No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks
This gripping and triumphant memoir follows a living legend of extreme mountaineering as he makes his assault on history, one 8,000-meter summit at a time.
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.
Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In the opening scene of Viesturs's memoir of his quest to become the first American to climb the 14 mountains in the world higher than 8,000 meters, he and a friend nearly get thrown off the face of K2 when they're caught in an avalanche. It's one of the few moments in the story when his life genuinely seems at risk, as his intense focus on safety is generally successful. "Getting to the top is optional," he warns. "Getting down is mandatory." That lesson comes through most forcefully when Viesturs recounts how he almost attempted to reach the summit at Everest the day before the group Jon Krakauer wrote about in Into Thin Air, but backed out because it just didn't feel right. His expertise adds a compelling eyewitness perspective to those tragic events, but the main focus is clearly on Viesturs and his self-imposed "Endeavor 8000." From his earliest climbs on the peaks of the Pacific Northwest to his final climb up the Himalayan mountain of Annapurna, Viesturs offers testimony to the sacrifices (personal and professional) in giving your life over to a dream, as well as the thrill of seeing it through. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
For nearly two decades Viesturs has been living his dream: to scale the world's 14 tallest peaks--the 8,000ers, as they're known, the 14 mountains taller than 8,000 meters (26,247 feet). All of them are in Nepal, Pakistan, and Tibet, and none is easy to conquer. Viesturs, who has stood atop Everest half a dozen times, is among the world's most accomplished climbers, and even he admits it's no picnic dragging yourself up to those heights. With coauthor Roberts, a veteran mountaineering author, Viesturs turns his quest to conquer the 8,000ers into a compelling story of dedication, desperation, danger, derring-do, and devotion (physical and spiritual). Fans of extreme-sport books, especially tales of high adventure, will want to add this one to their collections. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Ed Viesturs is not merely one of our strongest mountaineers; he’s also one of the most remarkable. He’s demonstrated that it’s possible to climb the world’s highest peaks without taking reckless chances, and without sacrificing one’s honor or integrity. He has never hesitated to help other climbers in need, even when it meant putting himself in danger or sacrificing his own opportunity to achieve a summit. Ed, simply put, is a genuine American hero.” —Jon Krakauer
"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 Ralston, author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place
"Ed Viesturs—the first American to climb all fourteen 8,000 meter peaks without bottled oxygen—is an animal. A human animal blessed with enormous strength balanced by intelligence, honesty, and a heart of gold. And besides, HE IS A NICE GUY.
This is a great read for those of us who climb, those who want to learn to climb and live to tell about it, and those who like great adventures." —Jim Whittaker, first American to climb Mount Everest
“Ed Viesturs was an inspiration to me personally and to the Seahawks team in 2005. I highly recommend reading this account of one of America’s heroes.” —Mike Holmgren, coach of the Seattle Seahawks
Customer Reviews
A bit pretentious
Having read several climbing/mountaineering books this is a very inspiring story and interesting as Ed answers some questions such as how to pee on a mountain.....however, I have enjoyed some other books more, notably Mountain Madness and Into Thin Air. Ed has accomplished quite a bit but there are moments reading the book where he is condescending and/or pretentious which diminishes his star-like quality. His brief love-affairs with women who have since passed away probably don't have a place here.
An engaging tale that offers life lessons
A few years ago, Ed Viesturs became the first American to climb 14 tallest mountains in the world, all of them over 8,000 meters high. He was only the 6th person in the world to accomplish this feat without the aid of supplemental oxygen.
In this book, he recounts his journey and the lessons he learned during the 18 years he was pursuing this goal. While his task was terribly dangerous, Viesturs benefited from trusting his gut and not being afraid to turn back and regroup when conditions were outside of his acceptable risk. As a result, unlike many moutaineers, Viesturs never suffered frost-bite, never had to be rescued, and most importantly he lived to tell the tale.
This book allows you to enjoy the ride to heights of the earth from the comfort of a warm easy chair." Visteurs and his co-writer bring the mountains to life. At times, I actually shivered from reading about the subzero temperatures he experienced and felt dizzy with vertigo when he described the steep inclines.
"No Shortcuts to the Top" tells the tale of a man living his dream and pursuing his goals with diligence, focus and intelligence. It's an inspiring story that reminds us it's ok to dream, but it's better if we work to make those dream reality. A step at a time, we can all climb summit our peaks and achieve great things.
Climb Your Mountains in Life.
Every day I am reminded of the beauty of the mountains living in Castle Rock, Colorado. During some surfing on Amazon.com, I ran across this book about climbing the 14 highestmountains in the world. These mountains are all over 26,000 feet. The man who accomplished this task is Ed Viesturs, who was the first American to ever complete the goal. The book chronicles his journey up and down the Goliath mountains. The book is an excellent read that causes the pages to be pushed forward at a rapid pace. The story is interesting and excellent. This accomplish is amazing on all facets because of the danger that is involved in climbing these peaks. Every mountain has a story and a lot of the mountains tell cruel stories of death and destruction, but through the narrative Ed continues to continue. He was a smart climber, never going beyond his limits, except one frightful time on K2. He learned a valuable lesson that day. This was one of the best books that I have read recently. I enjoyed the book so much that now I am motivated to climb a 14,000 feet mountains, the biggest ones in Colorado. The mountain is Pike's Peak. The book also inspires people to accomplish their personal goals in life, whatever that goal is it can be summited.
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