Enduring Patagonia

outstanding!!

Gregory Crouch is more than an adventure writer; he is a nature poet, chronicling his climbs in the Patagonian Andes--the near vertical faces of Cerro Torre, Fitzroy, Aguja Poincenot--fighting rock and ice, snow and wind, fear and fatigue, while conquering the otherworldly mountains straddling Chile and Argentina. Crouch's team of climbers was the first to complete a winter ascent of Cerro Torre's notorious west face in winter, a mind-bending feat considering how often climbs end in failure and sometimes death. His passion for climbing began as a cadet at West Point, where he scaled the Shawangunk Mountains by the Hudson River in New York, and continued long after he left the military following the first Gulf War. He worked construction jobs before becoming a full-time writer, saving every cent and going back to the Patagonian range again and again, comparing his quest to Captain Ahab's obsession with the big white whale in Moby Dick. Crouch's book is full of ripe metaphor and imagery: "Cracks and booms heard in the howl of storm are comprehensible to me, but not the mumbled conversations, barking dogs, ringing church bells, and the toneless organ growl that I hear...the asymphonic chorus that will pipe us into hell." The game is survival, and those who do are the unsung heroes of climbing as in war: "True toughness sits quietly, like the dull luster of a worn pair of combat boots or a battered ice axe."

The best book on climbing, and life's choices, I've read this year. Highly recommended if you want to combine the inner exploration of what's possible with your life with an unconventional story arc on life's purpose and meaning. Gregory Crouch walked away from it all, went climbing, and ended up with so much more in return. We could all learn a lot from his experience.Book is notable for some of the best, highly detailed, humorous, and incredibly well written climbing stories along with what it really takes mentally and physically to climb some of the world's toughest peaks. Virtually every page is filled with climbing lore, philosophy, and hard core stories. When it's not, it's about the intrepid life of Gregory Crouch, who took an unconventional left turn on life's modern career path that has been amazingly fulfilling for him, and maybe less for most of us than we'd like to admit. About as good as it gets in climbing writing. Highly recommended.

If good writing matters to you -- a lot -- then whether you even like climbing or not is almost irrelevant as to whether you nab the book.The writer's intense emotional connectivity to the mountains of Patagonia, his compulsion to make the climb, the relentless physical drive to make these climbs happen are narrated in such a lyrical fashion that you'll fall in love with the mission too.There are portions where he is talking about snow and mountains faces and god awful weather that are so beautiful it translates into the kind of yearning most of us reserve for a first love.This is one of those books I"ll read again, just because I want to swim in that language.

I've never gone rock climbing in my whole life and don't really have any ambitions to do so... but this book is so beautifully written and inspiring that none of that really matters. I love the intensely personal tone of this book, almost like reading a diary. Taking a peek inside the intimate world of the alpinists was also very interesting and special. I find myself constantly highlighting great quotes to remember for presentations to my team or just general life moments. It takes a special writer to capture a story that is inspiring without being trite or cheesy. Crouch is that writer.

I like adventure and I enjoy reading about climbing and climbers in particular. I find that, in addition to the physical skills and mental toughness required to be an accomplished climber, I’m also inspired by climber’s passion and total commitment to their craft. To be dedicated to something where you are willing to give all you have physically and mentally to accomplishing a goal has always been attractive to me. In this respect Crouch does not disappoint. I also enjoyed Crouch’s honesty and humility when talking about his own abilities. This is a rare quality among climbing authors. This is a surprisingly well written book where the author is able to share with the reader, quite graphically, some of the physical and mental challenges a climber faces when climbing in such a remote part of the world.

This is a good book, but I'm not comfortable with the pain and frustration the author glories in. Why then, you ask, did I go to West Point as he did? That's a really good question! But, I'm glad I did and I'm glad Greg Crouch did, too. He's a better man than I. I admire his accomplishments while knowing that I would never attempt them myself. You will be impressed. Check it out.

Really enjoyed reading this book. The author does a wonderful job of bringing the drama and storms right into your vision. The book covers some of the most epic routes on Patagonia's high peaks and the list of charactors could not have been more real if they were made up.The chapters of Gregs flatland journies to get to his climbs are enjoyable. There could have been some more photos but other than that a real good book about what it takes to climb and stay sane in some of the worst mountain weather on the planet.

Recommended by an old American, ( well younger than me ! ), when I was wandering about in the Patagonian mountains with my tent in 2013.A good read, and very evocative of the extreme conditions that prevail in the Patagonian mountains. ( And the long periods of hanging about, hoping that the weather will get better, but it rarely does ).Crouch tries to get into the 'why do climbers climb' question, but in this early book of his, does not really get far with that. ( Reading his later biography, he has progressed a lot ).If you like being in the mountains in bad conditions - some of us do - it's well worth getting a secondhand copy to remind yourself that conditions could be worse.

I've dreamed of climbing here for most of my life. This book is the next best thing. Taking you into the heart of Cerro Torre and into the heart of someone with the courage to make the dream a reality and then some. A must read for anyone interested in climbing and adventure

Such Great stories hard to put down. Wish it was way way way way way way longer of a read