Crystal Horizon: Everest: the First Solo Ascent [Paperback]

One should forgive Messner (or rather his translator) some awkward sentence structures, punctuated by the action and verbal phrases put at the end of sentence, and quite frequent exercises in the obscure mix of native religion, Buddhist witticisms and Central European Christianity. I do however, applaud the honesty and occasional beauty of those philosophical excesses, particularly when he talks about feeling akin to Sisyphus when climbing and when he exhibits the diary entries of his girlfriend which does not always portrays him in the best light possible.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot.

Reinhold Messner is clearly one of the great climbers of all time and maybe arguably the greatest. Having climbed all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters by himself without supplemental oxygen, this is the story of the tallest-Everest.

Like good fiction, the story has several dimensions that work together. The three basic themes include: · The story of the opening of Tibet · The story of climbing Everest · The story of a waiting love one

For the pure climbing enthusiast, much of this book is likely to be pretty boring. Approximately half the book is dedicated to the story of obtaining permission to climb Everest on the Tibetan side and his traveling through Tibet on his way to the mountain. Reinhold Messner has a deep love for Tibet and its people. For him this first trip through Tibet was as exciting as the assent of Everest. For someone less interested in this, the first half of the book is excruciating. Interwoven in this section is Messner's political agenda to free Tibet from Chinese domination.

The story of the actual climb is amazing. Undeniably one of the most amazing ascents ever, he climbed Mount Everest, alone, without supplemental oxygen, during the monsoon period! Obviously crazy, the accomplishment is undeniable. What was especially great is getting a sense of what it was like for him to make the climb, the obstacles he faced, and the nearly robotic drive to the top of the mountain. It is both inspiring and daunting. During the ascent, he finds himself in impossible positions like his having fallen into a crevasse or crack in the glacier. You know that he survives but you still find your self on the edge of your seat in total suspense. It was difficult to put the book down during this part of the book.

Throughout the story there are excerpts from the diary of his girlfriend. For the most part, I found this annoying and did not want to hear her story. At the same time, it was interesting to have the perspective of the loved ones who wait at the bottom to see if you come home. It certainly is hard for anyone who cares. At the same time, those climbing the mountain give the mountain everything and emotionally, mentally, or physically there is nothing left. Undoubtedly this is a major reason for Messner's previous divorce. While mountain climbing may be the art of suffering, this element of the book shows that it is also a part of the lives of the climber's loved ones.

The worst part of the book is the writing. I am not sure if it is on the part of bad English by Reinhold Messner or poor translation by an editor. In either case, those familiar with working with the Germans will recognize the sometimes-strange sentence structure, phases that do not make sense, and the occasional struggle to figure out what the heck he is trying to say. I look forward to my German improving so that I can read the book in German.

All in all, an amazing story and is well worth the time to read it. The reader that is able to skim through uninteresting parts will enjoy the book more. Otherwise it requires some amount of dedication to power through the parts that are of disinterest.