Discoveries
Books explore greed at Mt. Everest, finding tranquility in a world of chaos and life on a North Carolina reservation.
By Susan Salter Reynolds
LA Times BOOK REVIEW, February 17, 2008
High Crimes
The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed
Michael Kodas
Hyperion: 358 pp., $24.95
Con men, murderers and base-camp prostitutes are among the cast of characters journalist Michael Kodas encountered on his 2004 trip to Mt. Everest. In "High Crimes," he also tells us of climbers who are so eager to get to the top that they step over dying comrades, faulty oxygen tanks knowingly sold to climbers -- and of course drugs ("Virtually every banned, performance-enhancing substance that has driven sponsors and fans away from . . . cycling and baseball has made its way into mountaineering"). In this lawless arena, Kodas reports numerous instances of appalling cruelty. He quotes Sir Edmund Hillary's characteristically understated response to the 2006 death of David Sharp: "It was wrong, if there was a man suffering altitude problems and huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say 'good morning' and pass on by." One wonders if the ghost of George Mallory (who died on Everest in 1924) still haunts its ridges.
For the other books reviewed in this article, click here.
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