Climb: Stories of Survival from Rock, Snow, and Ice

"There have been joys too great to be described in words, and there have been griefs upon which I have not dared to dwell; and with these in mind I say, climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are naught without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end." Edward Whymper, Scrambles Amongst the AlpsClimber and armchair mountaineer Clint Willis has [...]

What a bizarre mix of climbing stories, both real and imagined, side by side. Excellent writing brings them together, but some are dead serious with others absurd. Great as an audiobook!

I don't know anything about climbing, but the book looked interesting to me anyway. It was pretty amazing how most of the stories dealt with some kind of tragedy with the climbers, but they all accepted it as a fact of life. There was lots of excitement in here and you could feel the pain they all encountered as well as the challenges they faced on the climbs. I can definitely appreciate what they go through now more than before reading this book.

3-starsCLIMB is a pretty mixed bag, IMO. It contains fiction and non-fiction short stories about mountain climbing ranging from silly to serious. I actually enjoy this topic quite a lot, but I'm pretty "meh" about short stories generally. Probably most people who like travel literature would enjoy it.

Coming from Rock & Ice, this had a lot of detail for the climbing audience. There's a broad selection of stories, from modern to historical, from rock to ice and mountaineering. The H.G. Wells piece felt a little out of place, but was interesting none the less.

The story of the mountaineer and her mother was by far the best story in this anthology. I love how it goes to show that some mountaineers are snooty people who could be put in their place by the least of suspecting people.

The best of this was H.G. Wells' story "Little Mother Up the Morderberg". What a fun ride up and down a mountain.

Well put together as the rest of the series.

So far - too much detail about gear and climbing, not enough survival. Climbing? Not as interesting as climbers think it is.

I had to uprade this book; since I read it a year ago, I haven't stopped thinking about it.

2.75 stars.Not all stories were really that interesting. H.G. Wells's fictional tale was probably the most entertaining.

Some good climbing stories, and history.

A fascinating read if a bit unnerving. The accounts of some close brushes with death in the mountains is invigorating and frightning at the same time, perfect fodder for those that love climbing.