A Life On The Edge: Memoirs Of Everest And Beyond

Product Description

This is the 2013 special anniversary edition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first American ascent of Mount Everest with a new foreword by Ed Viesturs & a new afterword by the author – more than 100 photos, including several never-before published images. In May of 1963 Seattle mountaineer Jim Whittaker stepped into world history by becoming the first American to summit Mount Everest. Fifty years later, he is still regarded as a seminal figure in North American mountaineering, as well as an astute businessman who helped create the outdoor recreation industry.A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest & Beyond is Jim's courageous, no-punches-pulled autobiography & a look at a peripatetic, sometimes difficult life. Beyond the glory of the Everest summit & his other extraordinary climbing feats, including the first American summit of K2, he openly describes his personal, everyman experience of social upheaval in the 1960s & 70s, an early divorce, family strife, a passionate new love later in life, near-bankruptcy, & business triumphs & losses. Jim tells it all with verve & honesty &, true to his nature, turns every setback into the stage for new adventure. This special 50th anniversary edition celebrates the story of Jim's life & features a new foreword by Ed Viesturs, as well as a new final chapter that brings readers up-to-date, including details of his trek to Everest Base Camp in 2012 & his son Leif's recent successful summits of Everest.