Knapsack Treks
  • Detian Waterfall Then & Now
  • Good Vices
  • NDP – National Day Pendaki
  • Trip Reports
    • Australia
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 1, Uluru, Kata Tjuta
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 2 Kings Canyon
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 3 Kangaroo Island
      • Dunes Downunder Part 1
      • Dunes Downunder Part 2
      • Dunes Downunder Part 3
    • Climbing Tianyou Peak 天游峰 @ Wuyi Shan 武夷山
    • Europe
      • My Greek Odyssey (Athens & Acropolis)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Delphi)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Meteora)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Mt Olympus)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Pella – birthplace of Alexander the Great)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Thessaloniki)
    • India
      • A Tale of Two Jahans
      • Akbar The Great
      • Dungeshwari – where mistakes are made and corrected
      • Horriday In India – Trains
      • Sarnath – first lesson
      • Shimla – legacy of British India
      • Taj Mahal
      • The Mahabodi Temple, Bodhgaya
      • Varanasi, a city as old as time
    • Indonesia
      • Beautiful Bali 2019
        • Batur Mountain & Lake
        • Kuta Sunset
        • Marvellous Munduk
        • Nusa Penida 1
        • Nusa Penida 2
        • Tirta Gangga
      • Dieng Antiquities
      • Gedung Songo
      • Gunung Lawu 2019
      • Sex & Temples
        • Candi Kethek & Ceto
        • Candi Sukuh
      • Back In Mt Bromo With A Kid In Tow 1
      • Back In Mt Bromo With A Kid In Tow 2
    • Magical Myanmar 2019
      • Hsipaw Trek
      • Paya Ko Thaung
      • Pining For Pyin Oo Lwin
      • Sunset In Sittwe
      • The Goteik Viaduct
      • Yangon Memories
    • Nepal
      • Tilicho Lake
      • Annapurna On Wheels With Two Kids In Tow
      • Gosainkund Winter Trek
      • Lost In Lumbini
    • The Water Curtain Cave
    • Kunming, Dali With A Kid In Tow
  • Wacky Workouts
    • Climb Stairs
    • Great Body Weight Exercise
    • Metabolic Principle – Fat Burn
    • Metabolic Principles – Muscles
    • Pull Ups Step By Step
    • Push Up Variations
    • Pushup Variations
    • Working With Elastics
  • About The Author
  • Knapsack Books
  • Fighting Fit
    • 1000 Squats
    • Alternatives For Prevention of AMS?
    • Buffering Your Blood
    • Carbo-loading: The Real Thing
    • Cold Dips
    • Fluid Replacement
    • Food For Hikes – Sweet Potatoes
    • Healthy Coffee?
    • High Altitude Diarrhoea
    • Jumpstart Cream
    • L-Carnitine
    • Low Carb Myths & Risks
    • MacRitchie To Bukit Timah Hike
    • Preventing Blisters
    • Sandfly Bites
    • Cheating AMS
  • Gear & Stuff
    • Choosing Footwear
    • Cooking Set
    • Cushion Gloves
    • Dressing Right For The Himalayas
    • Gelert Boots
    • High Fashion (Frogg Toggs)
    • Hiking Footwear Cheap & Good
    • How To Clean Mouldy Slides
    • My Neat Knapsack
    • The Humble SAF Combat Boot
  • The Aging Adventurer
    • Bye Bye Bunions
      • 6 Weeks Post-op
      • Day 1
      • Day 2
      • Day 7
      • One Month Post-op
      • Trying On My Boots & Thongs
      • Week 3
    • Clogged Arteries: everyone has them!
    • Don’t Lose That Muscle
    • Foot On Ice
    • How Exercise Affects Blood Pressure
    • Keeping Fit Past 70
    • Secret To Burning Fat
    • Stairs Workout
    • Strength Training
    • The Best Doctors In The World
    • Toes & Poles
    • Too Old To Run?
    • Training For Seniors
  • Legends
    • Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)
      • The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
    • Gigi The Bikini Hiker
    • Khoo Swee Chiow – K2, the ultimate peak
    • Xiao Peng 小鹏
    • Yu Chun Shun 余纯顺
    • Lei Dian Sheng 雷殿生
      • Horsehair & Blisters
      • Trust & Kindness
  • Other Sites by Chan Joon Yee
    • Chan Joon Yee On Homecooking
    • Chan Joon Yee On Social Issues

Login

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Categories

Book Reviews

Book Review: Chomolunga Diaries

by admin October 15, 2013 No Comments

Mark Horrell writes a very readable account of his successful climb of Mt Everest in 2012. Their teams starts off in Kathmandu and makes the overland journey to Tibet to climb the mountain from the north. From the start, the reader may be misled into thinking that this is some parody of sorts. Horrell is funny and is able to derive humour out of every unpleasant situation in the mountains. However, he soon gets serious with his day to day, blow by blow account of the events. Still, I can’t help wondering how much beer their team actually brought to Base Camp.

Horrell goes in great detail describing their long and tedious acclimatisation climbs. To his credit, he does so without boring the reader. When the narrow window is found and the team gets ready for the summit push, Horrell seems to forget how to be funny and details his difficult and dangerous struggle up the North Col, First Step, Second Step, Summit Ridge etc.

The action doesn’t end there. Unlike most books in this genre that merely skims over the descent, Horrells recounts the many dangerous moments he had while trying to get off the mountain alive, under the watchful eye of his personal Sherpa Changba who has climbed the mountain 12 times.

There are quite a number of dead bodies the author encountered on his climb. The one that bugs him most is an irrational climber he ran into on his descent. Horrell dedicates this him. Ridden with guilt, he wonders if that climber could have survived if he had advised him to turn around.

Overall, it is a highly readable book. However, I skipped chunks at the end as the author described how totally drained and humourless he was when he reached Base Camp.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2N7Q4NVE8UIQO/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00A9KMN2Y&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=


Check Out Knapsack Books by Chan Joon Yee

acclimatisationclimb everesteverest expeditionexpeditionsummittibet

  • Previous Tourism Not Under Water – Yet7 years ago
  • Next Punggol Evening Walk7 years ago

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Knapsack Books

2021 Knapsack Treks. Donna Theme powered by WordPress