Arlene Blum

Nonfiction doesn’t get much more interesting than this. A group of 13 women decided to form an all-female climbing team to get to the top of Annapurna. The leader of the group wrote this enthralling book about the joys and struggles, detailing the entire process. From arguments with Sherpas to the food they ate, each aspect of their lives on the mountain made me feel like I was right there with them. So much of the climbing experience, especially the weather, is out of their control. It show more was a harrowing and fascinating read. show less

It felt quite fitting to read this book during the first substantial snowfall of the year. I could look out the window at white coldness and imagine being among the Himalayan heights. Annapurna tells of the American Women's Himalayan Expedition that in 1978 attempted the summit of Annapurna I, the world's tenth highest peak. At the time, no woman had ever climbed a 8,000 meter peak (26,200 ft. Annapurna is 26,540 ft.)

I really had no idea what mountain climbing is like before reading this show more book. The amount of planning, logistics, manpower and supplies was staggering. The ten-women team had to overcome male prejudice, disagreements among themselves, fatigue, frostbite, altitude sickness, and disgruntled porters. The colorful character of Nepal contrasted sharply with the austere beauty and danger up on the mountain. The last twenty pages were particularly gripping. I was frightened just reading about the dangers they faced. Why exactly do climbers put themselves at such risk? Blum makes it clear that mountain-climbing is not just about the challenge, thrills or proving that women can do it. There is a serenity and peace to be found at high altitudes- they climb because they love to do so, in spite of how difficult it is. I particularly liked this quote at the front of the book:

You never conquer a mountain.
You stand on the summit a few moments,
Then the wind blows your footprints away.

from the Dogear Diary show less

I have been a fan of mountaineering books since I first scratched the surface of this literature with Into Thin Air. Many years later and many books later, I think Arlene Blum's memoir is a great addition to that literature. One of her early stories captured my attention. She wanted to prove that she could keep up with the guys and ended up tearing up her rear end when she was ill-equipped and ill-prepared for a fast descent. Later in the book when she leads the all-women climbs, I was show more fascinated by the dynamics of women climbers and the power of her tale. While her story is about climbing, it is also personal. show less

This book has amazing ratings here and at Amazon so I'm compelled to explain why I was not as enamored of it. But I'll start by saying that the author does make her case: 1) Women are as good (and in some ways better) than males at high-altitude climbing. 2) Women are not shown respect by male climbers. I also enjoyed reading about the interactions with the Sherpas. So those were the strengths of the narrative.

However, I felt it difficult to learn much about the women individually and so, show more even though they had different names, the names weren't very useful for 90% of the book. Only near the end of the book as each gave up or had some sort of medical issue did they become recognizable and memorable individuals. However, even the remaining women that summitted seem indistinguishable. For example, it wasn't clear which were in great shape and which were in denial of their terrible condition.

In that sense, the book seemed like it was written more for friends (who already knew some of the women) than for complete strangers.

I would have liked a lot more detail. For example, there were several incidents of frostbite however the coverage of these were too brief. Similarly, there was very little explanation about use of oxygen tanks. And almost no coverage of high-altitude sickness. Even the summit episode was too brief.

The book became rather confusing after reaching base camp, particularly where each person was on the mountain. Would have been nice to have diagrams on each page showing which women (and sherpas) were at each camp at that moment. (The book had huge margins - plenty of empty space that just went to waste could have been used for illustrative purposes.)

On the other hand, there were things I really enjoyed. The coverage of the planning and management of the climb was very good. The incident with the geese was a nice touch.

One comment that really has nothing to do with the writing. The description of the frequent avalanches on Annapurna convinced me that the women were completely nuts. It was like they were rolling the dice with their lives. (Did they not research this before selecting this route up Annapurna?) Several other topics also had me questioning their rationality such as the idea of rescue by helicopter. I've read enough other books to know the problems with that.

In summary, I wasn't too thrilled by this book and wouldn't recommend it. There are thousands of books written by climbers. (600 books alone just about trips up Everest!) This is far from the best although if the all-womens nature of it is compelling, then this is the book for you. show less