The White Death

Tragedy and Heroism in an Avalanche Zone

By: McKay Jenkins

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

In 1969, five young men from Montana set out to accomplish what no one had before: to scale the sheer north face of Mt. Cleveland, Glacier National Park’s tallest mountain, in winter. Two days later tragedy struck: They were buried in an avalanche so deep that their bodies would not be discovered until the following June. The White Death is the riveting account of that fated climb and of the breathtakingly heroic rescue attempt that ensued.

In the spirit of Peter Matthiessen and John McPhee, McKay Jenkins interweaves a harrowing narrative with an astonishing expanse of relevant knowledge ranging from the history of mountain climbing to the science of snow. Evocative and moving, this fascinating book is a humbling account of man at his most intrepid and nature at its most indomitable.

©2000 McKay Jenkins (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

fascinating!

excellent! great intro to snow science and avalanche history. the narrator is easy to listen to and calming despite the suspenseful nature of the story.

Reminds me of Young Men and Fire by Mcclean.

This book is really about avalanches, their history, and science. It does use a tragedy that happened in glacier national park in the late 60s to weave the book together. Great history of mountaineering and of man's struggle to understand, and deal with avalanches. The book is captivating, highly recommend it.

NOT about the tragedy in Glacier National Park

This is about the history of mountain climbing & some of the science of snow. There are only 4 chapters about the 5 boys who died in that avalanche. I was VERY disappointed! Thousands of disjointed factoids. Narration was ok. I'm returning this!