by Gareth Wild

Created on: January 21, 2010   Last Updated: January 22, 2010

I recently purchased this book at a Millets store as it was closing down it was heavily discounted. I paid in the region of £1.50 which is a major saving on the retail cost of the book which is £14.99.
If you wish to purchase it shop around for the best price especially with on-line retailers such as amazon. Pre read copies may be available on EBay  though.

The book is a softback one and is 322 pages in length. The ISBN number is 9781861261762.

It starts with a brief history of previous attempts on everest but the one Reinhold Messner partakes in is the first ever solo attempt and also without the help of oxygen. This took place in 1980. He previously has climbed Everest without oxygen but he wasn't alone when he completed it. His journey to the Himalayas was with an American girl called Nena. She helped him prepare for the climb and went as far as the last camp from there he was on his own. She could only monitor his progress through a telephoto lens.He makes his living doing lecture tours about his great climbing adventures especially about this climb.I will let you read if if you want to know if he is successful or not. 

It is a thoroughly enjoyable read and is also educational as well. It is more than just about the everest climb as it also describes the journey through Tibet on his way to the main reason the book is written about. It is a book of an adventure. The conclusion of the book debates whether Mallory and Irvine were actually the first to climb Everest but I will leave that for you to decide once you have read what he has to say and your own thoughts.

A brief description of Reinhold Messner is to be found on the back cover of the book and in summary he was born in 1944 in the South Tyrol. So he did most of his early climbingin the Dolomites and Western Alps. !n 1969 he first visited the Andes and in 1970 he first ascended a Himalayan summit that of Nanga Parbat.

I would recommend it both as a book to read yourself or also it would make a nice gift. You don't have to be a mountaineer to read it as it is written in a language that everyone can understand. H e has written many other books one is All 14 Eight Thousanders. This is by the same publisher Crowood Press. If you find this type of book a similar author is Mick Fowler, the British climber, who wrote such books such as On Thin Ice. This is about ice climbing he has participated in throughout the world including the Himalayas.

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