Review by debbielouise -- The Altitude Journals

[debbielouise]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Altitude Journals" by David J Mauro.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Altitude Journals – by David J Mauro

The Altitude Journals is an account of one man’s attempt to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. A quest that only 65 Americans have survived.

As a child, Dave did not stand out as someone who would go on to achieve great things, he did not excel at anything and was not particularly good at sports. After graduating from college Dave married, had two children and his career took off. Life was comfortable for a while, but then his brother died of alcoholism and his marriage began to fall apart. An economic downturn affected his business and Dave felt like a failure.

While still trying to find his feet after his divorce. Dave was asked by his brother-in-law Ty to join him on a climbing expedition to Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America. Feeling he had nothing more to lose Dave said yes, but doubted he would make it to the top.

The experience was tough, but life changing. The depression Dave had slipped into began to lift. At the time he had no intention of climbing more mountains, but he kept feeling called to climb again. Seven years later he was attempting the highest mountain in the world, Everest. Apart from the mountain climbing adventures, this account is also about Dave’s personal journey of finding self-belief, joy and the ability to love again.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Altitude Journals is an enjoyable, interesting and well written book.

Each chapter of the book covers Dave’s attempt to reach the summit of one of the seven mountains. At first I wondered how the writer would keep the account from becoming repetitive after the fourth or fifth mountain, but the readers are taken to far flung places, such as Papua New Guinea, Russia and Tanzania. Each experience was different and came with its unique set of challenges. This kept the book interesting and it moved at a good pace.

It is a great read for mountain climbers and non-climbers alike. It did not matter if you knew nothing about climbing, or about any of the places Dave went to. There was not too much technical detail, but enough to help you understand how challenging the achievement was and the skill, fitness and mental strength required. For someone interested in climbing one of the mountains, I think this book would give good insight into what it will be like and what to expect.

Altitude Journals is non-fiction, but it reads like a novel and the fact that everything written really happened makes it even more compelling reading.

It was inspiring to hear how an ordinary person can achieve more than they ever thought they could, simply by taking each ‘mountain’ at a time and sometimes just one step at a time.

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The Altitude Journals
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