
The White Ladder
Triumph and Tragedy at the Dawn of Mountaineering
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Narrated by:
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Richard Trinder
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By:
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Daniel Light
About this listen
From the smoking volcanoes of South America to the great snowy ranges of the Himalaya, The White Ladder follows a cast of extraordinary characters—conquistadors and captains, scientists and surveyors, alpinists and adventurers—up the slopes of the world's highest peaks.
A masterpiece of compelling narrative history, The White Ladder describes the epic rise of mountaineering's world altitude record, a story of ever higher climbs by figures great and small of mountaineering. Daniel Light describes how climbers used revolutionary techniques to launch themselves into the most forbidding conditions. The expeditions illustrate evolutionary changes in climbing style, the advancement of high-altitude science, and the development of mountain climbing as an industry. Throughout, Light pays special attention to Incan climbers, Gurkha guides, Sherpa mountaineers, and many others who are often overlooked. He offers nuanced new perspectives on familiar characters, including Fanny Bullock Workman, Aleister Crowley, and Oscar Eckenstein.
A story of innovation, invention, and determination, this book immerses listeners in a fascinating historical period. With their breathtaking exploits, these climbers laid the groundwork for the historic ascents of K2 and Everest that came after-and heightened the spectacle of their dangerous sport.
©2025 Daniel Light (P)2024 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Overall
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No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant victories and hardships more brilliantly than Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest essays and reporting, Krakauer writes of mountains from the memorable perspective of one who has himself struggled with solo madness to scale Alaska's notorious Devils Thumb.
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Entertaining but Irresponsible Writing
- By Ram on 04-07-18
By: Jon Krakauer
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Training for the New Alpinism
- A Manual for the Climber as Athlete
- By: Steve House, Scott Johnston, Mark Twight - foreword
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Steve House, world-class climber and Patagonia ambassador, and Scott Johnston, coach of US national champions and World Cup Nordic skiers, translate training theory into practice to allow you to coach yourself to any mountaineering goal. Applying training practices from other endurance sports, House and Johnston demonstrate that following a carefully designed regimen is as effective for alpinism as it is for any other endurance sport and leads to better performance. They deliver detailed instruction on how to plan and execute training tailored to your individual circumstances.
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Superb
- By Harri on 04-18-19
By: Steve House, and others
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Denali's Howl
- The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America's Wildest Peak
- By: Andy Hall
- Narrated by: Jim Manchester
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1967, 12 young men attempted to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley—known to the locals as Denali—one of the most popular and deadly mountaineering destinations in the world. Only five survived. Journalist Andy Hall, son of the park superintendent at the time, investigates the tragedy. He spent years tracking down survivors, lost documents, and recordings of radio communications. In Denali's Howl, Hall reveals the full story.
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Disappointing
- By David Shear on 07-07-14
By: Andy Hall
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The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah
- Two Mountaineering Classics
- By: David Roberts, Jon Krakauer - foreword
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The publication of The Mountain of My Fear in 1968 and Deborah in 1970 changed the face of the mountaineering narrative. Now these two classic expedition narratives by acclaimed writer David Roberts are together again in one volume for a new generation of readers.
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An honest look into why people climb mountains
- By Kyra Rhodes on 05-19-21
By: David Roberts, and others
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The Shining Mountain
- By: Peter Boardman
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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"It’s a preposterous plan. Still, if you do get up it, it’ll be the hardest thing that’s been done in the Himalayas." Thus spoke Chris Bonington when Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker presented him with their plan to tackle the unscaled West Wall of Changabang - the Shining Mountain - in 1976. Bonington’s was one of the more positive responses; most felt the climb impossibly hard, especially for a two-man, lightweight expedition.
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An absolute classic
- By Kindle Customer on 08-28-20
By: Peter Boardman
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Trespassers at the Golden Gate
- A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. The woman fired a single bullet into his chest. “I did it and I don’t deny it,” she said when arrested shortly thereafter. “He ruined me and my daughter.”
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Story of a City
- By Suzanna on 04-29-25
By: Gary Krist
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Everest
- The West Ridge
- By: Thomas Hornbein, Jon Krakauer - foreword
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest via the South Col route. Roughly two weeks after Whittaker's achievement, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld, fellow American mountaineers on the same expedition, became the first climbers ever to summit the world's highest peak via the dangerous and forbidding West Ridge—a route on which only a handful of climbers have since succeeded.
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Great Story, Too Much Intro
- By Lane on 10-06-24
By: Thomas Hornbein, and others
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Bad Naturalist
- One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop
- By: Paula Whyman
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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When empty nester Paula Whyman climbs to a peak in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, her plans for a backyard ecology project quickly morph into a massive endeavor. In Bad Naturalist, Whyman struggles with conflicting advice from experts, an influx of invasive species, delayed plans, and the occasional rattlesnake—but none of it dampens her irrepressible passion for protecting the land.
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beautifully written self discovery within a description of a wonderful property.
- By anthony adamovich on 02-25-25
By: Paula Whyman
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The Incorruptibles
- A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld
- By: Dan Slater
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early 1900s, prior to World War I, New York City was a vortex of vice and corruption. On the Lower East Side, then the most crowded ghetto on earth, Eastern European Jews formed a dense web of crime syndicates. Gangs of horse poisoners and casino owners, pimps and prostitutes, thieves and thugs, jockeyed for dominance while their family members and neighbors toiled in the unregulated garment industry. But when the notorious murder of a gambler attracted global attention, a coterie of affluent German-Jewish uptowners decided to take matters into their own hands.
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Very Entertaining/Researched
- By ptr on 02-23-25
By: Dan Slater
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The Cure for Women
- Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women's Lives Forever
- By: Lydia Reeder
- Narrated by: Sara Sheckells
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Full of larger than life characters and cinematically written, The Cure for Women documents the birth of a sexist science still haunting us today as the fight for control of women’s bodies and lives continues.
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Refreshingly an accurate and elegant read
- By TpK on 05-08-25
By: Lydia Reeder
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Madhouse at the End of the Earth
- The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
- By: Julian Sancton
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters.
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Excellent story
- By Ginger 3701 on 05-23-21
By: Julian Sancton
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Comfort in Darkness
- The Invisible Power of Jiu Jitsu
- By: Rickson Gracie, Peter Maguire - contributor
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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A mythic figure in fighting and a legendary member of the “first family of martial arts,” Rickson Gracie is considered the godfather of what we recognize today as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Although Rickson’s three decades of total dominance in Jiu Jitsu is astounding, even more astounding is the serenity and spiritual depth of his approach to combat. For Rickson, Jiu Jitsu is a metaphor for life. Some consider Jiu Jitsu a martial art, others consider it a sport, but to Gracie, it is a philosophical system he uses to face and evaluate life’s challenges and maintain happiness and mental balance.
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Basically a rewrite of, “Breathe”.
- By Reece on 11-20-24
By: Rickson Gracie, and others
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Cabin
- Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman
- By: Patrick Hutchison
- Narrated by: Patrick Hutchison
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Wit’s End isn’t just a state of mind. It’s the name of a gravel road, the address of a rundown, off-the-grid cabin, 120 shabby square feet of fixer-upper Patrick Hutchison purchased on a whim in the mossy woods of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. To say Hutchison didn’t know what he was getting into is no more an exaggeration than to say he’s a man with nearly zero carpentry skills. Well, used to be. You can learn a lot over six years of renovations. CABIN is the story of those renovations, but it's also a love story; of a place, of possibilities, and of the process of construction.
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Enjoyable read. no see, some F-bombs Great experience
- By Richelle's Music on 04-23-25
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Into Thin Air
- A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
- By: Jon Krakauer
- Narrated by: Philip Franklin
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of Into the Wild. Read by the author. Also, hear a Fresh Air interview with Krakauer conducted shortly after his ordeal.
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Audio version RUINED with new narrator!
- By Shannon Ellis on 02-06-16
By: Jon Krakauer
What listeners say about The White Ladder
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Twist
- 04-06-25
Nice dive into some of the earliest mountaineering expeditions
An interesting and enjoyable look at some of the earliest recorded mountaineering expeditions. Although it’s predominantly focused on the Himalaya - how could it not be? - the author also included stories from South America’s’ tallest mountains as well. A good book for mountaineering history enthusiasts, and worth the listen.
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