The White Death
Tragedy and Heroism in an Avalanche Zone

I actually got this book by accident. I meant to order the book The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis by Thomas Dormandy. Unsurprisingly, I put this book aside and ignored it for a few years to punish it for not being the book I wanted to read. Finally, running out of unread material, I rescued......more

Absolutely incredibly written book with well-researched facts about snow, avalanches, mountaineering, skiing, and outdoor sporting as it’s developed in the last century from other more somber war-time training requiring these technical, tactical skills. Woven into the compelling history of snow spor......more

There’s a decent story here, probably enough for a really great article. The rest of the book is filled with tangents about avalanches, mountaineering, rescuing, etc. those were interesting enough, but the way they were used to stretch out the telling of the story really irritated me. Usually I don’......more

Parts were very interesting - avalanche history, snow science and mountaineering anecdotes, and parts felt very fluffy. This book is well written in some sections and overwritten in other places. Some of the sentences use overly flowery language at the expense of clarity. Despite the gravity of the......more

A sad tale of youthful ambition, heroism, and loss. The book takes us through five young men’s attempt to conquer Mount Cleveland (the tallest peak in Glacier National Park) in winter, their disappearance, and the heroic rescue attempts that ensued. This is a fine bit of investigating, and the author......more