-
Master of Thin Air
- Life and Death on the World's Highest Peaks
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 11-03-15
- Language: English
- Publisher: Audible Studios
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $24.95
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Only a few years ago, Alex Honnold was little known beyond a small circle of hardcore climbers. Today, at the age of 30, he is probably the most famous adventure athlete in the world. In that short time, he has proven his expertise in many styles of climbing and has shattered speed records, pioneered routes, and won awards within each discipline. More spectacularly still, he has pushed the most extreme and dangerous form of climbing far beyond the limits of what anyone thought was possible.
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2 out of 5 stars
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love climbing and Alex honnold, dislike this book
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating Book, Fantastic Narration
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On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell, along with his partner, Kevin Jorgeson, summited what is widely regarded as the hardest climb in history - Yosemite's nearly vertical 3,000-foot Dawn Wall, after 19 days on the route. Caldwell's odds-defying feat was the culmination of an entire lifetime of pushing himself to his limits as an athlete. This engrossing memoir chronicles the journey of a boy with a fanatical mountain-guide father who was determined to instill toughness in his son to a teen whose obsessive nature drove him to the top of the sport-climbing circuit.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best adventure, and maybe best autobiography I have read.
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High Exposure
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 135
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The story of the famed large format cinematographer, adventurer, and mountaineer whose terrifying experiences on Mount Everest during the deadly 1996 season became the defining moment of his life. By 1995, David Breashears had already twice reached Mt. Everest's summit. Then he faced the greatest challenge of his life: to scale the 29,028-foot peak, hauling the giant IMAX® camera to film the large format film, Everest.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Book (but print copy may be a better choice)
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Publisher's Summary
Named one of the "Five Adventure Books You Need to Read This Summer" by Backpacker Magazine.
For listeners of Into Thin Air, riveting high-altitude drama and the passion and drive that inspire outsized mountaineering achievements.
Master of Thin Air opens with a fall that the author very nearly could not stop down an almost vertical rock ramp leading to a 3,000-foot drop. The qualities that saved him then on K2 - in addition to his mountaineering know-how and sheer good luck - drove his 16-year journey to summit all of the world's 8,000ers, the 14 peaks that exceed 8,000 meters (26,000-plus feet) and take climbers into the death zone. Incredibly, he accomplished that feat without the aid of bottled oxygen for every mountain but one. By preference, he climbed solo or in small teams, without Sherpas. During 23 expeditions, he spent a total of three years clinging to the sides of dangerous mountains. He lost more than 20 climbing friends and, in April 2014, witnessed Everest's deadliest avalanche.
His book is a riveting, often thrilling account of what it takes to challenge the Earth's highest peaks and survive. It tells of death-defying ascents and even riskier descents, the gut-dropping consequences of the smallest mistakes or even just bad luck, the camaraderie and human drama of expeditions, and the exhilaration of altitude. It is also the inspiring story of what motivates a person to achieve an extraordinary dream, a story of passion, resourcefulness, self-motivation, and hope - even in the most dire moments.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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- Mike Milward
- 11-06-16
Tedious, redundant
The same story over and over. Ed Visters books are much better. Very repetitive, self aggrandizing which is understandable given the enormous challenges involved. Just way too much of the same.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mr Mark J Burgess
- 12-05-16
Narrator was difficult to listen to.
Two stars to the narrator for trying, but the accent is terrible.
For an author who is at pains to make the distinction between a 'real' climber and one who is just guided along, I find it ironic that he has allowed his book to be read by someone with a fake Australian accent.
I would have preferred to listen to a 'real' Aussie read it. (I wouldn't have cared if an American read it with an American accent, I just found the fake accent very distracting).
I suppose I should have been a 'real' reader.....gotten an ebook and read it myself. At least I know how to pronounce Mt. Kosciuszko
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cody R.
- 04-08-16
Great Book!!!
Great book!!! Couldn't stop listening to it... If you like mountaineering books, you will love this book and if you don't love mountaineering books you will throughly enjoy this book haha... Good narration and well written book...
1 of 2 people found this review helpful