I'm on a Krakauer binge, and I'm happy to do so. I understand these are taken from his newspaper writings, but I would have liked this more if he had written more. Krakauer has a gift for spinning yarns at once comfortable and harrowing. If he has meant to characterize mountaineering as one of the last bastions that reduces human beings and all our technology to the primal desires to overcome and to survive - he has done a good job. The shorter stories are forgettable, if informative; the longer ones are riveting. The last two stories about climbing a summit in Alaska alone and putting a microscope over Yosemite and its squabbling subculture are worth the read alone.

A beautiful collection of stories about mountains, people, and their dreams and adventures. I knew little about different activities like bouldering, glacier flying, and canyoneering. Loved how they are introduced in the book.

3.5 stars. I've read (in order) Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, Where Men Win Glory, and I'm looking forward to reading Missoula as soon as it comes out. I'd held off on Eiger Dreams, knowing that it was just a compilation or articles, but it's certainly a great book to tide yourself over. I don't have any particular interest in ice climbing, and others might not have much interest in some of the particular 'sports' talked about, but IMO, it was all worth reading and quite enjoyable. Devil's Thumb, the longest essay, is essentially a repeat from Into the Wild, though I enjoyed reading it again too.

Modern tastes run to short selections, and this little collection of stories is perfect for those who fall asleep after reading three pages. Also I won a corporate spelling bee because I learned the word "verglas" from this book.

This is a collection of articles / short stories written and published by Jon Krakauer in the 80s. His descriptions of the mountains and climbing he and others have experienced is truly gripping. I definitely enjoyed reading about these adventures from the safety of my home. An interesting and fun read if you have any interest in getting into the mind of a climber.

A collection of adventures that alleviate the banality of life.

"not only of why climbers climb, but why they tend to be so goddamn obsessive about it."

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of adventure essays! I read Into Thin Air several months ago, and was craving more. This collection of gripping essays involving larger than life characters with even larger goals (dang Ean, nice line!) definitely delivered. But in my opinion, Krakauer saves the best story for last when he gathers the courage to chase his lifelong dream of climbing the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska. Goosebumps like crazy. Edge of your seat stuff. This story is like pouring a bowl of your favorite cereal only to open the fridge and realize your worst nightmare…you know what I’m talkin about. BUT…the convenience store is closed. What do you do now? Do you eat it dry? Impossible. Do you give up on your dream? EVEN MORE IMPOSSIBLE.

I’ve enjoyed Krakauer’s writing since reading Into the Wild who-knows-when (before I had Goodreads), and for reasons I don’t fully understand, I’m a sucker for writing about outdoor “adventure” in general and mountaineering as a particular sub-genre. (Please no one tell me if Krakauer has turned out to be a supreme jerk....)

I did not realize this was a collection of essays, so the different locations and climbing cultures was a surprise but I enjoyed expanding my horizons there. It was also interesting to read essays that went up to 1987ish at the outside. Talk about a time machine. Anyway, this was a nice change of pace in reading.

The actual volume could have used a closer editing hand; I found some obvious errors.

Jon Krakauer’s Eiger Dreams is a love story. It may not look or sound like a love story at first blush. But it is. It’s a love story between humans and “high altitude adventures” – some of which may be best reserved for the seriously unhinged.

No book on "high altitude adventures" would be complete without a chapter on Mount Everest. Krakauer delivers, carefully chronicling the perils of trying to conquer “one of the largest landforms on the planet,” with a summit standing more than 17,000 vertical feet above its base. It includes “the usual:” cerebral edema, crevasses, “sledgehammer winds and hellish cold” above 14,000 feet and of course, frostbite.

The book also includes lots of mountaineering trivia throughout. With an overall body count of 2,000+, for example, Mont Blanc is by “far and away the deadliest mountain on earth” (p. 92).

Retreating from Everest, Krakauer whisks readers to frozen waterfall climbs in Alaska to Chamonix, France, to canyoneering in Arizona and Colorado’s Rocky Mountains to “Club Denali.” Along the way, we pick up enough mountaineering lingo to at least fake it: pitch, crater, Cag, hypothermia, piton, Talkeetna, foehn winds, pulmonary edema, and Tigers Milk bars. The chapter on Club Denali is particularly brisk(pun intended).

In this chapter the author describes his failed attempt to climb Denali, aka: Alaska's Mount McKinley. Along the way we meet a mountaineering menagerie of colorful characters including Adrian the Romanian, whose initial attempt to solo the highest mountain in North America excluded a tent, stove, and water – and apparently, brains. Also “The Honeymooners,” young newlyweds who “for reasons known only to them,” decide to spend it on Mount McKinley. We also meet Dick Danger and the Throbbing Members and others who are either seriously nuts or addicted to high altitude adventures – which may be the same thing.

The story of world class climbing pioneer and bouldering maestro John Gill is also riveting, as is the author's tense narrative about his attempt to climb Alaska’s Devil’s Thumb, solo.

Krakauer’s pace is crisp, his prose lithe. Eiger Dreams is probably best read with a steaming cup of hot whatever in hand.

Enjoy.

If you like mountain climbing or if you just like reading about people pushing their limitations, this collection of stories is for you. This is a compilation of previously published articles that is just as much philosophy as it is mountaineering.

More adventures on the mountain from Mr. Krakauer. This book was a series of short stories about various climbs. I think the Snow Country review on the back cover sums it up pretty well, "Krakauer's rarest and most enviable skill is his ability to make himself unseen, so the stories unwind as though the reader were front-pointing up a Himalayan serac or hanging by a nubbin in an Arizona canyon."

There were a couple of quotes I liked as people tried to explain the allure of mountain climbing. I think it's part of the crazy that all endurance sports participants can relate to:

Page 72, "...it's sort of like having fun, only different." - Howard Donner

Yep.

Page 81, "I knew in an abstract, intellectual sort of way that it was a beautiful view, but I couldn't get myself to care about it; I'd been up all night; I felt totally strung out; I was just too tired." - Yates

It's sad when the crazy hits in and you don't really care if/when you finish. It's just over and you're tired. And yet you find yourself out there doing it again, and again.

I didn't bookmark it but there was a part towards the end where there's a quote that 1/30 people die trying to climb Everest (this was in the 80s) and that 1/5 die tried to summit K2. It is wild that even knowing those statistics people were still saying yes, sign me up! It would be interesting to see what the stats are today.

If you’re a fan of adventure and enjoy great storytelling, this book is for you. Throughout this series of essays, Krakauer explores the thrilling beauty of remote, often hostile landscapes through the lens of climbing. He employs his wry wit, vivid vocabulary, and deep knowledge of the sport to tell incredible stories in an unguarded, approachable fashion. The pages fly by and the stories practically tell themselves.