Name: Buried in the Sky
ISBN: 9780393079883

Peter Zuckerman

Amanda Padoan

Presents the stories of the sharps who have acted as expert consultants to Westerners climbing the Himalayas, focusing in particular on Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Lama, who survived when 11 other climbers died on K2 in August 2008. 15,000 first printing.

The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

Buried in the Sky

Elizabeth Moore

This book was awesome! I read it in 3 days flat, and virtually every page of text was captivating. I would forewarn anyone interested in reading this book that it is VERY depressing and some parts are pretty unsettling, but this is to be expected, I guess, when picking up a non-fiction book about one of the worst modern mountaineering tragedies in history.

As many will note, the in-depth attention that the authors paid to the culture and ethnic history of "Sherpas" was really incredible and I learned quite a lot. The depth to which these humans are unsung and pushed to the periphery of the global mountaineering community is pretty astounding.

My one big gripe with the book was that in a few cases, I felt like there was a bit of heavy-handedness in reinforcing the fact that High Altitude Porters (HAPs) were not always treated humanely or with respect for their lives or their own emotions; the authors could have stuck with presenting just the facts and readers would have still been able to cultivate their own well-informed opinions and views on the character cast and how they wanted to place their own judgements on the choices made and the interactions between people on that mountain. Also, the ending felt the tiniest bit rushed, but maybe that was just because I was so involved by that point and didn't want the book to end without letting me stay with the survivors and their families for just a little bit longer.

Overall, a GREAT read - but you WILL get nightmares and this WILL stay with you for quite some time. A truly thought-provoking, philosophical piece of non-fiction that tackles a topic that has not really even been examined with a great deal of accuracy, wide perspective, or empathy for the "other" people on the mountain on K2 in August in 2008.

Buried in the Sky The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

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