The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre

Being a climber and guide for nearly 40 years and having followed the discussion around Cerro Torre's first ascent since the 70's, I did not expect Kelly Cordes to unearth anything that I was not aware of regarding the history of Cerro Torre. It was with great delight and admiration for the author that I found a number of new, key wrinkles to this story of one of the planet's most iconic peaks. Cordes' research is simply superb. His friendships with key, modern day alpinists as well as his own personal (and impressive) climbing experience on Cerro Torre put him in the unique position of being an ideal writer to look at this story from 1959 to the present. His book fully covers the Maestri attempts of 1959 and 1970, as well as careful attention to important key ascents of the peak, including the first fair means ascent of the Southeast Ridge by Kennedy and Kruk and the first free ascent by David Lama, both in 2012. There is so much I enjoyed about this book, but what really stands out is Cordes' authentic and gifted voice as a writer. Beautifully written and professionally researched, the reader feels as though Kelly is sitting across the room discussing an issue that has captured the interest of climbers and arm chair mountaineers for decades. Even though what he uncovers in his research further adds nails to a very well nailed coffin, one can hear the human compassion for Maestri and others caught up in what is certainly one of the greatest shams in climbing history, Maestri's claim that he and Toni Egger summited in 1959. Cordes' sympathy for what the prevaricators' lives must be like, just makes his final position all the more worthy of respect. I have read nearly all of the great books written or translated in English on the topic of mountaineering and alpinism. The Tower deserves to share the shelf with The White Spider, Webster's Snow in the Kingdom, Hornbein's Everest: The West Ridge, Messner's The Crystal Horizon and others.

This was a story I didn't know about prior to reading this book. The story kept my attention, and I learned some things about alpine climbing. The terminology is heavily geared towards a reader with knowledge of the alpine climbing world, and required a bit of research on my part to understand what all the new (to me) terminology meant. The story got a little slow at points, but for the most part was a good read. If you like adventure stories, this is a good book even if you have little to no background in alpine climbing.

I have never contemplated climbing anything more than a short ladder in my own home and this book captivated me! The book reads like a mystery novel but even better. The interviews with the present day climbers and those who created the history of climbing are fascinating. I wished with each interview that I had been there to witness it. Cordes manages to get into the psyche of the people in a subtle, fresh and compassionate way weaving in their stories and perspectives with an eye and ear for a fair hearing. Just the facts. They speak for themselves. The photography is awesome in the true sense of the word. Just seeing where the climbers made their ascents sent shivers down my spine but what they saw is gorgeously compelling at the same time. Kudos to Kelly Cordes for telling this juicy and sometimes gruesome story about a world I would have never known!

The Tower is a gripping, thorough, well-researched and well-written history of attempts on the world's hardest mountain, lavishly illustrated. I recommend buying the hardback rather than the Kindle version; the bigger photos look better, and you'll want to keep flipping back to the route topos. The photos of rime tunnels are jaw-dropping. I like the narrative style, which jumps around a bit to give you more familiarity with specific routes or other themes rather than following a strict chronology. One very minor complaint: The bolt traverse on the Compressor route plays an important role in the story, but none of the many photos explicitly show this feature. One somewhat bigger complaint: I got a little tired of the Maestri-bashing, particularly with repeated variations of the phrase, "until Maestri came along with his compressor." Kelly Cordes obviously thinks the compressor was a bad idea, but this becomes clear from the journalism without the need for sarcasm. Furthermore, Maestri is double-damned for lying about his first ascent and clinging to the notion that to question his word is to question the entire history of mountaineering. Cordes admirably covers the topic of standard of proof. Still, it would have been nice to hear more good things about Maestri. Did he really do over a thousand first ascents? Apart from national pride, is there a good reason why some people are so fanatically loyal to him? Too bad Walter Bonatti didn't get the benefit of some of that national pride. My hardback accidentally included repeats of the first 20 pages of color photos after the index, so I cut some out and stuck them on the wall. Very inspiring.

In 1959, an Italian climber, Cesare Maestri, announced a first ascent of Cerro Torre, a then-obscure but magnificent mountain in Chile's remote Patagonia region. His Austrian partner, Toni Egger, died on the mountain. In the years since, Cerro Torre has become a climbing icon, while doubts have grown about the validity of Maestri's claim. Mountaineer and writer Kelly Cordes has the gripping narrative in "The Tower." The author mixes past and present narratives on the mountain to present a controversial but fairly convincing case for the truth about Cerre Torre's first ascent. Along the way, there are some hair-raising climbing accounts, some fascinating insights into the international climbing community, and an exploration of Patagonia. The narrative is backed by some awesome color and black and white imagery, maps, and diagrams of climbs. This is a page-turner of a read. Well recommended.

Die Cerro Torre-Kontroverse um Cesare Maestris vermeintliche Erstbesteigung und die daraus resultierenden Konsequenzen erhitzen die Gemüter von Alpinisten seit nunmehr 60 Jahren. Das vorliegende Buch offenbart sich als eine geradezu fabelhafte Lektüre dazu: Kelly Cordes gelingt das Kunststück, höchstes Detail- und Kenntnisreichtum mit Spannung und Abenteuer zu kombinieren. »The Tower« wird zum Pageturner! Dabei hält Cordes sich im Hinblick auf Bewertungen der portraitierten Protagonisten am Berg angenehm zurück und bleibt stets bescheiden. Vielen Dank für diese inspirierende zugleich unfassbare Geschichte, die den Leser mehr als einmal ratlos zurück lässt. Fünf Sterne deluxe.

One of the best books I've ever read. If you thought you knew the story of Cerro Torre, you will be pleasantly surprised. Kelly Cordes is a outstanding writer. This book has all the epics of a climbing masterpiece with the lies and deception of a fiction. An absolute must read and definitely one you will want to put up on the shelf. Couldn't put it down, thank you Kelly for an amazing book.

Bellissima cronaca degli eventi che hanno reso famoso il Cerro Torre e i suoi salitori ! In questa versione in inglese la lettura è piacevole e fluida ….. consigliabilissimo

Kelly managed to describe the whole history of climbing the iconic Cerro Torre in the most interesting, human, and kind way. While there are quite a few books about climbing controversies out there, this one made it to my favorite as I appreciate how objective the author remained and how despite collecting overwhelming evidence he did not engage in any kind of negative sentiment. A must-read for any climbers who love Patagonia.

Couldn't put this book down. From the first to the last page it's non stop. You will not be disappointed