Forever on the Mountain
The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters
8 August 2008
Description
Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award
Grand Prize Winner, Banff Mountain Book Festival
"Forever on the Mountain grips even non-climbers with its harrowing scenes of thorny relationships tested by extraordinary circumstances." —Washington Post
In 1967, seven young men, members of a twelve-man expedition led by twenty-four-year-old Joe Wilcox, were stranded at 20,000 feet on Alaska’s Mount McKinley in a vicious Arctic storm. Ten days passed while the storm raged, yet no rescue was mounted. All seven perished in what remains the most tragic expedition in American climbing history.
Revisiting the event in the tradition of Norman Maclean’s Young Men and Fire, James M. Tabor uncovers elements of controversy, finger-pointing, and cover-up that make this disaster unlike any other.
Reviews
"A shrewd and penetrating investigation of one of climbing’s greatest tragedies, Forever on the Mountain grapples with the most fundamental questions of risk and responsibility." — David Roberts, author of Limits of the Known
"Just as good as Into Thin Air…A spell binder." — The Sun Times
"Some welcome perspective on an enduringly painful episode of mountaineering history…Tabor analyzes this debacle with the doggedness of an investigative reporter and the technical knowledge of an experienced climber." — Wall Street Journal
"A powerful case study in how quickly cracks in a team’s solidarity can lead to disaster." — Outside
"As he negotiates his way through egotism, sabotage, freak weather, and staggering courage, Tabor maintains a cool head and, even more importantly in this case, an open heart. This is a maddening, terrifying book, and also a deeply compassionate one." — John Vaillant, author of The Golden Spruce
"This harrowing tale of the 1967 catastrophe on the slopes of McKinley will leave you breathless…A great detective story that offers a shocking twist to a long-unsolved mystery." — Gay Salisbury, coauthor of The Cruelest Miles
Awards
Winner — National Outdoor Book Award, 2007
Winner — Banff Mountain Festival Book Award, 2007
