Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters

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Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award
Grand Prize Winner, Banff Mountain Book Festival

"Forever on the Mountain grips even non-climbers with its harrowing scenes of thorny relationships tested by extraordinary circumstances." —Washington Post

In 1967, seven young men, members of a twelve-man expedition led by twenty-four-year-old Joe Wilcox, were stranded at 20,000 feet on Alaska’s Mount McKinley in a vicious Arctic storm. Ten days passed while the storm raged, yet no rescue was mounted. All seven perished in what remains the most tragic expedition in American climbing history.

Revisiting the event in the tradition of Norman Maclean’s Young Men and Fire, James M. Tabor uncovers elements of controversy, finger-pointing, and cover-up that make this disaster unlike any other.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393331967

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Norton - W. W. & Company - Inc.

Publication Date: 06-17-2008

Pages: 432

Product Dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

James M. Tabor, a former contributing editor to Outside, attempted Mount McKinley and summitted Mount Sanford. He hosted the PBS series The Great Outdoors and cocreated the History Channel series Journey to the Center of the World. He lives in Waitsfield, Vermont.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xv
Cast of Characters xxi
Prologue: Sharp End of the Dream 3
Approach
Realms of Myth 11
For Want of a Wrist 21
Fool's Gold 25
Ire of the Mountain King 37
Clash at Cougar Rock 48
Ascent
The Long Road North 63
Lone Man Walking 76
Divided We Falter 86
Friktion 94
Pictures of an Expedition 108
Terras Incognitas 113
Summit Conference 125
Blowup 134
Odd Man Up 141
Accident
Just One More Wand 163
Last Words 179
We Will Live to Tell Stories 188
Where Is the Cavalry? 193
A Most Unusual Storm 205
Where Death Has No Meaning 213
Mixed Messages 222
Some Will Die 241
Hard Men Indeed 244
Crossing the River 251
Far Too Little, Way Too Late 258
We Cannot Look at Him 263
And Two Make Three 282
One Hell of a Good Story 289
Aftermath
Hanging Jury 297
Memorable Quotes 313
Summit and ANAM 318
Just a Publicity Stunt 327
Crossing the Line 334
Remaking History 338
Twisting in the Wind 344
Survivors 350
Author's Note 371
Recommended Reading 373
Photograph Credits 375
Index 377
Maps
Alaska & Mt. McKinley / Denali 8-9
Mount McKinley, Alaska / Route of the Wilcox Expedition 84-85
1967 Tragedy Area: Camp VII to Summit 233

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