Rocky Horrors, Frozen Smiles: A Mountaineer at the End of His Rope Horror Book Review

Avalanches, lightning on mountaintops, high-altitude diseases, grizzly bears, the unpredictability of people under extreme stress, hypothermia, and even exploding volcanoes-these are Peter’s “Rocky Horrors.” This book contains refreshingly un-conventional stories combining climbing with travel, culture, and ad-venture. Here the journey is at least as important as the objective. The characters range from the anally retentive to the hilarious. 

Peter Austen has ad-ventured in 60 countries over 40 years and returned intact from many famous peaks including Everest in Nepal, Mount Communism in Russia, Mont Blanc in France, Mount Robson in Canada, the Cascades of Washington state, and Alpamayo in Peru. He reveals the sometimes unavoidable and very human errors that occur, and writes of his mishaps and amusements in a style that make for fascinating reading. Peter Austen’s writing is for armchair mountaineers and serious climbers alike. This is his second book, following Everest Canada: The Climb for Hope.