Birkby, Robert. 2008. Moutain Madness: Scott Fischer, Mount Everest & A Life Lived On High. New York: Citadel Press.
Review by Michael Beach
In this work, Robert Birkby shares the unusual life of Scott Fischer who was a well-known mountaineer and co-founder of the adventure tour company called Mountain Madness. Birkby was a personal friend of Fischer, and had joined him on some expeditions. Fischer’s life was full of mountaineering expeditions all over the world. He was inspired by a television program he saw as a youth about the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. He saved up money, attended a summer session, and his life’s course was forever altered for the teenage New Jersey Fischer.
The book depicts the rise of Fischer as a mountaineer, an adventure educator, and finally as an entrepreneur. Along the way he builds a philosophy, and builds a family with his wife who was an airline pilot. His mountaineering eventually took him to Mount Everest. He succeeded summitting on his second attempt. After gaining that credential he felt ready for Mountain Madness to guide others professionally. Birkby shares the successes and failures of the first year in the endeavor. Sadly, the second year was the fateful year in which a number of climbers famously died when a storm suddenly engulfed them on the day of their summit attempt. Scott Fischer and some of his guide clients were among the trapped. Fischer was among those who perished.
The book speaks to the appeal many people have for adventure travel, and specifically the challenge of high-altitude mountaineering. The risk and difficulties of forming and running a business while navigating how it all affected his family prove interesting parallels. The story of Fischer's life as depicted by Birkby is both inspiring and cautionary.
Review by Michael Beach
In this work, Robert Birkby shares the unusual life of Scott Fischer who was a well-known mountaineer and co-founder of the adventure tour company called Mountain Madness. Birkby was a personal friend of Fischer, and had joined him on some expeditions. Fischer’s life was full of mountaineering expeditions all over the world. He was inspired by a television program he saw as a youth about the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. He saved up money, attended a summer session, and his life’s course was forever altered for the teenage New Jersey Fischer.
The book depicts the rise of Fischer as a mountaineer, an adventure educator, and finally as an entrepreneur. Along the way he builds a philosophy, and builds a family with his wife who was an airline pilot. His mountaineering eventually took him to Mount Everest. He succeeded summitting on his second attempt. After gaining that credential he felt ready for Mountain Madness to guide others professionally. Birkby shares the successes and failures of the first year in the endeavor. Sadly, the second year was the fateful year in which a number of climbers famously died when a storm suddenly engulfed them on the day of their summit attempt. Scott Fischer and some of his guide clients were among the trapped. Fischer was among those who perished.
The book speaks to the appeal many people have for adventure travel, and specifically the challenge of high-altitude mountaineering. The risk and difficulties of forming and running a business while navigating how it all affected his family prove interesting parallels. The story of Fischer's life as depicted by Birkby is both inspiring and cautionary.
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