NO MAGIC HELICOPTER

5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique account of Everest Summiting, February 9, 2014
By Amazon Customer “enjoytheread” (UT)

Enjoyed the lead up account and details from less documented aspects such as training, the travel itself, getting around the areas, villages and food. Then the vivid accounts of camp life and bodily responses to the adventure added to the feeling of more closely experiencing the trek with her. Sharing not only positive but negative thoughts and behaviors is welcome and something that I may not have been able to do. Carol writes as an everyday woman who has a taste for adventure, who makes the most of opportunities and potential, yet is introspective enough to let her experiences guide her development and is secure enough to share all that. There were a couple places so vivid that I had to skip over. That's how close I felt to the edge of danger right with her while reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Makes you feel like you are there up high, July 22, 2012
By High Words

As an avid consumer of hundreds of mountaineering books, I look for two things to keep me happy. First, I appreciate authors who give great descriptions with memorable quotes. Secondly, I thrive on authors who tell me the details of what life is like up high, and how it feels. When Carol Masheter tells of ten breaths-one step and everyone's wracking cough and other small facts, I am magically taken from my couch back to 20,000+ feet where I dream to be again. "No Magic Helicopter" is one that I highly recommend. Please get it.

5.0 out of 5 stars
November 8, 2011
By Louise Young, Ph.D., Dallas, TX

As an aficionado of Everest books, I found Dr. Carol Masheter's No Magic Helicopter to be among the finest accounts written to date by an Everest summiter. It has all the elements of a gripping adventure story and is written in a way that makes you feel that you are literally there with her, experiencing the dangers, the uncertainty, the exhilaration and the ultimate triumph. She is an impressive writer with a story that those of us who love the outdoors can only dream of living. For all who are captivated by the lore of Everest, No Magic Helicopter should be a must-read. If you are like me, upon finishing the last page, you may find yourself wanting to return to page one.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiration many times over!, May 19, 2011
By Shanebo (DFW, TX USA)

A well written account of a personal quest to summit Everest by a woman who has much in common with the commoner. Her brutal honesty about her life failures prior to her ascent, and during kept me interested and pulling for her all the way. I can't really express how inspired as she tackled each hurdle as it was presented to her.

5.0 out of 5 stars
A Valuable Contribution to Mountaineering Literature, March 10, 2011
By Cynthia Tyler (Los Angeles)

I've read many books on mountain climbing, some stand-outs include the brilliant works of the late, great Joe Tasker and Peter Boardman, Tom Hornbein's breathtaking account of ascending Everest's daunting West Ridge with Willi Unsoeld in 1963, and Lincoln Hall's harrowing report of spending a night alone on Everest, hallucinating and frostbitten at 8530m. I've enjoyed these books immensely, and yet I've been disappointed in the dearth of climbing accounts by women. John Krakauer's modern classic Into Thin Air seemed unnecessarily antagonistic toward the female climbers on the ill-fated 1996 Everest expedition. Jennifer Jordon has done some good writing about female climbers, but for me her books lack the immediacy and intensity that makes stories of high altitude climbers so mesmerizing and addictive. I personally wish Norwegian climber Cecile Skog, the first woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam, would write her climbing biography. But perhaps it is too painful for her to relive, given the grim 2008 K2 disaster where she completed a successful summit, but an ice fall swept her husband Rolf Bae off the mountain, tragically ending his life in front of her eyes.

High altitude climbing is dangerous. And that's why it was so inspirational to read Masheter's story of ascending Chomolungma, or Mother Goddess of the World, at the tender age of 61. Highlights of the book include reading about Masheter's experience as a small child enduring heartbreakingly painful polio treatments and her courageous struggle with adapting to the inevitable changes and losses that life hands us. Regardless of the setbacks and despite a disappointing lack of enthusiasm from some of the women in her life, Masheter remained focused on her goal. She emerges with strength and determination from disappointing relationships and troubling workplace politics to take on one of the most physically and mentally challenging tasks known to humans--to stand on the summit of the highest mountain in the world---and she succeeds and lives to tell the tale.

This is a frank, honest account of the hardships, self-doubt, and thrills inherent in high altitude climbing. The author's courage and determination made the book an exciting read. Of all the books I have stored on my Kindle I kept coming back to this one over and over again. Congratulations to Masheter for this inspirational story.

5.0 out of 5 stars
An inspiration to all who choose to face their demons and do something extraordinary with them!, March 4, 2011
By Heidi-Ho

I have read several books written by climbers who have summited Mount Everest. But this book is written with such genuine honesty about the events surrounding her summit. Nothing is sugar coated. Maybe that is because it is written by one who has gained a tremendous amount of wisdom, warmth and love through her sixty-plus years. While reading, I felt I had summited right along with the author, her descriptions of events and scenery were so beautiful and visual. I don't have a personal quest to climb Everest, but if I did, I would want Carol Masheter to be my guide.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Adventure: Thrilling and Inspiring, February 2, 2011
By Cheryl Cutler 

This is a true wilderness adventure story, and because it is non-fiction, all the more breathtaking. Fast paced and vibrantly written, it impels the reader from one physical or emotional challenge to another, or from one exquisite image of natural beauty to another, so that one finds the book almost impossible to put down.

But this is more than just an action adventure. It is a story of inspiration, a testimony to the irrepressible, indomitable power of the human spirit, alive with a mission, vision, or goal. Summiting the highest peak on the planet would be a singular accomplishment for anyone at any time of life, but this account is all the more uplifting because the author is a woman over 60, standing up against all the prejudices of the world that assail gender and age.

Highly recommended!

5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating chronicle of the journey to the top of the world, January 9, 2011
By KathyElaine

"No Magic Helicopter" is a page-turner that is full of vivid descriptions, innermost thoughts and demons, and triumph. Along the way there are fascinating observations of the climbing community, the Sherpa people, human nature no matter where you happen to be, and the beauty and other-worldliness found in Nepal. Carol tells her story with humbleness and her sensitive and joyful nature exude despite the many set-backs she experienced. You need not be a mountain climber to enjoy this book, definitions of various terms sprinkled into the climbing diary days are provided. If you are fascinated by travel to exotic places, moved by personal accomplishment against obstacles, or interested in technical climbing and what it takes to summit Everest, I hope that you will enjoy this book as much as I have.