This is a book review about one of the many books written on Mt. Everest. This past week, I read Beck Weather's account of the 1996 Everest tragedy.
Beck was the guy from Texas in the movie "Into Thin Air," that was said to have died on the mountain, but miracously walked half-frozen back into camp. His book is called "Left For Dead." I found a copy of this at Half-Price Books. It is not an enjoyable book to read, however, I think his story is worth knowing about for anyone who ventures into remote areas risking their lives for recreational purposes. The book is actually 2 stories. One is his version, and the other is his wifes version. The 2 stories are intertwinned in the book. Personally, I felt I had a lot in common with Beck, and I imagine many cavers would feel the same. He was much happier with his climbing buddies roughing it somewhere than in the comfort of his home with his wife. His wife's version is that for nearly 15 years she sat around lonely waiting for her husband to come home from long expeditions, where he had never called her to let her know he was safe. Then he died and she had to plan his funeral. Then he temporarily came back to life and she had a personal conversation with George Bush the 2nd, on how to get him off the mountain. That failed, but she kept on fighting to get him off the mountain. Apparently, Senator Daschle, had the connections to get the helicopter to fly up to Mt. Everest for the world's highest attempted rescue. Then the helicopter came down the mountain with some other dude and not her husband. Beck couldn't immediately write a book as Jon Krakaer did, because Beck had no hands or a nose, and was on morphine and other drugs for a year, and wasn't sure if he was going to survive the aftermath. So Beck didn't write his version about the mountain, but more about how the experience changed him. Beck had to grow an upside-down nose on his forehead made out of ear cartilage. His friends thought that was funny. If you plan to risk your life on something that you think is important like caving or parachuting or whatever, I think you should read this book. David Locklear --------------------------------------------------------------------- Give this to a friend: ot-subscr...@texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: ot-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: ot-h...@texascavers.com
