When I discovered that climber and filmmaker David Breashears had written a memoir, I leapt on it immediately. I love reading books about the outdoors, hiking, and climbing, and I knew he was the creator of the IMAX Everest film and also that he and his crew acted heroically to save lives during the tragedy of 1996. After reading Into Thin Air and Ed Viesturs’ No Shortcuts this was a natural book for me to follow up on.
David Breashears’ perspective is unique because not only is he deeply introspective and analytical about the philosophy of climbing, but he is an experienced outdoor filmmaker. The man has climbed Everest while lugging several pounds of film and camera equipment, and somehow this film survived not only extreme temperatures, but countless yak rides and trips through airline conveyor belts. His stories are incredible.
His view of how things went during 1996 was in contrast to Krakauer’s and the differences were stark. Breashears portrays Fisher and Hall as somewhat arrogant and shortsighted, where Krakauer seemed to lay the blame squarely with Pittman and Boukreev. Breashears portrays Pittman as an experienced mountaineer who knew what she was doing, but Krakauer claimed she was practically carried up and down the mountain. It is amazing how different perspectives can be during such a traumatizing event. Krakauer wrote the foreword and despite their differing accounts of some of the details, both climbers and authors hold one-another in high esteem.
Overall Breashears treats all of his subject matter with utter honesty, acknowledges his own shortcomings, and has a great respect for both mountains and the people who climb them.

I love mountaineering books even though I was only a recreational backpacker--I love reading about the serious climbers and major peaks on the planet. Breashears knows every aspect of climbing. Great read.

Another primary source on May, 1996 disaster on Everest. Different perspective in that Breashears was there filming what would become the IMAX movie EVEREST when he and climber Ed Viesters were drawn into the drama

Omg I hate when Goodreads closers while I’m writing a review. I’m NOT rewriting it out of protest
(But I recommend it)

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.....

This puts emphasis on what most people would call a dangerous journey. High Exposure is an exciting and passionate novel about what climbing mount everest really means. Before people read this they probably don'y fully understand all of the factors that go into embarking on a mission like this. This is an exciting story that gives insight on what it is like to truly go through hell and back.

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.

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.

This was a very interesting book, written by a very interesting man. Here we can feel the passion for climbing mountains and making films, and how the 2 of them can combine. It was a joy to read.

His experience as a photographer...interesting perspective.

Elocuente y vívido recorrido por la vida de Breashears y los distintos proyectos en los que ha estado involucrado. No solo ha tenido una vida singularmente extraordinaria, sino que sabe (junto a sus editores y asesores, cuya intervención al parecer fue notable) dar cuenta de sus experiencias de manera eficiente, pulcra, pero atrayente. Generoso y ecuánime en el reconocimiento dado a sus colegas, crítico con sus propios yerros e iluminador respecto a las lecciones aprendidas con sus sucesivas empresas (de hecho, divierte que por momentos parezca incapaz de relacionar sus experiencias tempranas con sus éxitos venideros, por tenue que aparente ser la conexión).

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