Joined in 2023 
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NB and Tony H. both write mysteries set in the SW USA. I like his writing a little better. A bit less dramatic/ominous and more straightforward. Harvest resources and craft new tools, climb anywhere dynamically, row the underground seas with your boat and build structures that help you overcome obstacles along your way. I liked the way Brian wrote his memoir. It wasn't too technical, didn't become boring and also wasn't preachy. Yes, he believes in God and tries to live a life of faith but it isn't in your face. He's respectful of the Sherpa's religious beliefs and doesn't try to convert anyone or downplay their traditions or superstitions. He's just a down to earth, outdoorsy guy who loves life and appreciates the world around him.
I was not quite sure how I felt about he "justified/defended" his leaving his family to climb Everest. While he justifies his climbing mountains as a combination of how he is wired, how he is created, with his experiences in the military, he also shares how he used his mountain climbing to raise money and awareness for various charities. So it was a mix of what seemed like valid reasons for climbing (raising awareness and money) and "not-so-valid" (the thrill, the excitement, the challenge). His children crying like they did as he was saying good-bye to them, followed by his wife's struggles, and ending with his leaving a "final message" to his family in case he died did not sit well with me. Had he still been in the military, that would have been one thing. But just the fear and sorrow that he put his children through, their sobbing because they were worried they'd never see him again, followed by the justifications he gave, just did not "feel right" to me. However, each of us has "our own race to run" and has to answer for what we said or didn't say, did or didn't do, so I cannot throw too many stones (as it were). He has accomplished far more than I ever will.
About This Game
The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made: both poles by 1912, Everest in 1958, the Challenger Deep in 1961. In 1969 we even walked on the moon. And yet as late as 2000, the earth’s deepest cave—the supercave—remained undiscovered. This is the story of the men and women who risked everything to find it, earning their place in history beside the likes of Peary, Amundsen, Hillary, and Armstrong.
Anna is now INSIDE Planet Earth and not liking it much. But ... the show must go on and she signed up for it. I suppose I did too, I'm about as happy about it as she is and I'm only READING about it. My uneasiness is a tribute to the skills of the author. And deeper we go ... As you can imagine, the people who choose to do this are not ordinary people. Blind Descent gives us vivid portraits of some of these characters. These are not efforts where a few guys go cave exploring for the day. These are huge teams and logistics operations with camps established along the way like for Everest climbs, only upside down with the hardest part at the end. Finished this a while ago but forgot to review. If I reviewed at the the time, this probably would've gotten 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4. But with time and reflection, I'm rounding down to 3. There are many wonderful books about explorers and adventurers. Among them are Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, which looks at those who climb (or try) Everest and Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees, which looks at a group of climbers who seek to scale the world’s tallest trees. Blind Descent joins their ranks as an info-rich report on the world of deep-earth explorers who risk all to descend deeper into the earth’s crust than anyone has gone before, to find that deepest place. I can't understand why anyone would want to go caving. Well, let me rephrase that. I cannot understand why anyone would want to go somewhere where they cannot see any further than a few feet in front of them. The laundry list of dangers involved with going that deep into caves is just terrifying.Drowning, poisonous gas inhalation and electrocution are perils of journeying through a supercave. Tabor says there are more than 50 ways for a person to die during these explorations. Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong are two explorers who have become household names -- but what about Bill Stone and Alexander Klimchouk? In 2004, both men attempted to find the deepest cave on Earth -- Stone explored southern Mexico's Cheve cave, and Klimchouk delved inside the freezing Krubera, a supercave in the Republic of Georgia. Author James Tabor has documented their intrepid search in his new book, Blind Descent, which he discusses with NPR's Guy Raz. Book six in the mystery series starring U.S. Park Ranger Anna Pigeon takes Anna to New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns, where one of her friends, and an avid caver, has been seriously injured while exploring a new (and not open to the public) cave system. Frieda has a serious head injury and is mostly unconscious, but she has asked for Anna. So, Anna swallows her claustrophobia to come to her friend’s aid. In a brief moment of lucidity, Frieda tells Anna that it was not an accident.
Leisure, Travel + (2015-10-15). "This Is What It Looks Like To Summit Mount Everest Alone". Huffington Post . Retrieved 2017-03-16. The writing itself is okay. There is no bad language, sexual content or violence. The author does talk about his bodily functions in detail at times which was a bit much. There is a lot of unnecessary detail about other events in the author's life that are not related to the main story. He always emerges as the hero in those stories as well.... Does their circadian rhythm re-establish itself immediately on surfacing and having a good night's sleep or does the caving rhythm persist? Are there any long-term effects from prolonged darkness and being deep underground? In Nevada Barr's "Blind Descent", the 6th Anna Pigeon novel, Anna, a ranger serving at Mesa Verde National Park, is tapped to assist in the rescue of a caver with an broken leg and head injury inside Lechuguilla, a vast cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. If you're not familiar with the Anna Pigeon series, each book involves Anna's skills as an outdoors-woman and as a detective. In this case, the injured woman is a co-worker of Anna's, who has asked specifically for her, and tells her when she arrives that her injury was not an accident. Cue the cheesy film noir music! A former Navy rescue swimmer reaches Everest's summit - and survives a harrowing return trip". Militarytimes.com . Retrieved 16 February 2015.One crazy "small world" experience happened in this book. It turns out that my former physical therapist, Pat Stone, is Bill Stone's ex-wife. Who knew?
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