Thursday, August 12 @ 7:00 p.m.
in the Large Meeting Room

On Thursday evening, August 12, Cary Memorial Library invites you on a journey to the beautiful and mysterious land of Tibet. There you will join experienced mountain climber, author, photographer, and Lexington native Ed Webster, who will describe how he and three companions attempted "the impossible:" to scale a new route up the East or Kangshung Face of Mt. Everest. Reinhold Messner, often cited as the greatest mountain climber of all time, called their route "too dangerous." Adding to the danger--- they did it the hard way: with no sherpa support, no bottled oxygen, and no radios. In his own words, and illustrated by a stunning slide show, Webster will share his deeply personal account of this triumphant achievement.

That Ed and his companions succeeded in completing this climb is a testimony to the human spirit, to their mountaineering experience, and to some remarkable team work. The climbers were badly frostbitten: each climber lost toes, and because of his extensive photography on their summit day, Ed also lost the tips of eight fingers. Amazingly, however, Ed reached the mountain's South Summit—at 28,700 feet, only 300 feet shy of the main summit. The climbers then survived a stormy four-day descent off the mountain, without food, badly frostbitten, and near death. Sir Chris Bonington called their three-month-long expedition "amongst the finest examples of survival in Himalayan mountaineering."

Webster’s riveting story and breathtaking slideshow is based on his acclaimed book, Snow in the Kingdom: My Storm Years on Everest, which was voted "One of the Ten Best Mt. Everest Books" ever published by Outside Magazine. Copies of the book will be available for sale following the program.

This event is free and tickets are not necessary. For more information, please call the Library at 781-862-6288 ext 250.