My Quest for the Yeti: The World's Greatest Mountain Climber Confronts the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery

Good read overall. Adventure and investigation are to be found in this book.

As the title of the review states, this is an excellent adventure travel book. Messner goes further than many of the armchair anthropologists by slugging through the Himalayas in an attempt to confirm his hypothesis. While I found the lack of true "scientific data" (before drawing a conclusion) a little disturbing, that does not detract from this well thought out, and contrary to other reviews, well written book. It is worth noting that the idea that the large footprints discovered were the result of a bear "consistently" stepping in the print made by its front paws is laughable, but that was my only major gripe. It starts off like a high speed adventure thriller and then slows to a reasonable pace as it presents the facts (as Messner knows them). It is a very fast read, so I would suggest the library or the "lowest price" option if one is considering buying the book. All the same, a SOLID four stars and a recommendation for this book.

i would recommend this. i have becom avid snowshoeer in result of it. I thank you for your time, haroldinspiration forhttp://meph.eu.org/

Westerners call him the "Abominable Snowman" of the Himalaya Mountains. Messner says this is really a mistranslation of the Tibetan word, "migyu," and is not the Nepalese "yeti" either. In both cases the quest refers to a large man-like animal, a primitive human or perhaps an ape, which is said to have been spied by numerous expeditions and other visitors from the West. Why are skeptics so blatantly unwilling to credit sightings of large, uncatalogued beasts. If these animals are ordinary, undiscovered species of flesh and blood, it requires a large population for continued reproduction. As a minimum some fifty to a hundred individuals have to roam the land to assure survival into the present. A large animal also needs a large territory to support the mass of its body. And, large animals leave large signs of their presence, including footprints, feeding places, dead bodies and bones. Given the pace at which the earth is ransacked by prospectors and tourists, a large animal could remain hidden only in a very remote region. It is to Messner's credit that he realizes these requirements. Throughout the book he searches either for a real animal, or tries to pin the Yeti down as a mythical creature. A literal translation of the German title is "Yeti - Legend and Reality," and that is what Messner reports on. The bottom line is something like this. There is the "abominable snowman" of western fantasy, a myth which speaks to our desire to find the origins of humans, and pristine human beings. This is not how the people of the region see the animal. They see a man-like animal of many stories and tales. It can come and go like a ghost, it may fly through the air, it will take their goats, and maybe a young yak. You will only see it by accident not by tracking it. It will abduct young women to live with it in a cave and have his children. Underlying these fairy tales is a real animal, a large species of animal. Perhaps there are several species, certainly a number of varieties. For understanding aspects of a real animal, think of the western fairy tale wolf, who swallows little Red Cap whole, and contrast with the real wolves in the wild or in a National Park. The book provides clear photographs of this animal. Neither Messner nor I think that these findings will end the fantasy and speculation in the West about primitive, pre-human, abominable snowmen, or other hidden beasts.

Since this book came out in 1998 in German -- yet somehow the whole world wasn't talking about it -- I figured that the ultimate answer to the yeti mystery was not to be held inside before I bought it. Thus, I was neither surprised nor disappointed by his conclusions that the chemo (bear) was the yeti. I did not feel the bipedal aspect of the myth and regular reports was adequately addressed, but then again, I can't say I much cared. This is an adventure book like no other. Being regularly arrested and detained by the Chinese, climbing 8,000+ meter peaks, chased by packs of dogs, braving conditions Westerners don't approach in horror movies -- amazing stuff! Like "Into Thin Air" (J. Krakauer), Messner begins the tale with the height of climactic action, just great! Messner should be applauded for the effort to address lore left mainly to tabloids in a serious, important, groundbreaking (if for no other reason than the wealth of his experience in the Himalayas), and meaningful way. Certain enjoyment for anyone with a pulse _and_ a brain. Messner, Brashears, Krakauer -- does high altitude create great writers? Ed Viesturs, you need to join this crowd with some regular submissions of _your_ adventures on the 8,000+ peaks!