Eiger Dreams written by Jon Krakauer is a book based on the adventure of mountaineering, multiple accounts and essays of the techniques of climbing different things while also explaining different aspects of climbing.
The title of this book emphasizes the mountain, the Eiger. The Eiger is a very famous mountain in the Swiss Alps. That is known for its difficulty. The summit of this mountain towers at a staggering 13,015 feet. However what makes it so difficult is the 5,900 foot wall of rock and ice which makes it one of the most treacherous climbs in the world.
Since Jon Krakauer used to be a climber this book is very near and dear to his heart. This isn’t the only mountaineering book he wrote. He wrote Into Thin Air, which is his own account of climbing Mount Everest. (Read Book Review: Book Review: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer) He also has many more accolades of mountains that he has climbed over his time as a mountaineer.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, this book goes through different essays and accounts of mountaineering not just based on Krakauer’s experiences. For example, there is an explanation of John Gill who was famous for his bouldering. Bouldering is not like normal mountaineering, though. Instead, the climbers go after about 30-foot boulders instead of 10,000+ foot slopes. Therefore, the author explains that mountaineering is more than just climbing the biggest, baddest mountains; it can be about anything. Therefore bouldering is more a technique of climbing explained, so bouldering takes a lot of skill and concentration and requires just as much skill as regular mountaineering.
Another account that was mentioned was the climbing of MT McKinley. MT Mckinley is the tallest peak in North America, rising over 20,000 feet, making this one of the toughest, most intimidating climbs in the world. This account goes into how the rangers of the park have to make sure you are ready by showing different videos explaining the treacherous conditions of MT. Mckinley. Also, it emphasizes that mountaineering is not cheap; it costs close to $5,000 just based on the supplies to be successful on a climb. MT. Mckinley is a monster, especially with the unexpected storms making this a bucket list climb for some of the most experienced mountaineers.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The reason for this is that the flow of the book wasn’t great. Because of this, I got confused while reading because of all the hopping around to the different accounts. This makes the book feel like the author’s not writing it since it is more essays and accounts rather than personal experiences. Also, the writing style doesn’t seem like a story and is much more based on straight information on mountaineering. This just makes the book very hard to get into and want to read since I don’t know much about mountaineering. Therefore, I think this book would be a great read for someone who knows mountaineering and enjoys the mountaineering business, but for someone like me, it was really difficult to understand and get into since I just don’t know all of the backstories. Therefore, I enjoy hiking, and I thought this book had some interesting adventures and accounts. It just doesn’t seem to be for everyone, but if you are into reading about mountaineering, then this could be a very interesting read.
