
The Last of His Kind
The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer
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Narrated by:
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David de Vries
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By:
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David Roberts
About this listen
“Stunning and stirring.”
- Boston Globe
In The Last of His Kind, renowned adventure writer David Roberts gives readers a spellbinding history of mountain climbing in the twentieth century as told through the biography of Brad Washburn, legendary mountaineering pioneer and photographer. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, has praised David Roberts, saying, “Nobody alive writes better about mountaineering” - and nowhere is that truth more evident than in this breathtaking account of the life and exploits of America’s greatest mountain climber.
©2009 David Roberts. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Moments of Doubt and Other Mountaineering Writings
- By: David Roberts, Royal Robbins - foreword
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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This collection of 20 essays and articles on mountaineering and adventure by David Roberts, selected from the published works of two decades, showcases one of the most highly regarded writers in the field. The articles are composed of three types: Adventures (Roberts' own climbs and outings), Profiles (other adventurers), and Reflections (meditative essays about the meaning of the whole business). Roberts ranges the globe (Africa, Alaska, New Guinea) and introduces unique personalities (Reinhold Messner, John Roskelly, Don Sheldon).
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Roberts, as usual, is a great read/listen
- By kgohl on 06-11-20
By: David Roberts, and others
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Alone on the Ice
- The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration
- By: David Roberts
- Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp - the dogs were gone. Mawson plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizable, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, "Which one are you?"
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Put Another Log on the Fire
- By Mel on 02-07-13
By: David Roberts
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On the Ridge Between Life and Death
- A Climbing Life Reexamined
- By: David Roberts
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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What compels mountain climbers to take the risks that they do? Is it the thrill in the physical accomplishment, in managing to defy the odds, or both - and why do they continue to do what they do in the face of such great danger? In On the Ridge Between Life and Death, David Roberts confronts these questions head-on as he recounts the exhilarating highs and desperate lows of his climbing career.
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The same book as Deborah and Mountain of My Fears
- By joe on 02-16-22
By: David Roberts
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Sandstone Spine
- Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge
- By: David Roberts
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 1, 2004, three middle-aged buddies set out on one of the last geographic challenges never before attempted in North America: to hike the Comb Ridge in one continuous push. The Comb is an upthrust ridge of sandstone-virtually a mini-mountain range-that stretches almost unbroken for a hundred miles from just east of Kayenta, Arizona, to some ten miles west of Blanding, Utah. To hike the Comb is to run a gauntlet of up-and-down severities, with the precipice lurking on one hand, the fiendishly convoluted bedrock slab on the other-always at a sideways, ankle-wrenching pitch.
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Roberts never disappoints
- By David W. Cooper on 05-15-22
By: David Roberts
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Wanderlust
- An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Deep in the Arctic wilderness, Peter Freuchen awoke to find himself buried alive under the snow. During a sudden blizzard the night before, he had taken shelter underneath his dogsled and become trapped there while he slept. Now, as feeling drained from his body, he managed to claw a hole through the ice only to find himself in even greater danger: his beard, wet with condensation from his struggling breath, had frozen to his sled runners and lashed his head in place, exposing it to icy winds that needed only a few minutes to kill him. If Freuchen could escape that, he could escape anything.
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Amazingly in-depth look at an amazing person.
- By Dave on 06-18-23
By: Reid Mitenbuler
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Conquistadors of the Useless
- From the Alps to Annapurna
- By: Lionel Terray, David Roberts - foreword
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Frenchman Lionel Terray is one of mountaineering history's greatest alpinists, and his autobiography, Conquistadors of the Useless, stands among the "100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time", according to National Geographic Adventure magazine. Following World War II, when France desperately needed successes to heal its wounds, Terray emerged as a national hero, conquering summits atop the planet's highest mountains.
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Conquistadors of the Useless
- By Stephen on 05-23-21
By: Lionel Terray, and others
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Ghosts of K2
- By: Mick Conefrey
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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At 28,251 feet, K2 might be almost 800 feet shorter than Everest, but it’s a far harder climb. It will kill you on the way up and the way down. Mick Conefrey guides us through the early story of the legendary mountain and the extraordinary attempts that led up to its first ascent in 1954 - these are tales of riveting drama and unimaginable tragedy.
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First Review? It was an "okay" book
- By Matthew on 10-20-15
By: Mick Conefrey
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No Way Down
- Life and Death on K2
- By: Graham Bowley
- Narrated by: Sam Breen
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of Into Thin Air and Touching the Void, No Way Down by New York Times reporter Graham Bowley is the harrowing account of the worst mountain climbing disaster on K2, second to Everest in height . . . but second to no peak in terms of danger. From tragic deaths to unbelievable stories of heroism and survival, No Way Down is an amazing feat of storytelling and adventure writing, and, in the words of explorer and author Sir Ranulph Fiennes, "the closest you can come to being on the summit of K2 on that fateful day."
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Well done.
- By harold Orner on 06-09-25
By: Graham Bowley
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Limits of the Known
- By: David Roberts
- Narrated by: David Chandler
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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David Roberts, "veteran mountain climber and chronicler of adventures" (Washington Post), has spent his career documenting voyages to the most extreme landscapes on earth. In Limits of the Known, he reflects on humanity's - and his own - relationship to extreme risk. Part memoir and part history, this book tries to make sense of why so many have committed their lives to the desperate pursuit of adventure.
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Superlative book by an author I have grown to love
- By Darlene H. Moak on 01-11-25
By: David Roberts
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To the Edges of the Earth
- 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration
- By: Edward J. Larson
- Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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As 1909 dawned, the greatest jewels of exploration - set at the world's frozen extremes - lay unclaimed: the North and South Poles and the so-called "Third Pole", the pole of altitude, located in unexplored heights of the Himalaya. Before the calendar turned, three expeditions had faced death, mutiny, and the harshest conditions on the planet to plant flags at the furthest edges of the Earth.
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brutally honest accounts unbelievable stories
- By Troy Hamilton on 07-17-18
By: Edward J. Larson
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Annapurna
- A Woman's Place
- By: Arlene Blum, Maurice Herzog - foreword
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Never before has such an account of mountaineering triumph and tragedy been told from a woman's point of view. By proving that women had the skill, strength, and courage necessary to make this difficult and dangerous climb, the 1978 Women's Himalayan Expedition's accomplishment had a positive impact around the world, changing perceptions about women's abilities in sports and other arenas. And Annapurna: A Woman's Place has become an acknowledged classic in the annals of women's achievements - a story of challenge and commitment told with passion, humor, and unflinching honesty.
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An Actual Review (From Someone Who Listened)
- By Vinckei on 07-16-19
By: Arlene Blum, and others
an amazing life
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Passion drives Washburns Life
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The book helped me to piece together the early climbing days of many of his contemporaries.
As someone who lives in Massachusetts and hikes in New Hampshire and Alaska I found the connection with local organizations like the Harvard Mountaineering Club to be interesting and informative.
it also connected a lot of dots for other books I've read on Denali and K2 and the various exploits of Washburn's contemporaries .
if you're into climbing, cartography or aerial photography, then there's something in this book for you.
Great introduction to Washburn & climbing elites
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