Last Days

The first half of the book details the first ascent of Tawoche's massive Northeast Face, with Roskelley and Jeff Lowe reaching the summit on February 13, 1989 after in 9 days on the face. There are nine pages of colour photos. "The only solid was at my back. Everything was air - above, to my sides, roward the valley. ... Above me only was four thousand feet of potential rock and ice sewage ready to flush." The second half of the book starts with a brief story about the first ascent of Gauri Shankar by Roskelley and Dorje Sherpa on May 8, 1979. It then documents the attempt on Menlungtse's main summit via the southeast ridge. Roskelley and Greg Child were stopped at 6460m by bottomless snow and teetering cornices. There are seven pages of colour photos. "... above our heads was the ugliest, meanest avalanche-prone face that ever funneled a rock onto a climber's helmet. ... With the axe handle, I jabbed into the cornice, felt a vacuum where solid ice should have been, then pulled it out. I was looking through the cornice at Cho Oyu". I really like the writing style, honest, humorous and thoughtful.

Though Mr. Roskelley was only in his early 40's when this book was written, it was meant to be his last hurrah of high altitude climbing. His credentials are enormous. Not only is he one of the top climbers of his generation, he writes with great force, grace and originality. His previous books "Nanda Devi: The Tragic Expedition" and "Stories Off the Wall" belong in any enthusiast's collection.The attempts on Himalayan peaks Tawoche and Menlungtse are the foundation of this book. What? Not Everest, or at least K2? Been there and done that. With John, it is the Route, the Complexity, and the Satisfaction of Solving the Problem. His writing is so clear, he can write of very technical maneuvers and be interesting. But this book is more than just a recapitulation of the climb. He has strong opinions on many facets of the sport and the people who take part. He strongly favors alpine style climbing, which is basically climbing light (small team, little equipment as possible and minimal "porter" help). The large "expedition" style (think 1996 Everest) does not win many points with the author. He is at his strongest when he writes of the interaction between teammates on the climb; he puts a human face on the endeavor like no other mountaineering author I have read.Just when I have about given up on mean, tough John Roskelley, he writes a passage of such grace, I have to do an instant re-evaluation:---" Tibet has a beauty all its own. It isn't found in a single rock or within a village or even along a meandering creek, no more than a single brush stroke in a Renoir captures the mood of the painting. No. Tibet's beauty, its inner soul, is in the depth and breadth of a distant horizon, the magnificence of time and space, of peaks and valleys and plains that never seem to end. When I look out upon Tibet's endless views, I dream of riding a horse into the distant hills forever and never coming back."-Highly recommended.

Stories off the wall is better, but this book is worth the read. Much better than many other books. Worth the 20