The Climb cover art

The Climb

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Climb

By: Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston DeWalt
Narrated by: Lloyd James
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $19.99

Buy Now for $19.99

About this listen

 The Climb is a true, gripping, and thought-provoking account of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest: On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by experienced leaders attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world, but things went terribly wrong. Crowded conditions on the mountain, miscommunications, unexplainable delays, poor leadership, bad decisions, and a blinding storm conspired to kill. Twenty-three men and women, disoriented and out of oxygen, struggled to find their way down the southern side of the mountain. In the dark, battered by snow driven by hurricane-force winds, some of the climbers became hopelessly lost and resigned themselves to death. Anatoli Boukreev, the head climbing guide for the West Seattle-based Mountain Madness expedition, refused to give up hope. Solo, climbing blind in the maw of a storm that continually threatened his life, Boukreev brought climbers back from the edge of certain death.©1997 by Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks Climbing & Mountaineering Outdoors & Nature Sports Travel Writing & Commentary Extreme Sports
All stars
Most relevant  
One of the best read audible books I’ve listened to, the performance is worthy of the story. A simply riveting voyage that escalates into an irresistible disaster. One climber’s endurance and courage in the face of horrendous conditions and total exhaustion is the only lifeline that keeps the members of his group hanging on. Exceptional.

Compelling and courageous

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolute pleasure to listen to, and to hear the events from an experienced climber. Highly recommend

Thoughtful and fascinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found it very easy to listen to this audiobook. The performance was well done and the story was well written.

It appears that this account of the tragic Everest season pulled it's information from multiple sources and interviews. very interesting to see how a series of small decisions can lead to such a sad loss of life.

An open account of a tragedy without the blame

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Stumbled upon this recommendation. Not a bad listen, and mountaineering and alpinism is always interesting.
Some sections were a bit laborious, but was nice to hear an alternate perspective from this event.
A good lesson in paying attention to a litany of errors and setbacks before such a gruelling undertaking.

The book promotes a sense of adventure. The detail was necessary but sometimes difficult to remain engaged.

Compelling adventure story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love reading about this tragedy as, being a New Zealander, it is a little closer to home than a lot of other mountaineering books. I find it really interesting to hear of this disaster from another point of view.

Interesting Perspective

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What stood out was the genuine dedication Anatoli had for his role, the responsibility he felt and the suffering he endured over the terrible event. He wasn’t writing a story with powerful descriptions and characters, he was explaining his motivations and what happened from his perspective. The book is based on diaries, his only voice, but a good one. He clearly was maligned by Krakauer’s storytelling and needed the world to hear that he did not fail in his service the way it was made out.

It was difficult to listen to at times because of the stilted back and forth of the personal account and the third person fillers but it said what it needed to and gave a very human account rather than descriptive. It featured a lot of slightly disjointed moments and thoughts as diaries usually do. That’s why the book had to be written as it was. Once I got over that it helped get inside the very passionate introvert mind of this incredibly brave, integrous man who really knew his passion but who felt misunderstood and misrepresented because of his personality, drive and, sadly, his lack of English speaking skills.

A true, passionate, mountaineer spirit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story was interesting and well written. Unfortunately the narrator decided to try and use accents for different characters, which was unnecessary and poorly executed. This detracted from the story and made it quite uncomfortable to listen to at times. I suspect the narrator has never heard a NZ accent as this was particularly painful to listen to.

Great story, terrible accents

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.