THE WILL TO CLIMB Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna—the World's Deadliest Peak

Ed Viesturs is something of a superman. He belongs to two exclusive clubs in the mountain-climbing community: those who have climbed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter summits and those with the physiology to climb into the death zone without oxygen. Annapurna, his final 8000-meter summit, posed a particular danger and took three attempts. Here Viesturs chronicles his eventual success while interweaving accounts of historical, and often tragic, expeditions on Annapurna. As Viesturs, narrator Fred Sanders sounds approachable and serious. Sanders has no trouble with endless foreign names and places interrupting the flow. He adopts an appropriately somber tone whenever tragedy strikes on the mountain but could use just a little more energy for the victories. A.B. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2012]