Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 a compelling tale of high altitude survival September 14, 2008
Foxylock (Ireland)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
At face value this book appears to have it all drama,death and survival.However on closer inspection Matt Dickinson shows the sort of extreme selfishness required to summit Mount Everest and instead of being in awe of him I have pity for him and his family.The emotional sacrifice is just too much to expect anyones family to deal with.The much maligned incident where the Japanese team walked past the dying Indians while on the surface appears callous , what could they have been expected to do ? Anyone who is familiar with the physiological implications of being in the death zone will know there can be no rescue without endangering the lives of countless others.If you choose to attempt to summit Everest you may very well die in the process .... FACT.Overall though Dickinson gives the reader an informative compelling read ,by no means a bad book but there are better accounts of the killer stom of 1996 out there .
 a rip off March 2, 2004
S. Dockrell (Bedfordshire)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you have read 'The Death Zone' by Matt Dickinson, don't bother buying this, its exactly the same, just a new title. Save your money
 KILLER STORM...KILLER STORY September 27, 2001
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a gripping account of the deadly storm that engulfed Mt. Everest in May 1996 and left a trail of dead bodies in its wake on the south face of the mountain. The author writes about the storm as experienced on the north face: hence, the title of the book. He writes about the tragedy which engulfed the north side of Everest, in which death also came calling. The author provides many details of his expedition's ascent, which is sure to fascinate and delight all Everest junkies. The narrative is compelling and absorbing. The tragic deaths of three members of the Indian team who reached the summit, only to become engulfed by the storm during their descent down the precipitous north face of Everest, trapping them over night, is heartbreaking. The callousness of a Japanese expedition who, on their ascent to the summit the following day, passed the Indian climbers, still alive but near death, and refused to aid them in their extremis, is truly shocking. The author also rehashes the effect of the storm on the south face and the heavy toll of life it exacted there. Jon Krakauer, however, does it better in his gripping book, "Into Thin Air". In the final analysis, the author, Matt Dickinson, a novice climber who first ascended Everest that May 1996, comes across as a self-absorbed, selfish sort of lout. Notwithstanding his own personal shortcomings, however, his book still makes for an absorbing read.
AThe one book that stands out in the everest department April 22, 2000
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a wonderful example of one mans struggles to reach the summit of Everest and his own personnel goals.
 Good, but no Into Thin Air August 26, 1999
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Compared to Into Thin Air this book is disapointing. Compared to The Climb this book is a little better. There's just no passion comming through from the Author. There was also much to much time and space devoted to the author and his relationship with his wife. I read adventure books(real or fiction) for adventure. I could care less about someones marital problems when reading a book about Mt Everest. The author also falls short in his discription of the actual climb as it related to his position on the mountian. I kept refering back to the map (within the book) to try to figure out where they were at any given time. In Into Thin Air you new just where old John was on the mountain most of the time. As Everest books go this one was not bad, but I don't think I will reread it as I did with Into Thin Air.
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