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

ditorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
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. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
The sheer face of Half Dome, the huge granite rock formation in Yosemite National Park, extends 2,200 feet from its base to its crest. Madgic gives a brief history of its early climbers, then tells the story of five hikers who began their climb on the evening of July 27, 1985, in the face of an imminent thunderstorm. One of three groups of climbers that day, it was headed by Adrian Esteban and Tom Rice. They planned to backpack to the top, camp there, and celebrate Rice's birthday the next day. Madgic offers a biographical sketch of the climbers and gives a vivid description of storms that frequently occur across the Sierra Nevada. A bolt of lightning killed two of the climbers and gravely injured three others. Madgic recounts their daring rescue by paramedics in a helicopter, which transported them to a medical center in Sacramento. This is a penetrating account of this tragedy. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
The compelling account of recklessness, tragedy, courage and rescue, a book whose sobering depiction of Nature's danger is tempered by unforgettable portraits of the triumphant human spirit.

From AudioFile
In 1985 two hikers were killed by lightning while climbing YosemiteÕs Half Dome, which has been described as a Ògranite lightning rod.Ó 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 hikersÕ backgrounds. Anthony HealdÕs 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. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.