Films and Books

Everest: Man Vs Mountain (2006)
Screened on Bravo (UK) November 2006 in five parts and then all in one go. In 1976 that the first ever successful all-military expedition to the summit of Everest took place. Two British soldiers, John “Brummie” Stokes and Michael “Bronco” Lane, lost 19 toes in total as the struggle to conquer the highest point on earth, forced to camp on the treacherous South Summit. But their valiant effort made the boys true legends in the eyes of the military. To celebrate their endeavours, the Army return to Everest 30 years on to attack the French Spur and West Ridge before traversing the North Face to finish up at the Hornbein Couloir. Find more information here

Everest: Beyond the Limit (2006)
Discovery Channel's six part series covering the 2006 expeditions. This year's climbing season on Mount Everest was one of the deadliest on record and also one of the most controversial. In April and May 2006, the Discovery Channel documented Mount Everest summit attempts by climbers in veteran guide Russell Brice's expedition, who is based on the mountain's northern face, in Chinese-controlled Tibet. Using cutting-edge technologies, including high-altitude video and small cameras mounted to Sherpas' helmets, as well as old-fashioned human determination, the six-part production not only puts viewers on the summit of Everest, but also captures the amazing journey of individuals striving to reach an almost impossible goal. The series documents the two-month expedition from start to finish, highlighting the struggles, highs, lows and triumphs as people from around the world attempt to reach the world's tallest peak. It includes footage of Mark Inglis, the first double amputee to reach the summit. Find more information here

Everest ER (2005)
This is the story of one of the world's most extraordinary casualty departments – a tent and a team of volunteer doctors perched on the "roof of the world". They practice medicine at extremes, beyond the security of modern hospitals, where lives hang by a thread – and making a difference is all that matters. Everest ER follows the lives of these doctors for the 2005 season as they fight with the elements to treat a steady stream of injured climbers and trekkers.

Hillary On Everest (2004)
Extensive archive footage, personal interviews with Hillary, Hunt and Lowe, make this the definitive and a touching personal account of the first Everest ascent. Hillary's contribution to the Nepalese (over 30 schools, 13 health centres and 2 airstrips) puts Everest into context. Personal tragedy is interwoven with accounts from his siblings and children. I found this a very enjoyable, touching and entertaining documentary with some fabulous mountain photography. Find it here

Conquest of Everest - Revisited 1953 - 2003 (2004)
What drove the men who risked and lost their lives to conquer the world’s highest mountain for Britain? Fifty years on, Penny Mallory, whose ancestor, George Leigh Mallory lost his life on the mountain, tells the story of this extra-ordinary adventure, undertaken with primitive equipment in often terrifying weather conditions against an unstable, brooding and lethal adversary - Mount Everest. Did Mallory in fact reach the summit 29 years before Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay? Mallory’s frozen body was found in 1999. Using authentic footage of the ascent this unique adventure is revisited fifty years on, alongside the men who pitted their wits and lives for the privilege of being the first to say that they had stood on the roof of the world. Find it here

Sir Edmund Hillary: Beyond Everest (2003)
Features two documentaries marking the fiftieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Mount Everest. 'Beyond Everest: The Ongoing Climb' recalls the life of Sir Edmund Hillary and 'Beyond Everest' is a documentary which follows Sir Edmund as he re-climbs in 1980. Find it here

The Conquest Of Everest (2003)
The build-up to the conquering of Everest by the Hunt Expedition. The camera work of Thomas Skobank forms the basis of this film. Find it here

Hillary On Everest - 50th Anniversary Special (2003)
This DVD focuses not only on the first Everest ascent, but on the work that Hillary has done for the Sherpa People of Nepal. There's some original footage filmed during the 1953 expedition, and also some featuring both Hillary's and Tensing's sons climbing the mountain. About half of the film details the route/climb although some of it is computer generated. I don't think it's any different to some of the other films that have been made about the mountain. What made this film good for me, was the additional pieces on Hillary's other expedition across the South Pole, and the building programme in Nepal by the Himalayan Trust. Find it here

Above All Else: The Everest Dream (2003)
Follow Canadian climbers Alan Hobson and Jamie Clarke as they lead their North American team on their third attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point in the world. Above All Else: The Everest Dream takes you behind the scenes as they plan and train, then gives you a Sherpa's-eye view of the proceedings from arrival to departure. The ascent is made difficult as the climbers are subjected to incredibly high winds, respiratory illness, and bickering, but these troubles fade before the much more dangerous descent. Exhausted, closer to death than ever before, they must struggle to return to the base before the nearby storms arrive and make return hopeless. Adding to the excitement is the use of satellite technology to keep the team in contact both with family back home and with a classroom of school kids on the Internet. Find it here

National Geographic: Everest - 50 Years on the Mountain (2003)
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay made history as the first people to reach the top of Everest. Now, 50 years later, three sons of Everest's most celebrated climbers return to the mountain to challenge it again. Join their journey as they brave the elements and face death to climb 29,000 feet of wind-blasted rock and ice. And, relive the dramatic history of Everest from great triumphs to deadly tragedies, enduring rivalries and the unsung role of the Sherpa people. Find it here

Living and Dying on Everest (2002)
This documentary gives viewers an insider's perspective on the real experience of making the incredible journey to Everest's summit, from altitude sickness, to Buddhist rituals performed by the Sherpa guides, to finding the remains of climbers that perished trying to reach the peak. This is, among other things, a story about six very different people whose lives intersect on Everest. It is a story about how they get there, about their journey through the Khumbu, into the Sherpa culture and onto the mountain, about living for weeks on a glacier, about dreams dying and dreams coming true, about the hard realities of high altitude life and death. It's a story of near tragedy and record-breaking triumph. Told in first person by David Bolling, this is a must-see for anyone that's ever been curious about what it's really like to climb Mount Everest. Find it here

National Geographic: Surviving Everest (2000)
Surviving Everest, produced by National Geographic, is really three videos in one. The first segment is titled "Surviving Everest" and features informative interviews with men who have made it to the summit and back. Their insights into the horrendous conditions faced by mountaineers on the world's highest peak are moving, and their explanations of particular obstacles (such as the treacherous Khumbu Icefall) on the way up the mountain add much to one's understanding of the feat. The second part of the video is titled "Return to Everest" and is a profile of Sir Edmund Hillary, who in 1953, along with the Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, first conquered Everest. Hillary has often returned to Nepal, and his involvement helping the Sherpa people is lovingly chronicled. The final segment of the video is a brief interview with Hillary himself. Find it here

Everest: The Mountain at the Millennium, Vol. 1 - The North Face Expedition Center (2000)
Returning to Everest for his thirteenth expedition, world renowned mountaineer Pete Athans attempts to be the first Westerner ever to summit Everest for a sixth time. In collaboration with National Geographic, Pete will measure the exact height of the rooftop of the world. Find it here

Everest IMAX (1999)
Relive a breathtaking journey to the top of the world with Everest, the spectacular giant-screen motion picture for IMAX theatres. Filmed during the infamous 1996 storm that claimed eight lives, Everest documents the filmmakers' harrowing rescue efforts to help surviving members of the ill-fated group. Join an international team of climbers as they scale the world's tallest peak. Witness the perils of skin-blistering cold, violent blizzards that drop the windchill to minus 100 degrees, and air so thin it numbs the mind. EVEREST will take you across creaking icefalls and gaping chasms, up dangerous, towering cliffs and into the death zone of oxygen-thin altitude. Filmed in spellbinding IMAX photography, "the most hyperrealistic format yet invented," says producer Greg MacGillivray. Narrated by Academy Award-nominee Liam Neeson, including the music of George Harrison, Everest is a rich, dramatic story - a daring adventure of triumph and tragedy. Find it here

Everest - Mountain Of Dreams (1999)
This programme presents stunning footage of Everest, the world's highest peak, which rises 5.5 miles into the sky. With its treacherous rock surfaces, freezing cold temperatures, and gale-force winds, this massive mountain has become the ultimate test of humanity's strength, endurance, and will--for every five people who reach the summit, one dies trying. Witness the majesty and the danger of Everest in this thrilling DVD. Find it here

NOVA: Everest, The Death Zone (1998)
This film follows a scientific investigation of high-altitude physiology in "Because it is there" is the reason so many men and women have risked death to climb Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth. NOVA Everest: The Death Zone, which examines the biological and psychological changes experienced by a group of climbers during their ascent. Jodie Foster's narration accompanies the team as the NOVA photographers capture the beauty of the mountain; the drama reaches a crescendo on the descent as it becomes unclear whether or not an ill climber will make it. Well worth watching by anyone interested in mountain climbing or the limits of human endurance. Find it here

National Geographic - Return To Everest (1984)
More than 30 years after their first victory, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay return to climb Mount Everest in celebration of their original historic ascent. This National Geographic release includes breathtaking footage from the 1953 expedition. Find it here

The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975)
This incredible, award-winning film features adventurer, poet and world-champion skier Yuichiro Miura as he and his team face the most challenging climb in the world, Mt. Everest. The ascent is fraught with tragedy, the descent miraculous. During the climb, they face an icefall that claims the lives of six of their team, still considered the worst natural disaster accident in Himalayan history. With a 35mm Panavision film crew in tow, they continue on to the South Col, only 350 meters from the summit, where Miura put his life in the hands of the gods in his descent. Using oxygen and a parachute to slow his speed, Miura skied 7,000 feet over sheer ice and rocks. Unbalanced by the gusting winds, he hit a boulder and fell 1,320 feet, smashing into rocks and ice ridges. A patch of snow was all that saved him, allowing his fall to end just moments away from the Bergshrund Crevasse. This final climax has been called the most exciting six minutes of film ever shot as Miura plummets helplessly down Everest's unforgiving icy slopes. Find it here

Tiger of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay: The Boy Whose Dream Was Everest (2006) by Robert Burleigh, Ed Young (Illustrator)
A moving tribute to a humble man who realized a remarkable dream. The poetic prose tells the story of a Nepalese Sherpa boy who tended yaks on steep slopes, but who was always looking up and dreaming about the snow-dotted black-rock peak of Mount Everest. The poem's climax details the events of May 29, 1953, when he and Edmund Hillary made their final ascent. Find it here

The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation (2006)
This book is a story of tremendous courage, staggering achievement, and heart-breaking loss. Bonington’s inner circle-they came to be known as Bonington’s Boys-included a dozen of mountaineering’s legendary figures and gave birth to a new brand of climbing. They took increasingly grave risks on expeditions to the world’s most difficult peaks. And they paid an enormous price for their achievements. Most of them died in the mountains, leaving behind the hardest question of all: Was it worth it? The Boys of Everest, based on extensive interviews with surviving climbers and other individuals as well as five decades of journals, films, photographs, expedition accounts, and letters, provides the closest thing to an answer that we’ll ever have. It offers riveting descriptions of what Bonington and his comrades found in the mountains-as well as an understanding of what they lost there. (From www.theboysofeverest.com). Find it here

High Exposure (2003) by David Breashears.
For generations of adventurers, from Mallory to Hilary, Norgay to Krakauer, Mount Everest and the world's greatest peaks have provided the ultimate testing ground. But as the public's fascination with mountaineering reaches an all-time high, the question remains - why climb? In High Exposure, legendary rock climber. mountaineer and film-maker, David Breashears, answers with a captivating and intimate look at his life. Find it here

Everest: Mountain Without Mercy (Imax) (2003) by Broughton Coburn and Tim Cahill.
Photographs and first hand accounts chronicle the 1996 Everest expedition that claimed eight lives. Find it here

Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs on the 8,000-meter Giants (2003) by Ed Viesturs.
This book of mountain images provides an unforgettable glimpse into the remarkable world of Ed Viesturs, America's best-known high altitude climber, and the breathtaking landscape in which he works. As told with Peter Potterfield, award-winning mountaineering journalist, Viesturs narrates his quest to climb the 14 highest mountains of the world, those peaks above 8,000 meters in height. Viesturs and Potterfield will take readers along on some of the successes and failures of Viesturs's quest. To date, of the fourteen 8,000 meter peaks, Viesturs has been to the summit of twelve, including five separate ascents of Mount Everest. His odyssey of adventure has taken him from the Karakoram of Pakistan and the summit of K2, to the Nepal Himalaya, where he has climbed two of the world's highest mountains in the span of mere days. The riveting tales of Viesturs's mountaineering adventures are illustrated by Viesturs's own stunning photographs, between 85 and 100 images, a photographic collection that is the primary focus of the book, a collection that will show like never before the deadly beauty and haunting menace of the Himalaya. Captions will explain each photograph and its setting, describing both the heartbreaking tragedy Viesturs has faced and the ineffable joy he has experienced while striving at the limits of human endurance. Himalayan Quest offers spectacular insight into the rarefied world of the Himalayan climber. Find it here

Everest (2003) by Matt Dickinson.
Everest brings the world's mightiest peak alive in a way no traditional book can. Readers can chart a route on an early map of Everest, hold a Tibetan prayer flag like those generations of mountaineers have left at Everest's summit and examine a dossier (complete with survival tips) for commercial clients attempting to climb the mountain. In addition to the interactive pull-outs, Matt Dickinson also provides a complete history of the mountain including the pre-war attempts to summit Everest, the dangerous conditions, the recent discovery of long-lost climber George Mallory's body along with the mountain's geography and the myths and legends that surround it. Find it here

Chris Bonington's Everest (2003) by Sir Chris Bonington.
May 29, 2003 marks the 50th anniversary of the first climbing of Mount Everest. Chris Bonington was the first to scale Everest 'the hard way' - by the south-west ridge - and he has taken part in three other expeditions. No other mountaineer, writer or photographer has as much experience of Everest. His last climb, in 1985 at 50, was a personal summit. Here he tells the story of his attempts on Everest, the triumphs and the tragedies, illustrated from his own archive of photographs and diaries of other climbers. Find it here

Everest: The Summit of Achievement (2003) by Sir Edmund Hillary (Foreword), Stephen Venables (Author), Dalai Lama (Preface).
This illustrated volume is published to celebrate the 50th anniversary in May 2003 of the first successful ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953. Benefiting from complete access to the Royal Geographical Society's rich collection of photographs, documents and artefacts, it chronicles the history of Everest exploration from the early years of the 20th century. Find it here

High Adventure (2003) by Sir Edmund Hillary.
Everest: forbidding, exhilarating, unconquerable. All courageous attempts by man to reach its summit by heading up the northern side from Tibet had failed. The southern approach through Nepal had never before been climbed, due to its impossibly steep ice-covered slopes and the country's policies. But in 1951 Edmund Hillary joined an expedition to find a new route up Everest from the south, which led to a new chapter in mountaineering history. The climbers' determination, endurance and battle against the elements culminated with their famous climb in 1953 as they finally reached the summit of this formidable mountain. This is Hillary's own account of the treacherous and breathtaking journeys. It is a classic adventurer's memoir, originally published in 1955, and is illustrated with drawings, maps and photographs which capture this awesome experience. Find it here

Sagarmatha Insight Guide (2003) by Sir Edmund Hillary.
This large-format (230mm x 330mm) hardback book of superb colour photographs portrays the grandeur and beauty of Sagarmatha - Mount Everest - and Himalaya, compiled and written by world-famous mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. The images include close-ups of Sherpa life, aerial views of the Everest Massif, along with birds, butterflies and brilliant sunsets. An extraordinary variety of people with close connections to Everest were invited by Sir Edmund Hillary to contribute to this book. They were asked to give photographs that portray the spirit or capture a special moment in the Khumbu that was personally important to them. Conceived as a fundraising venture by Singapore-based publisher-photographer Hans Hofer, the project was orchestrated from Kathmandu by Lisa Choegyal, with help from Himalayan expert Elizabeth Hawley and editor Wendy Brewer Lama. Photographs were donated by many writers, mountaineers and photographers, including Chris Bonington, Arne Naess, Lord John Hunt, Peter Hillary, Kurt Diemberger, Norman G Dyhrenfurth, Bruce Chatwin, John Tyson, Hamish MacInnes, Michael Dillon, B Ned Kelly, Dieter and Mary Plage, and many others. Find it here

The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest (2002) by Anatoli Boukreev.
The real mountaineer's story behind the fatal Everest climbs of Into Thin Air. In May 1996 a number of expeditions attempted to climb Mount Everest on the Southeast Ridge route. Crowded conditions slowed their progress and late in the day 23 men and women, including the expedition leaders, were caught in a ferocious blizzard. Disorientated and out of oxygen, climbers struggled to find their way to safety. Alone and climbing blind, Anatoli Boukreev rescued a number of climbers from certain death. This honest and gripping account includes the transcript of the Mountain Madness debriefing, recorded five days after the tragedy, as well as G. Weston de Walt's response to Jon Krakauer. Find it here

The Second Death of George Mallory (2002) by Reinhold Messner.
As a child, Reinhold Messner's mother read him stories about George Mallory and a fellow climber Andrew Irvine; their heroic and tragic attempt to scale the world's tallest peak in 1924 inspired his own unequalled exploits in the Himalayas. To Messner, Mallory was a climber of the purest order, and his final ascent a work of genius, beauty and unparalleled courage. Mallory's disappearance haunted and inspired the imagination. Though Mallory's remains were discovered in 1999, the question of whether or not he made it to the top of Everest remains unanswered. Moreover, believes Messner, though we have found Mallory's bones, we have lost or destroyed the spirit of amateur adventure that pushed him inexorably higher. Today, climbing Everest has become a mundane media event involving sophisticated equipment and corporate funding. "The Second Death of George Mallory" is both an investigation into his death and a deeply felt homage - to a mountain, to the spirit of an age and to the man who inspired those who followed in his footsteps. Find it here

Doctor on Everest (2002) by Kenneth Kamler (foreword: Sir Edmund Hillary)
Centring on the disastrous 1996 Everest expeditions, this is a first-hand account of how emergency medicine is performed and lives saved or lost under the most perilous conditions. During the multiple attempts on the summit in May 1996, conditions rapidly deteriorated and a desperate medical situation suddenly emerged. Nothing could have prepared Dr Kamler for what he faced, including the treatment of climber Beck Weathers, who miraculously stumbled into camp from the clutches of death. Kamler recalls the effects of fear, stress and adrenaline on the entire group. Find it here

Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of Everest (2002) by Edmund Hillary (Foreword), Tashi Tenzing (Author), Judy Tenzing (Author).
In 2003, the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa's historic ascent of Mount Everest, an event which became a defining moment in twentieth-century adventure and delivered fame and glory to the men who took part in Colonel John Hunt's expedition. All perhaps, except Tenzing, who, after a brief honeymoon period with the world's media and political leaders, returned to his humble home in the hill station of Darjeeling, India, and never properly received the credit and plaudits he so richly deserved. Written by Tenzing's mountaineer grandson Tashi, who himself has also conquered Everest, and his wife Judy, Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest uncovers one of the greatuntold stories of the world of mountaineering, and pays long-overdue homage to the Sherpas, without whom the summit of Everest would have remained an impossible dream for climbers the world over. Find it here

Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest (2001) by Beck Weathers.
Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's famous account of the 1996 Everest disaster, INTO THIN AIR, will remember the story of Beck Weathers: the gregarious Texan climber who went snow-blind in the Death Zone below the summit and who spent a night out in the open during a blizzard that took the lives of a dozen colleagues and friends. Even as he staggered back into Camp 4 the next morning, Beck's condition was such that the other survivors assumed he would not make it back down the mountain. He was effectively left for dead, but drawing upon reserves of determination and courage he didn't know he had - as well as the extraordinary selflessness and bravery of a Nepalese helicopter pilot he'd never met - he finally made it to safety. Only then could a new battle begin: to rebuild his life with a family he'd taken for granted for too long. Find it here

My Quest for the Yeti: Confronting the Himalays' Deepest Mystery (2001) by Reinhold Messner.
For over 20 years Reinhold Messner has been obsessed with the secret of the Yeti, the Himalayan creature of legend, who in the West became infamously known as the abominable snowman. Rather than fruitless speculation, Messner - the first person to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and the first to climb all 14 of the world's tallest peaks - provides his own first hand account. He begins by recouting his own terrifying run-ins with the Yeti - while hiking alone in remote parts of Nepal - and how they led to his determination to solve their mystery through subsequent expeditions. This is an account of a quest, taking readers on hair-raising climbs through Nepal, Bhutan, Ladakh, Northern India, and even Tibet - where Messner was a fugitive from Chinese authorities. Find it here

The Wildest Dream: Mallory - His Life and Conflicting Passions (2001) by Peter Gillman and Leni Gillman.
"Peter and Leni Gillman have succeeded in capturing the true character of one of the greatest mountaineering legends of all time. This book is beautifully researched, meticulously chronicled and yet the narrative is fresh and compelling. If you want to read beyond the sensational accounts of the 1924 Everest expedition and find out more about the real George Mallory then consider this stunning biography and remarkable story." Find it here

Facing Up: A Remarkable Journey to the Summit of Everest (2001) by Bear Grylls.
No one could fail to be gripped by his heartfelt excitement and emotion over what was the adventure of a lifetime.' Independent At the age of twenty-three, Bear Grylls became the youngest Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest. At extreme altitude youth holds no advantage over experience, and it is generally acknowledged that younger climbers have more difficulty coping with the adverse effects of mountaineering. Nevertheless, only two years after breaking his back in a freefall parachuting accident, Bear Grylls overcame severe weather conditions, fatigue, dehydration and a last minute illness to stand on top of the world's highest mountain. Facing Up is the story of his adventure, his courage and humour, his friendship and faith. Find it here

High: Stories of Survival from Everest and K2 (2000) by Clint Willis.
This anthology, devoted to climbing on the world's two highest mountains, spans the years 1933 through 1996. It describes the development of climbing these two peaks, reminds us that Everest and K2 are among the world most dangerous places, and explains why the world's best climbers cannot stay away from them. The book includes prose about mountaineering's ultimate challenges by writers such as Jon Krakauer, David Roberts and Chris Bonington. Matt Dickinson tells what it is like for an amateur to climb a swaying aluminium ladder on Everest's North Col route; Jim Haberl waits high on K2's Abruzzi Ridge for sunrise over China to warm his extremities; Maria Coffey mourns the loss of her beloved who died on Everest's unclimbed Northeast Ridge; and Doug Scott summits Everest via the difficult Southwest face. Find it here

The Ghosts of Everest: The Authorised Story of the Search for Mallory and Irvine (2000) by Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A. Johnson and Eric R. Simonson.
This is the dramatic inside story of the 1999 expedition to find the bodies and solve the enigma of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who tragically and mysteriously died on Everest on 8th June 1924, in an attempt to reach the peak. What happened to Mallory and Irving the day they set out on their summit bid only to disappear without any evidence of their fate or possible achievement? Were these two brave pioneers the first to reach the summit 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? How did they perish and where? What part of the mystery remains to be solved? Set against the backdrop of the 1924 expedition and historical clues from subsequent expeditions, "Ghosts of Everest" weaves a story from early preparations to the day-to-day, blow-by-blow events of both expeditions to create an adventure narrative that captures the voices and the action as it unfolds on the mountain. Find it here

Fragile edge: Loss on Everest (1999)
In this title, Maria Coffey describes her love affair with elite British mountaineer Joe Tasker, who perished with his climbing partner Peter Boardman while attempting Everest's then unclimbed Northeast Ridge in 1982, and provides an insider's view of the life of a world-class mountaineer. Find it here

Sir Edmund Hillary: a Pictorial Celebration (1999) by Sir Edmund Hillary.
Sir Edmund Hillary embodies the qualities that New Zealanders hold dear: determination, ambition, fearlessness, and the belief that anything is possible. This is a pictorial celebration of his life and achievements. First brought to the attention of the world in 1953 when he conquered Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, he has traversed the Antarctic continent by tractor, travelled the length of the Ganges River by jetboat, and in his later years done much to help the Nepalese people by building schools and hospitals and raising much-needed funds. This collection of images reveals the scope of his achievements in some of the most exciting and challenging landscapes in the world -from the Himalayas to Antarctica - and illustrates the humanity of this extraordinary man. Find it here

Last Climb: The Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory (1999) by David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld.
From renowned Everest mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears and historian Audrey Salkeld, this is the first illustrated account of the ill-fated 1924 attempt by Englishmen George Mallory and Andrew Irvine to be the first to summit Everest. Find it here

Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate (1999) by Reinhold Messner.
In 1978 Messner and Habeler became the first to make a successful ascent and descent of Everest without using supplementary oxygen. This is Messner''s account of this landmark in the history of human physical endeavour. Find it here

The View from the Summit (1999) by Sir Edmund Hillary.
"Somewhat vigorous activity" is how Sir Edmund Hillary summarises the first 79 years of his life, and that modest and gentlemanly appraisal sets the tone for this most understated of memoirs. It's nearly half a century since Hillary became an integral part of the last real gasp of British Commonwealth pride, when the news of his ascent of Mount Everest, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, reached London in time for the coronation of their new young queen. That legendary achievement launches View from the Summit, but Hillary's life since has hardly been all downhill. Sir Ed has also been the impetus behind a massive building programme in Nepal, where he was his country's High Commissioner, received a knighthood and the Order of the Garter from the Queen, and ended up with that rare tribute for a man still alive--his face on the New Zealand five-dollar bill. His story is also one of personal pain, most touchingly conveyed in his simple and moving account of the tragic plane crash deaths of his first wife and 16-year-old daughter. But this is a story which is not over by a long chalk: as Hillary writes on the last page, "There is so much still to do." Find it here

Into Thin Air: Personal Account of the Everest Disaster (1998) by Jon Krakauer.
Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author's own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads readers to ponder timeless questions. Find it here

The Death Zone: Climbing Everest Through the Killer Storm (1998) by Matt Dickinson.
The autobiographical account of the author's climb up Mount Everest. Ten expeditions from around the world were preparing for the final climb when a devastating storm hit Everest, leaving eight climbers dead. This is a look at all that happened on the mountain that day. Find it here

The Boardman Tasker Omnibus: Savage Arena, The Shining Mountain, Sacred Summits, Everest the Cruel Way (1996) by Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker.
Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker, who died on Everest in 1982, were one of the most respected climbing partnerships since Shipton and Tilman. Their four books of lightweight Himalayan expeditioning are here published in one volume for the first time. Find it here

Sir Edmund Hillary: To Everest and Beyond by Whitney Stewart, Anne B. Keiser
A readable, informative look at the modern-day explorer, beekeeper turned pioneer, hero, and conservationist. The use of primary sources and interviews with Hillary and members of his family, thorough background research, and excellent-quality full-color and black-and-white photos contribute greatly to the book's success. Stewart's clear writing style covers Hillary's triumphs and disappointments as well as his current project with environmental protection of the Himalayan Mountain Region. His love for and help with building schools and improving the quality of life for the Sherpa people make this adventurer a terrific role model for young people. Find it here

Everest Calling: Ascent of the Dark Side: The Mallory-Irvine Ridge (1995) by Lorna Siggins
The story of the expedition by Dawson Stelfox to be the first Irishman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, following the fateful route of Mallory and Irvine who disappeared in 1924. It tells of the years of preparation, and how it drew climbers and support from both sides of the Irish border. Find it here

The Ascent of Everest (1993) by John Hunt.
When Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stepped onto the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953 they caught the imagination of the world in a way that was to be unmatched until man stood on the surface of the Moon. Find it here

Blind Corners: Adventures on Everest and the World's Tallest Peaks (1993) by Sir Edmund Hillary (Foreword), Geoff Tabin (Author).
What is it like to have reached the tallest summit on the globe? Find out in "Blind Corners", Geoff Tabin's fascinating book on his quest to find the ultimate adventure. Travel with Tabin across seven continents as he takes readers, from Kenya to Alaska to Nepal, where he begins his ascent of the most challenging mountain of all - Everest. He shares his experiences trekking up the daunting Kangshung Face, easily the mountain's most difficult route, as well as those of fellow climbers, including the first American woman to climb Everest. Filled with suspense, candour, keen insight and mischievous humour, "Blind Corners" conveys both the terror and the exhilaration of nature's greatest challenges. Recounting everything from the world's first bungee jump to his ascent of Everest, Tabin lays out his philosophy of climbing, offers tips on keeping adventure in your life after having realized dream goals, and warns against the dangers of guided expeditions on perilous climbs, which by now have become routine. More than just a book on climbing the highest peaks of the world, "Blind Corners" is a richly detailed chronicle of adventure, comradeship and inner strength. Find it here

Everest (1993) by Peter Gillman (Editor), Sir Edmund Hillary (Introduction).
A collection of photographs and writing about climbing Mount Everest. The authors and photographers range from climbers on the attempts in the 1930s, such as Edward Norton, through to Sir Edmund Hillary in the 1950s, contemporary figures such as Chris Bonington and Kurt Diemberger. Find it here

The Himalayas (1988) by Yoshikazu Shirakawa (Author), Kyuya Fukada (Author), Arnold Toynbee (Introduction), Edmund Hillary (Introduction).
Selections taken from four years of picture taking show the peaks, valleys, glaciers, and snowfields of the Himalayan region. Find it here

The Everest Years (1987) by Chris Bonington
Reaching the summit of Mt. Everest is, for most climbers, the ultimate goal. Bonington, one of the world's best-known mountaineers and perhaps the most prolific, made it in 1985 at age 50 on his fourth attempt. In The Everest Years, his most recent volume of autobiography, he chronicles his Everest expeditions and tells the stories of Doug Scott's descent with two broken legs, and the ascent of Mt. Vinson in the Antarctic with Frank Wells and Dick Bass of Seven Summits' fame. Find it here

Ascent: Two Lives Explored: The Autobiographies of Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary (1984) by Sir Edmund Hillary.
Mountaineering adventures and achievements are emphasized in these autobiographies of father and son, rather than activities disclosing the private person. This is most noticeable in Peter's portions of the book; Sir Edmund reveals more of himself, especially in the pages on the loss of his wife and younger daughter in a plane crash. Originally published in England as Two Generations (1984), both life stories end with Peter Hillary's attempt on Lhotse in 1981. A secondary attraction for the reader, aside from the glamour of Himalayan activities, is the different ways father and son see incidents experienced together. Find it here

Everest the Hard Way (1980) by Sir Chris Bonington.
When Chris Bonington and his team set out in August 1975 to climb the South West face of Everest they were attempting the ultimate challenge of mountaineering - to conquer the steepest and highest face in the world. Two months later, overcoming daunting physical conditions and massive psychological pressures, the lead climbers scaled 1000 sheer feet of the previously unconquered Rock Band to reach the summit - the hard way. Drawing on first-hand accounts of his fellow climbers, Chris Bonington portrays the tensions, emotions and, on one occasion, bitter personal tragedy behind one of the most spectacular ascents in the history of climbing. Find it here

Everest: The West Ridge (1980) by Thomas F. Hornbein
This is the story of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition which made mountaineering history. It saw the first Americans summit Everest via the South Col. It also saw the first climb of Everest by anyone via the West Ridge route, previously believed to be unclimbable. Not only did Thomas Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld summit Everest via the West Ridge, they traversed the mountain and descended via the South Col route. They were, however, forced to bivouac in the death zone at 28,000 feet without any food, supplemental oxygen, or shelter. Find it here

The boldest dream: The story of twelve who climbed Mount Everest (1979) by Rick Ridgeway
This is a chronicle of the 1976 American Bicentennial Everest Expedition. It is told by one of the twelve climbers who made that memorable journey to Everest. It describes the expedition, warts and all, as personal ambitions collided with reality. It is a story of hopes and dreams, of despair and anguish, but most of all, it is about twelve human beings from all different walks of life, each of whom made a significant contribution to the ultimate success of the venture. Find it here

Everest, impossible victory (1979) by Peter Habeler
In 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first men to climb the peak and return without using bottled oxygen. Habeler describes their exploit in this book. Find it here

Man of Everest (1955) by Tenzing Norgay, James Ramsey Ullman
On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first human beings to conquer Mount Everest, the highest place on earth. They became heroes. But who was Tenzing? What was the trajectory from the Yak pastures of Solo Kum to the heroes' reception at Buckingham Palace and how did he see it? How did he view his own illiterate and primitive background? What was his point of view on the differences that arose between the British and Asians during the Expeditions? In this text, Tenzing himself answers these questions. Find it here