High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed

Rating All Ages Genre non fiction Publisher Hyperion External Links Official High Crimes Website

If you’ve ever thought about climbing Everest, this book would be a perfect detraction from that idea. Michael Kodas experiences first-hand what that kind of wilderness and edge-of-survival feat can do to humans, and it’s not a pretty sight. From people stealing necessary gear to people lying about their accomplishments, Everest certainly brings out the worst in people. There are two main stories in the book: Michael Kodas’ journey, and the death of Dr. Nils Antezana and the resulting investigation into his death.

Micheal Kodas’ journey starts out innocently enough. He and his wife had been interested in mountain climbing, and when he was approached by George Dijmarescu, the leader of the fated group, the bargain was too great to pass up. Unfortunately, the group immediately dissolved as George’s true nature came out. He is characterized as having serious anger management problems and control issues, and exploits his customers to make an easy buck. Kodas’’ part is actually the weakest part of the book as it’s too personal to the author to really be considered in any sort of objective light. Basically after the initial introductions, Kodas airs his gripes about the party and boils it down to very simple perspectives of ‘my side’ and ‘George’s side’ when it was probably more complex than just that. Sure, he had a crappy experience where the sherpas took advantage of him, his leaders never stayed close to them or gave them instructions, and he ended up getting looted, but his writing just comes off as extremely vehement and biased. He seems to use his occupation as a journalist as a means to assuage the bitter edge to his story, but it’s difficult to parse out what actually happened and what he felt had happened. It’s clear that he’s trying to point out the lawlessness of the mountains and the danger of irresponsible guide; however, he does a better job of this when he moves the story away from his own personal experiences.

The story of Nils Antezana shows how much the guide and customer rely on each other for survival. Antezana was an elderly mountaineer who had set his sights on Everest. At the age of 69 he reached the summit, but unfortunately did not survive the climb down. He was left by his guide and Sherpas to die on the mountain. How did this happen? The guide, Gustavo Lisi, had lied on his resume and stated that he had reached the summit previously, when in fact he had stolen pictures of another climbing partner, Juan Carlos, and pretended that the person in the picture was him. Besides this, there were various people that Antezana’’s daughter checked up on who had had poor relations with Lisi before Everest as well as on Everest. Unfortunately, none of these people ever warned Antezana, although the question is, even if he had been warned, would Nils have listened?

There are smaller stories throughout of the prostitution rings, the drug rings, and the refilled oxygen tank suppliers. Unlike many of the people who climbed Everest 60 or 70 years ago, the people who climb Everest now are doing it for a quick buck or for bragging rights. It has become a tourist attraction and each year the number of people who arrive at base camp increases as does the number of injuries and deaths. Inexperienced mountaineers and guides come to Everest without realizing the risks only of the glory that they can achieve at the summit. This book is a reminder to everyone who has ideas of grandeur that there will always be risks at the top of the world.

I had a lot of problems with the book besides Kodas’ recounting of his events. First, he tries, most unsuccessfully, to merge many different threads and people into the book. The focus switches too many times for the audience to really get a feeling for what’s going on and who the people really are. We don’t develop any sort of attachment to the people involved and end up being annoyed by them: Kodas for only complaining and not taking any action, Nils for not even bothering to check up on Lisi’s background, and the whole slew of other people because they just don’t have any depth to them. This could have spanned several books but instead it’s packed into only one. The encompassing problem that Kodas has is the blatant disregard for human life on the mountains. Certainly the people that sell faulty equipment for a buck or profit off of stealing other people’s equipment necessary for survival should be reprimanded. However the line gets fuzzy when he also denounces people who don’t save somebody in need. Self-preservation is a very strong instinct and for people who are already tired or who are nearly on the verge of death themselves, it is a difficult dilemma to decide if they should save someone when they themselves could also die. Certainly it’s a choice, but to look down upon people who didn’t stop to save another person is a bit tricky, especially if you weren’t in the same situation. Could Kodas say with certainty that he would save someone who was passed out or suffered from an injury when he was on the brink of death himself? It’s a tough question to answer.

In the end, the book was an interesting read despite the disjointed narrative. It shows that the worst and best parts of humans are amplified in the most dangerous place on earth. It certainly made this reviewer think twice about mountain climbing.