In an era where the idea that Everest could be climbed at all was only starting to be accepted, Messner’s plan to climb it without oxygen is rather audacious. I had it in my mind that he and his climbing partner, Peter Habeler, were climbing on their own, so I was surprised to learn that they were a separate unit within a larger expedition and Messner describes the possibility that they might not get their shot at the top due to conflicts with the other summit teams’ schedules. This gives an extra dimension to the narrative that I wasn’t expecting.

The long quotes during the first couple of pages were a bit distracting when I wanted to read about Messner, and I must confess that I mainly skimmed these. Interestingly, there is a section on how he recorded this thoughts using a tape recorder and journals. It sounds like such a simple detail, but I found that this small section adds authenticity to the rest of the book. The clipped radio conversations transcribed with the recorder give the book pace, and also allows for eloquent descriptions of the journey. Given his openness about using the recorder, I trust his account much more than I do Ronnie Muhl’s, for example (Everest: Surviving the death zone).

The maps provided at the start of sections were wonderful. They provided topographical details, which I hadn’t seen before in a book like this. Most books tend to only have colour photographs, which this one did too, but these monochrome maps locate the reader in the narrative and give a sense of place and scale to the endeavour.

The use of present tense gives pace, as do the short chapters, which sometimes only take up a page or two. This all makes the account more immediate. Messner sometimes shows a rush of feelings and I don’t doubt his sincerity. He does make some rash promises, like saying he’ll give up climbing if he gets out of a situation alive, but the reader understands the temporary nature of that sort of promise, and, besides: he’s Reinhold Messner; quitting isn’t something he does. I especially like his wisdom in accepting that he will have lost something if he makes the summit; that he is almost afraid of success for fear of losing his dream. His book captures the elation and hard work that it took to realise it, and he certainly went on to achieve great things, which should provide inspiration for the rest of us. ( )