About the Author

Broughton Coburnis a writer, lecturer, and college instructor who specializes in crafting narratives of the people and landscape of the Himalayas. He has authored a young adult photobiography of Sir Edmund Hillary, Triumph on Everest; collaborated with Jamling Tenzing Norgay on his autobiography, Touching My Father's Soul- A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest; and written The Vast Unknown, which explores the first American ascent of Everest and its aftermath.

Tim Cahillis a founding editor and the editor at large of Outside magazine. A successful travel writer, he is the author of numerous books, including Buried Dreams- Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer, Hold the Enlightenment, and Pass the Butterworms- Remote Journeys Oddly Rendered. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, National Geographic Adventure, and other publications. Cahill lives in Livingston, Montana.

David Breashearsis a mountaineer, filmmaker, author, and professional speaker who has made more than 40 movies. He shot Everest, the first IMAX production ever filmed on the world's highest mountain, during the historically tragic season of 1996. Breashears has summited there five times and continues to photograph the Himalayas.

Reviews

Featuring spectacular color photos, many shots using a large-format IMAX camera modified for light weight and the harsh conditions encountered on the world's highest mountain, this work stems from a project to bring Everest to IMAX theaters in 1998. While preparing for the final assault on Everest's peak, members of the international expedition participated in the rescue of the climbers trapped by the fatal blizzard of May 1996, which killed eight. The story of survivor Beck Weather adds poignancy to the project, but it is the photos and broader scope that set this work apart from other recent works focusing on the tragedy (e.g., Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, LJ 4/1/97). Coburn, who worked in Nepal with the Peace Corps for 15 years and has written widely on the area, offers thorough descriptions of the entire Everest experience, including the geology of the region and Nepalese culture and religion. Also featured are an introduction by popular adventure-writer Tim Cahill and an afterword by David Brashears, the first American to scale Everest twice and a member of nine previous Himalayan filmmaking expeditions. Highly recommended for most public, natural history, and mountaineering collections. [BOMC selection.]‘Tim J. Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, Wash.

Bringing an understated yet powerful Buddhist/Sherpa ethical perspective to the tragedy on Everest chronicled in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, Coburn reports on the IMAX film crew who participated in the rescue effort when the May 1996 expeditions led by guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer ended in death and crippling injury. Charged with the daunting task of capturing Everest on panoramic IMAX film and packing video equipment along with the cumbersome, specially made IMAX camera, expedition leader David Breashears made the moral choice to join the rescue rather than film the tragedy for the nightly news. Nonetheless, Breashears's team, which included the American-educated Sherpa Jamling Tenzing Norgay, whose father reached the summit of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, went on to make cinematic history. The dramatically beautiful photographs hint at the grandeur of the IMAX film and prove to readers that good things come to those who wait and help. The harrowing story-within-a-story is told by Seaborn "Beck" Weathers, a badly frostbitten member of Krakauer's group who was carried down the mountain by IMAX team members. According to Coburn, the Buddhist Sherpas believe that in order to succeed consistently in ascending Everest and surrounding peaks, "one's motivation must be pure," for they believe that these mountains "exist as much in the realm of the spiritual as they do the physical." In this exciting and richly informative tale, Coburn conveys how a pure-hearted group temporarily won favor with an unconquerable mother goddess. 100 full-color photos. 100,000 first printing; first serial to National Geographic; author tour. (Oct.)