"An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Chris Hadfield is a similar book in terms of applicable lessons to life, work ethic, relationships with peers and overall being a good human being. The part about the concept of aiming to be a zero is a marvelous read, for example.
I'd love to hear suggestions for similar books.
Rock climbing: I was very happy about all the coverage around the Dawn Wall project, with Caldwell and Jorgeson. A big part of that climb was finding ways to do it safely, protected all the way. Great contrast with all the free solo hype that had gotten so much coverage before.
One of the worst experiences of my life was trying to spot and move pads around for a buddy trying to climb a super-highball in the Buttermilks. Horrifying. I didn't want to help but nobody else was around.
However, I have later read True Summit: What Really Happened on the Legendary Ascent of Annapurna by David Roberts which provides a different perspective on the Annapurna expedition.
And to reply to the grandparent post: Joe Simpson has written a number of books and while they are not specifically about safety culture they often touch on the ethics and dilemmas of high altitude climbing just as Touching the Void did by telling a story where the rope was cut.
Roberts is more like a historian with the perspective that Herzog perhaps wasn't so heroic after all but instead, despite poor leadership and reckless decision-making, was saved by his companions that were the true unsung heroes of the expedition.
The first book is a rebuttal, the second is trying to reveal what really happened many years ago.
Thank you for the recommendation.
Forever on the Mountain is a pretty in-depth reporting of a spectacularly deadly mountaineering disaster on Denali (or McKinley), which Ed Viesturs has climbed ~200 times per the article. I know it's easy to say with the benefit of knowing how it ends, but you can just watch the mistakes pile up.
From TFA:
"These high-altitude mountains are one of the few places on the planet where there is literally no help. If you screw up and break a leg, it’s up to your partner to get you down."
Touching the Void recounts an accident in which this was exactly the case. The author broke his leg on the way down at altitude, and things got (much) worse from there. Spoiler alert, he survived to write the book. Pick a time when you can finish it in one sitting. Once you get about 1/3 of the way in, you likely won't be able to put it down.
Everest the Hard Way is a telling of a successful Everest expedition, but provides a good look into the planning and decision making that makes that happen.
Deep Survival is also worth a read. It doesn't focus exclusively on mountaineering, but as I recall, some of the case-studies are mountaineering. Sorry, it's been a while.
Into Thin Air, from which the article riffs on the title, covers the 1996 Everest disaster. It's been even longer since I read that, but it's worth a read.
I'd be interested in a book recommendation if anybody has one that talks about how safety culture is spread. I'm a rock climber (as distinct from mountaineering), and one of the things I observe is that the safety culture in the sport sucks [0], [1]. I'd be curious what the climbing community can do to better spread or develop a safety culture within the rapidly growing sport, especially as fewer people are being brought in by experienced mentors and are instead getting into it via rock gyms.
My admittedly outside understanding is that mountaineering has a much more developed and widespread safety culture, perhaps because the barriers to entry almost require getting into the sport via a mentor.
[0] I saw somebody (top rope) belaying outside while lying in a hammock. This was on a single pitch route with ample space to stand. Even if you have to be anchored, there's just no reason to impede your hand and arm mobility like that.
[1] A representative for a major gear manufacturer (if you climb, you've heard of them) was explaining a new safety feature on a new model of their belay device. He was telling me about it and started giving an example of where it would be valuable by saying something along the lines of "suppose you were climbing and your belayer didn't know what they were doing".
It's telling and disappointing that a major gear manufacturer seems to have accepted that the safety culture in the sport has allowed this scenario to be plausible and/or common.