In the Zone: Epic Survival Stories from the Mountaineering World

This was an excellent book which I’m glad I stumbled upon. Unlike many other compilations of “epics” this one limits itself to three stories. Thus, each story is rich in detail providing background, the ordeal, and post-ordeal. Each of the three narratives was gripping. Truth to tell, the accounts of the Foraker epic and the author’s climbing fall in the North Cascades were more dramatic than the account of Viesturs’ and Fisher’s first ascent of K2’s Abruzzi Ridge by Americans. It was interesting that both Fischer and New Zealander Rob Hall, who both would die in the infamous May 1996 tragedy on Mt. Everest, were both on K2 at the same time. In fact, Viesturs and Fischer saved the life of a climber on Hall’s team.

Coombs’ survival after an avalanche killed his partner on Mt. Foraker and horribly injured him was absolutely incredible. What stands out in Coombs’ and Potterfield’s own brush with death climbing in the Cascades is the meticulous approach they took to saving themselves. If they had focused on the “big picture” of what had to happen in order for them to live, they might have succumbed to total despair. Instead, they each took things one step at a time and each individual action, plus some luck, especially in Coombs’ case, added up to living to see another day.