Eiger Dreams

Author and outdoorsman Jon Krakauer (INTO THIN AIR) introduces us to climbers from around the world. This collection of essays reports on the people who scale the world's highest mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and boulders. We become familiar with the aura and addictive power of these feats through Philip Franklin. His narration is flawless, aligning the written and spoken-word. Both the intensity of mountaineering and its foolhardiness come through. Franklin's delivery brings us to the scene firsthand, and we become privy to these international adventurers and their daredevil exploits. B.J.L. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

August 31, 1992
In the closed community of mountaineering there are legendary figures unknown to those outside. Krakauer, who writes about climbing for Smithsonian magazine, introduces some eccentrics and the places they gather. John Gill's reputation rests on ascents less than 30 feet high--he climbs boulders. The hard-drinking, pugnacious Burgess twins from Yorkshire are first-rate climbers and con men; they haven't held a job since 1975, yet manage to wander the globe bagging difficult peaks. Others climb frozen waterfalls in Valdez, Alaska, or attempt hazardous hang-gliding and bungee-jumping in Chamonix, where nearly 6000 people climb Mont Blanc every year. After taking us to Mt. McKinley (Denali), which has claimed more lives than the Eiger, Krakauer also describes canyoneering in the Mogollon Rim of Arizona and recounts his own nearly fatal solo climb of the Devil's Thumb in Alaska. Armchair adventurers can't ask for better entertainment.