Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Buried in the Sky

the Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day
May 22, 2017whitcombs2do rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It's true that most accounts of mountaineering adventure in the Himalyas (this is the first book I've read about K2, in the Karakorams) don't tell you much about the sherpas. They're documented as support staff, and they're listed when killed, but you never find out much about them as persons, as family people. I'm very pleased that someone went to the trouble to do the research and tell us the story of some of those who are the backbone of almost all high altitude expeditions. The lone exception I've found to my general observation, and a book very much worth reading, is "Touching My Father's Soul," by Jamling Tenzig Norgay, son of Hillary's climbing partner back in 1953. It's Jamling's account of the disastrous events on Everest in May 1996, when he was the lead sherpa for David Breashears' expedition to film the climb for the IMAX feature "Everest." I've read perhaps eight different books written by climbers on the mountain during that time (including Breashears' own), and I found Jamling's to be the best. Excellent writing, but also some extra depth, no doubt related to his culture and his family history.