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Title details for Shattered Air by Bob Madgic - Available

Shattered Air

A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome

by Bob Madgic
Adrian Esteban
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

On the evening of July 27, 1985, five hikers made a fateful choice to climb Yosemite's fabled Half Dome, even as the sky darkened and thunder rolled. By night's end, two would be dead from a lightning strike, three gravely wounded, and desperate EMTs would be overseeing a harrowing midnight helicopter rescue.

Shattered Air is a haunting account of recklessness, tragedy, courage, and rescue, a book whose depiction of Nature's power is tempered by unforgettable portraits of human courage and the will to survive. Listeners are sure to walk away with a newfound respect for lightning—and nature in general—after hearing this incredible true story.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 1, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781481566407
      • File size: 237089 KB
      • Duration: 08:13:56

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Text Difficulty: 9-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In 1985 two hikers were killed by lightning while climbing Yosemite's Half Dome, which has been described as a "granite lightning rod." This is their story, and much more. Madgic explores the history of Yosemite, the damage lightning can do, methods to treat it, the efforts of a female EMT who kept the injured alive until a helicopter could come, and the hikers' backgrounds. Anthony Heald's slightly husky voice is perfect for this outdoor horror story. He adds foreshadowing when describing the gathering clouds, quickens the pace during the storm, and injects personality into the follow-up interviews. Listen and be educated, entertained--and cautioned. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 25, 2005
      Madgic claims that "in the annals of hiking tragedies caused by lightning," an ill-fated climb up Yosemite's famed Half Dome mountain by five experienced hikers in 1985 was "one of the most calamitous... of all time." Two of the hikers were killed and three sustained life-altering injuries after they decided to ignore signs of an oncoming thunderstorm and continued climbing a mountain whose peak had been struck by lightning during every month of that year. Madgic, a writer on the outdoors and a Half Dome climbing vet, delivers a well-written and thoroughly investigated account, but his real subject is less the hikers and more the "raw, fearsome power" of lightning. While he provides in-depth profiles of each hiker and their shared enthusiasm for risk taking as a way of conquering "personal fear," he makes it clear from the start that none of them "really knew the capacities, behaviors and dangers of thunderstorms." Madgic provides a fascinating—if somewhat stomach-churning—account of how the walls of a cave the hikers took refuge in conducted the electrical charge that devastated them, and his contribution to the adventure category is at once a terrifying story and an urgent cautionary tale. Photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:9-12

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