Not Without Peril (Tenth Anniversary Edition)

150 Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire

By: Nicholas S. Howe

Narrated by: Douglas James

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Among the most beautiful and deadly mountains in the world, Mount Washington has challenged adventurers for centuries with its severe weather. From the days when gentlefolk ascended the heights in hoop skirts and wool suits to today’s high-tech assaults on wintry summits, this audiobook offers extensive and intimate profiles of people who found trouble on New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, from the 19th century through the present day.

Originally published by Appalachian Mountain Club Books, and recognized by the Boston Globe as one of the 100 Essential New England Books, the first edition of Not Without Peril garnered acclaim from the Banff Mountain Book Festival for its gripping tales of exploration and tragedy. This tenth anniversary edition includes a new afterword from author Nicholas Howe, who offers a personal account of an evening spent at the Mount Washington Observatory while 160-mile-per-hour winds raged outside.

©2000, 2009 Nicholas Howe (P)2022 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

excellent book

learnt so much about the white mountains. fantastic book to listen to while hiking

Great history lesson as well

Not only do you learn about all the perils, but the history of the white mountain makes for a very good and interesting, read/listen. The fact that I was just up there for Thanksgiving, and assisted looking for somebody who lost their life made this so close to home. Emily, you won’t go forgot.

I've Been Wanting to Read This Forever

As the subject line says, I've wanted to read this book for a long time, so I was thrilled to see it become available as an audiobook.

It started off a little slowly, I thought, with some extended history that I don't think necessarily enhanced my enjoyment of the book overall and didn't seem necessary, but it got past that and became truly fascinating. Some chapters are better than others, with a few that I didn't think added much or which ended too abruptly, but overall, a riveting book. I couldn't wait to come back to it when I had to take a break and found myself sitting in the car or looking for things to do to prolong my listening time. I'm definitely glad I read it and would read more by this author. His family connection to the area was nice, too, and made it seem a little more personal. If you enjoy books Iike Death in Yellowstone or Into Thin Air, you'll love this.

I hope Audible will see this comment, because something is wrong with the afterword. There are a couple of spots where the audio has a hiccup and one spot in particular seems to jump ahead in the story timeline, so I feel sure something got lost. Still, even with that, it's well worth a credit.

Fifty Years of Hiking the White Mt Trails

I have been an avid hiker in the White Mountains of NH since HS, Class of 1959, so found this audio book fascinating. There is hardly a page in the book where a memory wasn’t triggered and I learned something new, such as the origin of the famous Madison Hut morning cheese bread. I even was interviewed by Joe Dodge for summer AMC work. Listened to it in two days straight! My favorite Audible book. Fantastic author; Narrator; and Story !!!
Ron Perkins, Franconia, NH

Mixed review

Some repeated parts in the story and the attempt at accents by the narrator was distracting. Just read it. The heroics of mountain rescue and respect for the mountains was on point.

Excellent Book but Narrator is distracting

I originally read this book a few years ago. It’s an excellent collection of stories of history in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I’ve hiked all the 48 4000 footers in NH and this book should be required reading for any hiker in this region. A lot of good information outlining how treacherous weather conditions can be.

However, the narrator is very distracting with mispronunciation of a lot of names of places. Also when he is quoting a person he changes his voice inflection to this sort of “Old Timey” speak trying to mimic how people talked 100 years ago. Very distracting.