Reviews for Nanda Devi

The average rating for Nanda Devi based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-01 00:00:00 Ronald P Omell I wanted to read another book about the Nanda Devi expedition featuring Willi Unsoeld and his daughter Devi to get another perspective from someone else who had been a member of this climbing team. This book was the exact opposite of the one I read which was full of philosophies and psychological studies of the members. Mr. Roskelley's book is basically, the day was Aug/Sept whatever, the weather was good/snowy/awful/rainy, we went from this camp to that camp, I did my share of breaking trail and getting to the top with Lou/Jim. Only at the very end of the book did he mention the troubles that Devi had been experiencing all through the climb. It was mostly about the personality conflicts among the climbing members, what worked and what didn't, and that was about it. I found it disappointing although some parts were interesting in how they actually climbed the mountain. Mostly, though, I thought it was a waste of time.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-24 00:00:00 Mark Zimmerman Mr. Roskelley’s tale of an ill-fated expedition to the remote and formidable peak of Nanda Devi is a landmark in the expedition literature genre. In the book, Mr. Roskelley breaks with tradition and airs his and his teammates’ dirty laundry in this tell-all account that left many of his colleagues fuming. Far removed from the majesty and elegance of the old-school “there is no I in team” spirit of older expeditions, Mr. Roskelley asserts the climber as individualist, fostering a new era of alpine climbing. With no pulled punches, he tells it all: the beautiful, the incongruous, and even the tragic.