What does it take to be one of the world's best high-altitude mountain climbers? A lot of fundraising; traveling in some of the world's most dangerous countries; enduring cold bivouacs, searing lungs, and a cloudy mind when you can least afford one. It means learning the hard lessons the mountains teach. Steve House built his reputation on ascents throughout the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram and the Himalaya that have expanded possibilities of style, speed, and difficulty. In 2005 Steve and alpinist Vince Anderson pioneered a direct new route on the Rupal Face of 26,600-foot Nanga Parbat, which had never before been climbed in alpine style. It was the third ascent of the face and the achievement earned Steveand Vince the first Piolet d"or (Golden Ice Axe) awarded to North Americans. Steve is an accomplished and spellbinding storyteller in the tradition of Maurice Herzog and Lionel Terray. Beyond the Mountain is a gripping read destined to be a mountain classic. And it
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A pretty difficult book to judge. On one hand the writing is far from perfect. The author goes describing one climb after another. At some point gets very dry and keeps writing the same thing with a kinda machine style. However, and that is what makes this book great, the book is a story of a person who gave everything in a pursuit to reach the elusive rock and ice mastery. Straightforwardly and without any shame he talks about him struggling with the life in the valleys, his inability to bond with people who didn't share the extreme alpine experiences with him. It all is a pabth and mostly driven by few groundbreaking moments which shaped him. The search to once again feel that magical moment of a different self. The proof of existence. ‘Meaning is born from struggle, and each of us has our own unique battles' is the phrase which in my eyes defines what this book is about.
