High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by Jon Krakauer

High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places Reviews

• 
  Evan

  OK, this book is not as rip-roaring as Krakauer's Into Thin Air, and yet it's an excellent insight into what makes a mountaineer tick. I was moved by Breashear's account of the Everest '96 disaster, and found his rendering of the survival of Beck Weathers perhaps even more moving than the account in Krakauer's masterful tome. Similarly moving was his account of the recovery of the camera containing the last picture of mountaineer Bruce Herrod, staring into the lens in triumph on the summit of Everest, soon to collapse and die with the very camera in his pocket. The image strikes me as similar in spirit to that of Chris McCandless in front of the bus in Krakauer's Into the Wild.
  
  Breashears' life story is fascinating; and one sometimes wishes that, despite the inherent hardships, that one was raised as an army brat, because they seem to grow up with a special kind of resolve.
  
  There are fascinating accounts of Breashears' early climbs in Colorado and as a crew member on the set in the Italian Dolomites of the 1980's Stallone thriller, "Cliffhanger." And, of course, there's Everest '96, one of the great adventure stories of all time, about which several books have been written.
  
  I don't know what it is about the books I've been choosing lately, or if it's just an indicator of my tenuous emotional state of late [note: in 2009], but this book ultimately moved me to tears, and even if it's not quite the achievement that Krakauer's book is, it is nonetheless a first-rate adventure book as well as a worthy biography. As a sidenote, it baffles me how he could have let such an alluring woman as Veronique Choa slip out of his life. Oh well, I know from experience, it happens.
  
  This is probably a four-star book, at best, but the enjoyment factor was high for me, and mountaineering buffs won't be disappointed.
  
  (KevinR@Ky; edited and amended in 2016)
• 
  Sandie

  Amazing pictures of rock climbing! Of all the Everest books I have read, this one gave me the best picture of how tough it is to climb a mountain.....
• 
  Susan Liston

  Pretty darn good. I have a sneaky feeling that David Breashers might be more than a little arrogant, but these extreme mountain climber folk are definitely nuts, so it isn't too surprising if they are also a bit prickly or difficult. Or hard to be married to...."Oh by the way honey, did I mention I'm off to Pakistan to take pictures while hanging from a little rope 20,000 feet in the air? See you in four months if I don't fall." It's not just climbing that is so unfathomable to me, the traveling you do to get to where you want to go is scary enough... read his tale of taking a taxi in India in the middle of the night (and going for hours in the wrong direction) I am no adventurer myself, but it is certainly entertaining to read about someone who is. It was also interesting to hear his account of the 1996 Everest disaster, as he figured prominently in the rescue efforts.
• 
  Norman Brewer

  It's well worth picking up if you like reading about cold and climbing. Breashears, who's multiple climbs of Everest were burdened by camera equipment, was director and leader of the IMAX expedition of the world's highest peak. He can put you on the edge of your seat, with words or film.
• 
  Antje

  Sicher muss man sich generell für Bergsteigen, Höhenkletterei und das Drehen von Filmen dort interessieren, um von der Autobiographie David Breashears gefesselt zu werden. Natürlich ließ er sich wie andere seiner Kollegen beim Schreiben unter die Arme greifen, aber das Überprüfen nach Richtigkeit betrieb er sicherlich mit der gleichen Sorgfalt wie die Leitung seiner Expeditionen. Was mir besonders an seinem Buch gefällt, ist die Art und Weise, wie dem Laien Fachbegriffe und anderes Bergsteiger-Latein erklärt werden, ohne jemals überheblich oder langweilig zu wirken. Zudem scheint Breashears ein sehr diskreter Mensch zu sein, der ungern seine Schmutzwäsche in der Öffentlichkeit wäscht. So sind geäußerte Kritiken gegenüber gewisse Personen, gerade im Bezug der 1996er Mount-Everest-Besteigung, zurückhaltend und respektvoll. Stattdessen scheut er sich nicht, eigene Handlungsweisen selbstreflektiert zu betrachten. Einziger Beschwerdepunkt meinerseits betrifft die sehr detailierte Funktionsweise diverser Kameras, was nicht unbedingt mein Interessengebiet streift, aber durch seinen Beruf logisch ist. Ich hätte mir außerdem noch viel mehr Fotos zu sehen gewünscht.
• 
  Amerynth

  David Breashears has made a name for himself as a methodical climber -- he isn't into dynamic leaps and jumps, but carefully plans each and every move as he scales mountain and rock. In a way, his autobiography "High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places" is the same. It's almost plodding and Breashears thoroughly examines his troubled childhood and the reasons that he is driven again and again to the challenges presented by Everest. I've read a lot of climbing memoirs and this one didn't particularly thrill me-- it was a little too bogged down in detail and became a really slow read. The final chapters about the 1996 tragedy on Mt. Everest were better, but came too late for me to truly enjoy the book. I came away admiring Breashers for what he has overcome but with a sense that he is a very unlikeable person. Is it possible for an autobiography to be too honest? That may be the problem in this case.
• 
  Charlotte Elson

  Interesting if you're interested in climbing, but there are other far more well-written accounts of mountain life than this. Breashears comes off as arrogant and occasionally sexist.
  
  What is the human cost of mountaineering? And I don't mean a death toll. What happens when one's passion takes them to the heights of the world, risking injury and death, gone for months at a time? What effect does that have on relationships? There's a line from the chapter on the 1996 tragedy where Breashears writes that he would have called his wife, but Veronique wasn't his wife anymore. He would've called his mother, but he didn't want her to worry. So he didn't call anyone. No one to tell, no one to share this devastating tragedy with on a personal and not professional level. That strikes me as tragic in itself.
• 
  Sherry

  I liked this book. Being a mini mountaineer, I was familiar with Breashears' climbing and photographic prowess. It was fun to learn about the man as he sees himself. I have heard of or know several of the people he climbed with, so I felt a connection to him and his story. I am from Denver so could relate to his climbs in Boulder. Occasionally I felt bogged down in all his camera and filming details but not enough to stop reading. David Breashears is in my opinion one of the finest mountaineers of today. His filming skills are exceptional. His support and assistance during the 1996 Everest disaster is laudable, to say the least. His passion for the mountains, for Everest particularly, raises him to the pinnacle of mountaineering excellence.
• 
  Brad

  Having read Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" several years back, I was probably overdue on this one. It's an amazing account of mountain climbing in general, Himalayan expeditions in particular, and Mount Everest intimately, especially the '96 tragedy. One can only hope to catch a furtive glimpse of the raw exposure such nearly insane adventurers endure. Not my cup of tea, but fascinating all the same. I think I need to re-read the Krakauer account again.
• 
  Bryan Summers

  I'm a sucker for mountaineering books. I would never climb Everest. I like a valley a lot more than I like mountains. I'm always bored above the treeline. But I'm so glad others want to get to the top.
• 
  Peter McGinn

  I liked a lot of the parts of this book, but some of it - not so much. I do not read biographies, so I could have done without the childhood descriptions. The early rock climbing and even his working in the oil fields is more interesting and pertains to the themes suggested by the book title.
  
  I agree with some other reviews that the writing and the point of views feels somewhat distanced to me a lot of the time. If you read Peter Boardman, or even Jon Krakauer you can see the difference. A lot of the time the author says the right things and I did come away believing that the climbing ethics he details are really his, but some of his dealing with people, especially women, seems lacking. I was not impressed with his hot pursuit of the beautiful Veronique, where he invited her to work with him on projects to throw them together, only to discover after he married her that suddenly he didn't have any work for her anymore, so the marriage foundered. And though he admits he was harsh (nasty is the word I'd use) when the wife of his great friend Ed Vistiers and respected colleague had the nerve to express an opinion, there is no sign that he ever apologized or even acknowledged the unfairness - except in an offhanded way in this book, that is.
  
  Now, as Maria Coffey describes in a book on the loved ones of serious climbers, with them the mountain comes first and family second, so perhaps this author is just more open about it than the rest. But I would advise any climber/writers who show us their jerkier moments to throw in a few positive personal exchanges as well. Weeping for dead friends up in the thin air is all well and good, but most of us readers also judge people by their relationships down here on flat land.
  
  I don't mean to be hypercritical of this book; if I am it is only because it could easily have been so much better, more accessible for non-climbers and with more sharing of his emotions and feelings, guaranteed to keep the reader on his side and on the edge of their seats rooting for him. Yes, I would trust him with my life on the mountain, but would I want to share a tent with him?
• 
  Carolyn

  4.5 stars. Something about a book can get under your skin and you just really enjoy it. I liked how each section was another chunk of Breashears' life and his experiences. You really saw the natural evolution of him going from rock climber to cinematographer to director. Reinforces that no one is stuck in one thing - keep your eyes and ears open and see what happens. I even liked hearing about living in Gillette, WY to work on an oil rig just to get some cash. He's met so many different kinds of people through his adventures and he has a pretty acute eye when it comes to sizing up people.
  
  Thought he did a great job of translating how you can't let your ego drive your ambition when mountain climbing. If the mountain is saying no that day, you better listen or you could very well die. I had followed the disaster on Everest in May 1996 so reading his perception of the events as they unfolded was really interesting.
  
  Thought the whole thing was simply a wonderful book.
  
• 
  Travis Duke

  A great Bio about a renowned film maker and climber. It has a very good balance of life history and his adventures in climbing and film making. I enjoyed him revealing his rocky child hood and early climbing days in Colorado and Yosemite. Breashears is most famous for his Everest Imax film and you get an awesome account of his backbreaking effort lugging that camera up the mountain.
  
  Sadly 1996 when he filmed the IMAX film was also the tragic year everyone remembers for all the climbers that died. I have read a few books now that detail that terrible summit year and reading Breashears account fills in more gaps to the story. Something I did not expect was his respect for Sandy Pittman who lots of climbers painted in a negative light but not David, I found that interesting.
  
  It is a well balance book that I would recommend to almost anyone
• 
  Bella E

  Unlike the breath-taking, heart-stopping action of Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air", Breashears takes his readers into his own psyche--that of a man driven by a sense of challenge, but with knowledge and discipline. One can only marvel at Breashear's accomplishments in the fields of climbing and film-making. His many colleagues who shared his lifetime of adventure also merit a sense of awe. There was one piece of Breashears life story that left me a bit uncomfortable, though. Was the beautiful Veronique truly that unimportant to his life to deserve just a passing mention? Other than that, I found the story of Breashear's progression from cliff-scaler to cameraman to mountain climber a fascinating story.
• 
  Gustavo Fernandes

  Incredible read. Really honest, direct, good to see one more testimony of a life dedicated to a higher goal paying good dividends in terms of truth, reality acceptance and humility. The descriptions of his climbs, as well as his working experiences, of his photography and also filming present one person that is interested in learning and accepting that he was not born knowing everything. Climbing has this lesson for us. Respect the nature and know your place... you are minor. Absolutely honest as well in terms of description of feelings and some aspects of life that became secondary due to other focus areas. Mountain calls are quite demanding. Definitely recommend, especially with movies afterwards.
• 
  Becky Brinkley

  Being married to a photographer, my take on "High Exposure: An Enduring Passion or Everest and Unforgiving Places" is a little different than most. Yes, the mountaineering stuff is interesting, but to do it with tons of film equipment, setting up shots and re-shooting scenes was more fascinating to me. In fact, I found it crazy. Crazy as in too stupidly dangerous and should not be attempted by mere mortals. But like a train wreck in progress, I couldn't turn away and had to finish every last page.
  Review by Becky Brinkley, author of Whatever Happened to Lil' Bobby Burton
• 
  Sebastian

  Kind of a biography in which the author recounts how he got into climbing, notable climbs throughout his life and how he transitioned from climbing to filming in the mountains. Very interesting read, hard to put the book out of my hands. Well written too. The longest chapter of the book is devoted to the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster where the author was present with a film crew when the tragedy unfolded. Highly interesting read about mountaineering even if you are not into filming.
• 
  Jean Dupenloup

  An enjoyable memoir by one of the foremost high-altitude filmmakers.
  
  David Brashears occupies a unique place in the mountaineering realm, that of someone who can actually direct and film AND climb like a champ at the same time.
  
  In High Exposure, he takes us through various vignettes of his life, from his role in the 1996 Everest tragedy to helping make the movie Cliffhanger.
  
  Nothing too mind-altering, but it’s a decent read.
• 
  Camee

  Very exciting stories in here! Just confirmed my idea that I NEVER want to climb Everest, but am incredibly thankful for those brave people who have and have shared their incredible stories. Breashears is an excellent writer and I loved reading about his adventures.
• 
  Aadesh

  It was an motivation and inspiring story from David Breashears. His childhood, his dreams of making a name of himself, climbing rock faces and to high mountains. Learned about the events after 1996 disaster.
• 
  Beth

  A fascinating look at mountain climbing, culminating with the ill-fated Everest season of 1996. David Breashears has a gift with words, and makes climbing seem almost fun. Crazy and dangerous, but fun.
• 
  Christine Yorty

  Enjoyed the book as another account of the climbing season