Has Reinhold Messner climbed one too many mountains?
The man who could arguably lay claim as the greatest of mountaineers - at least in the modern era - offers a slightly different view of his highland exploits in MY QUEST FOR THE YETI.
As the first person to scale all the world's 8000m peaks, Messner immortalised himself in climbing history. Unfortunately, he is better known outside such circles for daring to tell the world he stumbled across a creature known to the Western world as a Yeti in 1986.
Messner came across the creature on a solo climb that year, and made the mistake of telling the story of his encounter at a press conference in India.
``The news of my conquering the last two of the 14 eight-thousanders was lost among yeti hysteria, jeering comments, and absurd speculation,'' he laments.
He even became something of a joke in his Austrian homeland, but now, 16 years later, Messner seems determined to clarify his position once and for all.
But was it a Yeti, or actually a type of highly-intelligent bear known to the Tibetan natives as the chemo?
He asks the question early in the piece, but his inability to clearly express his line of reasoning for the remainder of the books makes for frustrating, and at times boring reading.
It does not help his case that the chemo itself is yet to be scientifically classified, or even proven to exist.
Messner is obviously no scientist, and the quantum leaps of logic that he makes to prove his claim often leave the reader more inclined to believe the Yeti theory.
However, it does not make MY QUEST FOR THE YETI an unworthy read.
Few Westerners know more about Tibetan culture and landscape than Messner, and, perhaps inadvertently, his latest book provides an engaging window through which to view it.
His battle to travel through Tibet undetected by Chinese officials, helped by a number of old friends in towns and nomadic enclaves, often contrasts starkly with what is obviously a stunning backdrop, both physical and spiritual.
Like Messner, the reader keeps one eye on the road for trouble, and the other wide open in wonder at the setting.
He also peppers the book with intriguing historical accounts of Yeti sightings _ more than enough ``facts'' to keep the myth alive, albeit it at the expense of Messner's bear theory.
Still, this remains the self-indulgent work of a somewhat righteous and often annoyingly conceited man who should stick to doing what he does better than anyone else in his field - climbing big rocks.

Messner, probably the greatest climber in history (e.g. climbing Everest solo without Oxygen) tells the story of his search for an explanation governing the so-called Yeti or Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas. It all started with his attempt to retread the steps of the ancient cultural treks of the Tibetan people. On the way he meets, in a moonlit forest, a dark form with great nightvision and the ability to move very quietly and with great speed through the undergrowth. Messner's description of his encounter is simply superb, so gripping and personal it must be real. One is left in no doubt at all that he has met a creature of unknown origin who moves in an upright position much like a man and makes unusual whistling sounds.

Messner, so gripped by his phenomenal encounter is driven to find out more of this enigmatic being, which he considers to be the mythical Yeti of Himalayan fame. It is the case that the first description of this meeting is the most important part of the book, it being a powerful experience beyond any other abstractions he undertakes in the remainder of the book. Over some ten years and much searching as well as research and the retelling of the experiences of Tibetans he meets, Messner comes to the conclusion that the Yeti and the Chemo are the same beast, an unusual and rare kind of Tibetan bear. Although most of the book is taken up with descriptions from history of Yeti encounters, and the denial of the possibility that the Yeti is anthropoid in nature, he fails to completely convince in his definitive statement that all of the mythical creatures of Tibetan legend used to describe such incidents e.g. Yeti, Chemo, Dremo etc are the same being. I felt his conclusion to be a little hurried. Although there must be no doubt that his observation of the Chemo is a bear this does not mean that the Yeti, as such, is also a bear. It is doubtful that a bear can spend so much time walking upright as a Yeti has been known to do and that his footprints do not show claws which are the hallmarks of a bear. Nonetheless Messner convinces in the fact that at least some common encounters must be bear encounters with a very real, but rarely seen, kind of Tibetan bear.

I bought this book with some high hopes. I have read Messners mountaineering books and enjoyed them. Too bad this wasn't as well written.

He spends a lot of time contradicting himself and trying to convince the reader that evidence that obviously does not conform to bear sightings, does in fact, prove that the Yeti is some form of rarely sighted bear. In addition he drops in many smug and to my mind, conceited asides on the inadequacies of every investigator before his exalted self.

The photos of tracks he includes ARE obviously bear tracks - so the conclusion I would draw is that he saw a bear and not a Yeti, and probably should have written a book about being scared of a Tibetan bear.

He seems utterly convinced though, all evidence to the contrary, that he has solved the mystery.

So, it is a quick read, not particularly well written and more concerned with bragging about his adventures sneaking around in Chinese controlled areas illegally than it is a serious book about solving the Yeti enigma.

This book was one of his early books and not very noteworthy as a piece of literature. Purchase one of his newer books.

This was an early book with a lot of appeal for climbers looking for descriptions of big alpine faces in Europe (and elsewhere); what challenges Messner faced on some of these faces, etc. I enjoyed it, but I'm a climber...

This book represents how far we've dropped visually as a culture. Especially when there exists books out there, self published, like David Robbins "Himalayan Odyssey" that capture true insight into the Tibetan culture over a long, rigourous time and method. Instead, we're once again merely given more of the same pretty landscapes and fuzzy warm children that any passing tourist with a good working knowledge of their camera could do. Art is (was?) a wonderful person, I'm sure, though a mediocre photographer at best. Check out David's book for the real deal. I am a published photographer myself, albeit in a totally different genre.

This book has plenty of the stunning landscape and nature photos I expect from Art Wolfe. It's a most dramatic scenery, and Wolfe's images capture that aspect beautifully. Three short "conversations" with noted climbers help animate the high peaks. Wolfe also includes technical/field notes for each photo. What is wonderfully surprising to me is the light that Wolfe finds in the eyes of the people of the Himalaya. There must be something to the altitude, or maybe the benefit of living a life inextricably tied to the landscape. These people look happy, at peace with themselves, and that's the feeling that resonates with me long after I put the book down.

Hermann Buhl was one of the greatest mountain climbers of the last century and this book consists primarily of excerpts from his climbing diaries, starting from his earliest climbs as a teenager in the Dolomites, continuing through his major triumphs, including, of course, the conquest of Nanga Parbat that made him world famous, and ending with his ill-fated attempt on Chogolisa. There are also several biographical essays, including contributions by his daughter and a long-time climbing friend, and many of the diary excerpts are accompanied by further editorial details about the circumstances of the climbs. The ugly politics that were involved in the Nanga Parbat climb and their effect on Buhl are also discussed in the commentaries.

Although it is not as detailed an account of Buhl's climbing life as "Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage", this newer book has several advantages over Buhl's autobiography. The perspectives offered by the third-party commentators are very useful. There is a full description of Buhl's final climbs and untimely death. "Climbing Without Compromise" is nicely illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs that make a great contribution (although the story would be easier to follow in places with the addition of some maps). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, one gets to read Buhl's story in his own words. According to the editors Messner and Höfler, Kurt Maix, the editor of "Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage", re-wrote considerable portions of Buhl's text using far more flowery and poetic language than Buhl himself would have chosen. In any event, the two books, while overlapping to a degree, do complement each other as well. (And where there is repetition, the English-language reader will benefit from having access to two translations.)

If I had wanted a book about the history of Antarctica, I would have bought something different.
If I had wanted a book about Greenpeace-related issues, I would have bought somehting different.
Also, everybody knows this guy is in extreme shape, but the way he keeps repeating it and the way he keeps blaming his partner is not to my liking.
Reinhold has written a book lately about leadership, but after reading this book I am convinced he does not know anything about it.
Great pictures, though, and aside form the history, environmental and partnership issues it can still make quite a good story.

This book is very uneven, unfortunately. On one side, photography is splendid, historical and geological discussion are very thorough, the spirit of adventure is live and well. However, I am TIRED to find Messner complaining about his partner on every single page. And the translation is so bad, that one can almost study German grammar from the English presented.

The philosophical expositions in the book kept my feelings mixed as well. On one side (and perhaps this is due to a poor translation) it is full of heavy and sometimes overly sweet German Romanticism; one the other hand, Messner's treatment of the white void in front of him as a meditative medium is very honestly portrayed and splendidly presented.

The story of Reinhold Messner's walk across Antartica might have been more interesting had it been written by a professional author. Messner's first hand accounts, while interesting, do not make for especially good reading. However, there is a huge number of color photographs included that in and of themselves almost make the book worthwhile. Messner is perhaps the most accomplished extreme sportsman in the world. But he would do better letting someone else tell his fantastic stories.

Rheinhold Messner has long been a hero of mine and his books have inspired me to take on challenges beyond my own dreams. This latest book is not in the previous mould. It has been translated from the original German edition entitled "Berg Versetzen: das Credo eines Grenzgangers". Unfortunately I can only guess that the editor of these collection of Messner's thoughts, Ken Shelton was a bit pushed for time and ran the oroginal german text through a computer translation programme and staight into print without proof reading. Some of the passages verge on gobbledegook and even crude spelling mistakes have found their way on to the printed page. Even worse, at the end of each chapter the editor has added patronising postscripts (action items) purportedly relating to the preceding text. In the end I could not bring myself to read these sections - they made me feel ill. How the respected Sir Chris Bonnington came to put his name to the list of testimonials at the beginning is beyond me. A great pity - all connected with this book have let themselves down

Mike Rooke, England

I rated this book somewhat higher than other reviewers have while agreeing that the prose style suffers from a poor translation and that many of Shelton's comments in the "Application and Action" sections seem superfluous. Nonetheless, Messner's achievements are breathtaking (no pun intended) and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing his personal account of what each achievement required. What was his primary motivation? "For my own part, I do not come to Everest or any other mountain because I have an ambition to climb it at any price. [Whenever he deemed necessary, Messner was prudent.] My primary desire is to get to know it, in all its magnitude, its difficulty and harshness. I am determined to forego the summit if I can't reach it by breathing equipment." I recently saw an IMAX film based on Shackleton's Antarctic expedition. Messner and two other prominent mountaineers appeared in the film, re-tracing a portion of the Shackleton saga. I am among those who find it almost impossible to grasp what people such as Shackleton and Messner somehow accomplished in what were (literally) life and death situations. Hence my appreciation of this book in which Messner discusses the specific details of preparations and then provides an eyewitness account of various ascents while sharing his personal thoughts and feelings about what he correctly characterizes as the "magnitude" of at all. I also learned a great deal about various do's and don'ts. The former never guarantee success but the latter invariably result in failure and perhaps tragedy. I read this book with substantial appreciation and also, I admit, a sense of wonder. Messner's heroism is obvious but also his humanity. He is a man, not a myth, and would be the first to stress that point. I am among countless others who view him as an exceptional man and are deeply grateful for what he has agreed to share with us.

Quick. Who was the first to climb Mt. Everest? If you answered Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 then you stayed awake in class. But what your teachers did not tell you was that Mt. Everest may have been climbed in 1924 by George Mallory and Andrew Irvine during the last of the three British pre war expeditions. Last seen about 800 feet from the top they disappeared into the mist and into legend. Mallory was considered the finest British climber of his day and Mt. Everest was seen as his mountain. No climber has personified Mt. Everest as Mallory and his desire to conquer the summit is legendary. The mystery of whether Mallory and Irvine summited Everest in 1924 has endured for over 75 years and reached a climax when in 1999, Mallory's body was found at about 27,000 feet on the north side of Everest. This find and the ensuing speculation as to his and Irvine's fate has fueled countless books by everyone involved and some not so involved. The find has not solved the mystery and the debate still rages on. As I write this review there is now an expedition on Everest to find Irvine and the camera they were known to have taken with them. Images found in the camera could prove the pair made the summit before perishing.
Reinhold Messner was the first person to scale Mt. Everest solo and without oxygen giving him a place as one of the greatest mountaineers ever and a unique insight into the feelings that drove Mallory to fight to the end to summit Mt. Everest. It is with his new book " The Second Death of George Mallory" that Messner intends to pay tribute to the high ideals of Mallory and the death of those ideals in respect to today's mountain climbers. Unfortunately his attempt falls completely flat on it's face in a way that make's Conrad Anker's book "The Lost Explorer" look positively groundbreaking. Messner almost entirely fills the book with journal entries by Mallory w/ little to no insight from Messner. Anybody reading this article could have done that. The book should have co-author credit to Mallory. The book is a bland retelling of the well known story of Mallory's two Everest attempts in 1921, 1922 and ultimately, the fatal final climb of 1924 w/ Andrew Irvine. There are many fine books that do a much better job of detailing Mallory's expeditions to Everest, most notably: "The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine" by Tom Holzel and Audrey Salkeld. If this review in any way piques your interest in the mystery this book is the place to start. When Messner does attempt to throw out a theory or idea it is unconvincing and tinged by the attitude prevalent of today's climbers that "we could have done it but not those poor old chaps." Messner may be forgiven for maybe not being as talented a writer as a climber but I became absolutely sick to my stomach when I noticed he provided commentary from "Mallory" as if from beyond the grave!! And who would have guessed Mallory has something bad to say about everyone except Messner. Mallory from beyond earth's mortal plane bad mouths everyone from the men who discovered his body to the Chinese climbers and others. And wouldn't you know that's exactly how Messner feels as well? I still can't believe anyone would include this utter nonsense in their book. George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made their final attempt on the summit in tweed jackets and leather hobnailed boots. They were fully aware if they faltered they would die. With little resources but unimaginable courage they walked off the map into the unknown. Maybe it is better that we never know if they conquered the summit. Maybe their story is more compelling that way. But it is a story that deserves better than Reinhold Messner was able to deliver. One thing he did get right was his admitting no matter what Mallory and Irvine did accomplish on Everest, it eclipses every other mountaineering achievements including his own. Personally I believe Mallory and Irvine did summit Everest in 1924. It was a Mallory family belief that George carried a picture of his beloved wife Ruth to place on the summit. Articles found on his body included letters from relatives and friends but no picture or letter from his wife. Where are they if not buried in the summit snow?

I thought this book was terrible, and I was glad I checked it out at the library and hadn't wasted any money buying it. Messner publishes selected journal entries of Mallory's, strings them together in a barely coherent fashion and calls it a book. To that he adds his own fantasies about what Mallory might have been thinking at given points in time.

It doesn't work. So many of Mallory's entries are left out that one misses the sense of having heard the whole story. Messner's additions do not really help to complete the story. In fact, if I hadn't already read a lot about Everest expeditions and Mallory's in particular in other books I would have had trouble following Messner's.

In addition, Messner does not really give the reader very much added information that might be useful. How about an in depth comparison of climbing clothing today versus then, altitude sickness and it's effects, dehydration issues at altitude, etc. Instead, he includes an entire chapter on the Chinese ascents of Everest which he fails to make even remotely interesting.

I'm sorry I wasted my time reading this, and am only happy I didn't waste my money too.

There is no doubt Reinhold Messner knows mountains.
Despite losing his younger brother on his first notable Himalayan ascent, Messner went on to become the first man to scale all 14 of the world's mountains exceeding 8000 metres.
In 1980, he made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without the use of bottled oxygen, and his feats in crossing Greenland and Antarctica on foot have made him the stuff of modern adventuring legend.
Yet he draws his inspiration from the man most notable for not making the summit of the world's highest mountain - English mountaineer George Mallory.
But did Mallory actually die on way down? It's a question that has fired the imagination of climbers worldwide, particularly since Mallory's body was found by an American expedition in May 1999.
Only the discovery of Mallory's camera will settle the argument, but Messner has made a quite extraordinary step toward solving the mystery himself in THE SECOND DEATH OF GEORGE MALLORY.
Using Mallory's own journals and letters, Messner recreates his two reconnaissance climbs, and his final, fatal 1924 assault on Everest.
But fans of Hollywood mountaineering blockbusters should not expect an adrenaline-fuelled page-turner filled with crumbling crevasses and rumbling avalanches - this is a nostalgic, bittersweet recreation of the mental challenge and constant heartbreak that are as much a hurdle for climbers as the mountains themselves.
In tracing Mallory's journey, Messner pays homage to the forgotten glory days of ``amateur'' climbing - when men challenged the mountain armed with little more than a pick, a sturdy pair of hobnailed boots and seven jumpers.
He also takes a quite extraordinary step in assuming the dead voice of Mallory himself, to give a personal account of his own fateful attempt, as well as pass judgement on the efforts of those climbers who followed after him.
It doesn't always work - ``Mallory's'' criticism of the Chinese attempts is more than a little irresponsible - but after 14 mountaineering books, Messner cannot be blamed for wanting to mix it up a bit.
Nevertheless, THE SECOND DEATH OF GEORGE MALLORY is still an inspiring and moving read, which also goes a long way toward helping those less-adventurous among us understand what drives people to risk their lives for a good view.