New York, 1979, 1st edition. 244 pp, 8 plates. Hardcover with dust jacket. Fine.
1976 American Bicentennial Everest Expedition was only the second American expedition to make the top, and only Chris Chandler and Bob Cormack summited. The only other climbers to summit that year were the British soldiers Bronco Lane and Brummie Stokes. The four climbers were numbers 53, 54, 55 and 56. In those days if you climbed Everest (or even if you failed) you wrote a book. Now, all you do is post the news on Facebook and Instagram from the summit.
Other than 1974 when nobody summited, and a few other years in the 70s and 80s when very few summited, this was the worst year until 2016, when again nobody summited.
The odds were against this group of mostly amateurs achieving the ultimate mountaineer's triumph - reaching the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. But two of the 12 climbers did so, including Chris Chandler, a doctor who lives on Vashon Island.
Ridgeway's book is a detailed account of the 1976 American Bicentennial Everest Expedition, of which he was a member. The Boldest Dream captures human stamina stretched to it's maximum on the trek to and climb up the mountain. The group carved a route through the dangerous icefall at Everest's base in four days, a time rivaling the record of any other expedition.
They reached inside themselves for every ounce of fortitude, climbing above 18,000 feet for 44 days to place themselves and supplies in a position for a summit attempt. Then there was the triumph and jubilation as Chandler and Robert Cormack reached the top of Everest, followed by concern later that they may have perished as darkness enveloped them on the descent. But the expedition beat the odds - a majority of Everest expeditions lose at least one member.
