The Death Zone: Climbing Everest Through the Killer Storm

It is not a long book, but is one that keeps pulling you back - Matt transports you right back to Everest in 1996 and it keeps moving until the end. This is a book that is perfect for airports etc, as it makes you oblivious to what is happening around you.

I am not a mountaineer, but this book makes for compelling reading with its observations. It is written in a way that makes it easy to grasp the enormity of what is happening, without the reader needing to have had similar experiences. It is every bit as graphic as if it had been a film.


A hypoxic read   January 5, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is an excellent read that at once portrays the majesty and cruelty of high-altitude climbing. Matt also seems to be a relatively normal human-being, as opposed to the gods of climbing like Alan Hinckes and Reinhold Messner, so you can empathise with him a little more. The tragic events of the "Killer storm" are movingly related especially the description of Rob Halls' final hours which had me choking back tears.

I couldn't put this book down for the last half and I'm about to read "Into Thin Air" off the back of it.


A story of tragedy and success - stunning   October 7, 2003
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book provides a harsh realism to the dreams of Everest. One man's story of his ascent, brings to life the harsh realities of a summit attempt on the world's highest peak. Matt Dickinson shows the conflicts between the individuals within team, and bears his inner-most thoughts in a climate where everything should be kept well wrapped up!

In fact this is the most interest part of the book - how the 'players' act and react to what is happening.

Well written, with excellent backup material - the author does not dwell on the mundane planning aspects of such an attempt - but get's right into the action.

Don't be put off - this is not a mountineers book written by a mountineer.

Very impressed.

Oh - and it's a good book for a plane trip or holiday, stimulating, interesting and not too long! You won't be disappointed.


KILLER STORM...KILLER STORY...   May 24, 2003
 8 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is a gripping account of the deadly storm which engulfed Mt. Everest in May 1996 and left a trail of dead bodies in its wake on the south face of the mountain. The author writes about the storm as experienced on the north face: hence, the title of the book. He writes about the tragedy which engulfed the north side of Everest, in which death also came calling.

The author provides many details of his expedition's ascent which is sure to fascinate and delight all Everest junkies. The narrative is compelling and absorbing. The tragic deaths of three members of the Indian team who reached the summit, only to become engulfed by the storm during their descent down the precipitous north face of Everest, trapping them over night, is heartbreaking. The callousness of a Japanese expedition who, on their ascent to the summit the following day, passed the Indian climbers, still alive but near death, and refused to aid them in their extremis, is truly shocking.

The author also rehashes the effect of the storm on the south face and the heavy toll of life it exacted there. Jon Krakauer, however, does it better in his gripping book "Into Thin Air". In the final analysis, the author, Matt Dickinson, a novice climber who first ascended Everest that May 1996, comes across as a self-absorbed, selfish sort of lout. Notwithstanding his own personal shortcomings, however, his book still makes for an absorbing read.