Posted in book reviews

High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed by Michael Kodas was a fascinating book.  I have been interested in Everest since reading Into Thin Air, about the tragedy that occurred there in 1996, when 15 climbers died.  Let me clarify that I have absolutely no desire to climb any mountains myself.  I like breathing too much to depend on a machine to do it for me.  This also means that I do not ever need to scuba dive or go into space!  I spent most of the book wondering WHY anyone would subject themselves to what one goes through to try to climb Mt. Everest.  However, I also freely admit that I lack ambition.

Actually, the hard part is not climbing up to the summit, it is getting back down alive.  It seems that most people die on their way down.  For anyone who hasn't read much about the climb, it actually takes several months.  First you have to get used to the altitude.  Then there are several different camps.  You climb up to one, climb back down, climb back up, etc.  All of this is training for the actual climb.  It takes time and money, and where there is money, there are problems. And here is the actual point of High Crimes.

The disastrous 1996 climbing season made some of us in the world aware of climbing Mt. Everest and how difficult it is (though it is not the most difficult mountain), but it also made other, more unscrupulous people aware of the money to be made there.  Clients are paying up to $65,000 for the journey, guides, equipment, Sherpas (these are the natives who help with the expeditions), etc.  There is no regulation or law on Mt. Everest really, and anyone can call himself a guide - the only requirement is having someone to pay you.

The central story in the book is the sad fate of Dr. Nils Antezana, who perished on Mt. Everest after trusting his life to a "guide" who had never even been to the summit.  Entwined with his story is the story of the author and his Connecticut team's bid for the summit the same year.  And through it all, Kodas reveals the crime, the theft and greed, and the dangerous personalities that cost lives on Everest every year.