Anatoli Boukreev

Exceedingly scarce copy of The Climb, signed by Russian climbing guide Anatoli Boukreev the week his book was released, and just one month before he perished in an avalanche in Nepal, in December 1997; consequently there are few Boukreev-signed copies extant. In As New, unread condition protected by a Mylar jacket. Also signed by co-author Weston DeWalt (inscribed name has been digitally concealed; the actual name of the owner appears in the book). Live in-person signing in Seattle on November 14, 1997.

In May 1996, two commercial expedition groups attempted to ascend Mount Everest. Each group contained world class climbers and relative novices, some of whom had paid tens of thousands of pounds for the climb. But as the climbers neared the summit, they were overtaken by intense snow and wind, and found their crucial oxygen supplies depleted. Five of them died, including the expeditions’ two charismatic leaders. Anatoli Boukreev emerged as the hero. A top climber and guide, Bourkeev led his exhausted and terrified group of six back to safety, then went back out in the blizzard to help others stranded on the mountain. Boukreev’s first-person recollections are bolstered in this book by Weston DeWalt’s investigative inquiry, which includes interviews with most of the surviving climbers, medical personnel, Sherpa guides, and the families of the dead.

Anatoli Boukreev (1959-1997) was one of the world’s foremost high-altitude mountaineers. Twenty-one times he summited of the world’s highest mountains. For his heroic actions on Mount Everest in May 1996, he was awarded the American Alpine Club’s highest honor, the David A. Sowles Memorial Award. He died in an avalanche while climbing in Nepal on December 25, 1997.