There are more worlds at the top of the world than most of us know. The Everest guiding industry has a strange, gnarled history and Will Cockrell has turned it into a fair-minded, engrossing tale. Its a book full of unforgettable characters in a spectacular setting that's both physically and morally treacherous. William Finnegan, staff writer at the New Yorker and Pulitzer Prize winning author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Will Cockrells Everest, Inc. is a fast-moving, nuanced account of the peak's transformation from the ultimate mountaineering challenge into a booming business opportunity. Beginning with Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's historic conquest in 1953, Cockrell recounts how a colorful cast of moguls, entrepreneurial guides, and Sherpa visionaries expanded access to the summit and raked in big bucks in the process. His book is both a cautionary tale of the dangers of overexposure and a celebration of what remains the greatest terrestrial adventure of them all. Joshua Hammer, New York Times bestselling author of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and The Falcon Thief
Its high time our collective consciousness got an update on what it really means to climb Everest. In the deeply researched and cinematic Everest, Inc., Cockrell has mapped a new route expertly. Whether you want to climb the world's tallest mountain or laugh at those masochistic and wealthy enough to try, this is a page-turner." Diana Helmuth, author of How to Suffer Outside and The Witching Year
Although Mount Everest perpetually makes headlines, there have been precious few attempts to objectively chronicle its tumultuous recent history. With deft storytelling and in-depth research, Will Cockrell fills that void, providing a kaleidoscopic view that honors many different perspectivesmost important, that of the local Sherpa guides who call the Himalayas home. Whether you are thinking about taking a crack at the worlds highest peak, or are simply an armchair mountaineer trying to make sense of the complex dynamics driving the modern Everest industry, Everest, Inc. should be required reading. Freddie Wilkinson, professional climber, documentary filmmaker, and author of One Mountain Thousand Summits
With exhaustive reporting, eloquent prose, and spine-tingling pacing, Everest, Inc. deserves a spot alongside the great mountaineering narratives of the last decades. But it's also refreshingly different than any alpine tale before it. Unpacking the mountain's mystery like a detective on a crime scene, Cockrell shows that the story of Everest's industrial complex is every bit as grippingif not more sothan the challenge of ascent. This book had me glued from the first chapter and gathered momentum like an avalanche. Jaimal Yogis, author of The Fear Project and Saltwater Buddha
Theres something both inspiring and off-putting about humanitys fascination with Mount Everest . . . Adventure writer Cockrell (Outside, Mens Journal) teases out both sides of the issue, clearly conveying how exceedingly difficult the climb can be while describing in great detail the exponential growth of the industry Cockrell has done readers a service in setting it all down. Booklist
