where I felt I was climbing with Ed which is why I read through to the end.
Fascinating read.
This is a true story about one man in particular but also many others who are either mountain climbers or support them. Although I have absolutely no interest in mountain climbing, the book held my interest from page one. The amount of pain and suffering and endurance of harsh environments in order to achieve a goal is definitely something to be admired. The book is well written and describes conditions of mountain climbing in perfect detail.
very inspirational ….talks about setting a goal and one’s commitment towards that goal…not giving up on it when it’s easy to say “i’ve done enough already”.. Most inspirational when it talks to doing what’s right for your colleagues when it means giving up on your near term objective. Doesn’t even refer to it as a sacrifice….it’s just what you need to do.
Inside the world of elite mountain climbers and how the author survived multiple assents of the 14 tallest peaks in the world. Amazing skill and level thinking in the face of overwhelming challenges.
great book, well written.
I knew he lived through the adventures, but only because he wrote the book!
The guy knows what he is writing about when it comes to climbing. Excellent. It is like a good review of climbing but he did not mention that the first American group to climb Annapurna was Arlene Blumbs women . Guys are so subject to ‘umlaut ‘ Still an excellent book. I always wonder why a very admirable person may sometimes not be able to accept their own true value. This author has my deepest respect. I would like to meet him. Congrats.
Janine Poley,
loved it
Among the hundreds of climbing related biography books I have read are Conquistadors of the Useless, Joe Brown’s Hard Days, Chris Bonnington’s I chose to Climb, and a host of others, some great, some merely good. This book is awful. This is very surprising since Vesturs is among the best climbers of our day and David Roberts is a superb writer.
Unfortunately, this book feels like it was put together over a long weekend with very little attention to the elements that made the great and even the good climbing autobiographies very readable. It is missing the essential humanity of Vesturs. I don’t need to read about a particular route on a mountain. I want to read about the inner thoughts and feelings of the climber as he approaches and ascends the route. That just wasn’t there.
This is very disappointing. Climbing literature makes up a major part of my personal library. This book didn’t make it onto the shelf. It went to its appropriate place, the garbage can.
Got this as an audio book for a long trip. It made the hours fly by. As former rock climbers this book was true to the mountaineering lifestyle, and an impressive accounting of one mans goal to climb the 14 highest peaks in the world. Highly recommend this for the adventure readers.
I really liked this book – I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did! Great great story and really easy to follow as I am not a mountaineer, but I loved the perseverance and guts of Ed and the people around him. Great book!
One of the best books about climbing I’ve read in quite a while. Mesmerizing.
Really enjoyed the story mixed with the history of the mountain and area.
Great insight into what it takes to be world class, at almost any endeavor. This is a really good story told by the guy that lived it. It seems factual, compelling and probably reveals who the author really is and what makes him tick. Interesting read….I would recommend it
Such an inspirational guy and an engaging book! Read it on vacation and enjoyed every second of it. Brings the otherworldly efforts of high-altitude climbers to your armchair with an unexpected humanism and sense of humor. Highly recommended for fans of adventure, mountaineering, or biography.