A personal reflection by Helen Cherullo

Tom Hornbein

November 6, 1930 to May 6, 2023

Published in 2013, the special 50th Anniversary Edition of ***Everest: The West Ridge*** reintroduces the adventure in a larger format with full-color photographs—all by members of the expedition, including leader Norman Dyhrenfurth and team doctor Jim Lester. In addition to a new foreword by Jon Krakauer, this volume also features a new preface by Hornbein along with a series of prefaces he wrote for earlier editions, including the original from 1965, and a new map by Dee Molenaar. Climber and writer Broughton Coburn provided expanded biographies of all the American Mount Everest Expedition team members, now accompanied by contemporary portraits from the expedition.

Many of my relationships seem to begin with a book in one way or another.

So it was with Tom Hornbein.

On May 1, 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Mount Everest via the South Col route with Nawang Gombu Sherpa. About three weeks later, fellow members of the same American expedition– Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld made the summit via the previously unclimbed and treacherous West Ridge and descending via the South Col after a grueling, brutal bivouac at 28,000 feet. It was the first traverse of Everest, and an audacious mountaineering feat that has only been repeated by a handful of climbers in the past sixty years.

Two years after the climb, Tom Hornbein wrote Everest: The West Ridge, published in large format by David Brower of Sierra Club Books. When the book went out of print, it found a new, permanent home at Mountaineers Books with multiple printings over the last many decades– the last being the 50th anniversary edition with 150 photos– many original images restored from the first edition, and many previously unpublished.

As his friend Jon Krakauer wrote in the foreword to the anniversary edition:

“. . . not only did Hornbein play a crucial role in one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in the history of mountaineering, his account of the feat is one of the finest things ever written about this peculiar, hazardous, and uncommonly engaging pursuit.”

***

Cherished memories with Tom over the years

As Tom, his wife Kathy, and I enjoyed a hiking trail near their Estes Park home, a group of four young hikers came our way, and we made room for them to pass. After a few minutes, the group turned around and came back to us with one of the young men asking, “are you, by any chance, Tom Hornbein?” As the group made introductions and began asking questions, Kathy suggested that she and I climb up the shoulder of the trail and break for lunch.

On a hike with Tom and Kathy Hornbein, in Rocky Mountain National Park.

“This is going to take some time.”

I asked if this happened often when they were out on the trail.

“Oh yes.”

We were able to see but not hear the conversation from our perch– and what struck me is that it wasn't Tom doing all the talking. He had clearly been asking them questions. He was listening, attentive, and genuinely interested. I felt certain that in meeting one of their heroes, they left feeling not only inspired by his accomplishments– but with their own sense of purpose notched up a rung.

*******

In May 2016, Tom and Kathy boarded the M/V Discovery vessel with eight fellow travelers along with Captain Dean Rand. They experienced a multi-day expedition in Prince William Sound exploring the glaciers, fjords, mountains, forests, and wildlife of this vast, wild coastal landscape. All of the funds from the trip participants were donated by Discovery Voyages for the production of a Braided River book A Wild Promise: Prince William Sound to help protect a rare coastal wilderness in Chugach National Forest at the heart of Alaska’s Prince William Sound that has been in limbo for decades.

Tom and I bonded deeply over shared love of wild places– and a fierce desire to protect and preserve this special life and land. Braided River– the conservation publishing imprint I founded while publisher of Mountaineers Books– was becoming a more urgent calling for me. Tom by this time had become a trusted friend and sounding board, and helped me mentally navigate the transition from Mountaineers Books to dedicate my full time attention and creativity to Braided River books. I treasure the time we had together– “plotting” is what we called it. Tom had been supportive from the very beginning when seeds were planted for Braided River back in 2003 when Mountaineers Books published Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land with Subhankar Banerjee. He also became a friend to Subhankar in the process. Of course he did. I was pleased to send Tom and Kathy a copy of our just published Braided River book Living River: The Promise of the Mighty Colorado— received just one day before he died.

***

“Precious” is a word that Tom used often to describe people and experiences in his life. I view it as “his” special word– because it was always said with such conviction and depth of feeling. Relationships for Tom were true, deep, and lasting; he was the ultimate bridge builder and connector.

I think about so many people Tom introduced me to over time– usually because they also wanted to publish a book, and had asked for his help, and then asked for counsel from me or one of our editors. Or, they were his friends who were passionate about mountaineering literature and history, and offered to help bring arcane books back into print. The richness of the world he opened to me is truly beyond words.

Other consequential mountaineers in Tom’s circle have since passed away– many who became my friends as well. Even though I am not, nor have I ever been, remotely religious– I can’t help thinking of Tom passing into another realm where he is met by the likes of Willi (at the front of the line, of course) and Jolene Unsoeld, Charlie Houston, Dee and Coleen Molenaar, Jim Lester, David Brower, Brad and Barbara Washburn, Nick Clinch, Pete Schoening, Stim Bullitt, and so many more.

With Tom now gone– and as the few remaining of this generation of mountaineers pass away– we’ll say goodbye not only to these legends, but also to an era of adventure lost to us in time. The excitement of being in a truly remote place without a map, detached from aid without technology, filled with uncertainty, high risk, challenge, and mystery can never be the same. It was also a time when “the brotherhood of the rope” flourished— that extraordinary selfless ethical bond of interdependence that seemed to carry from the mountains into their everyday lives.

Tom died just sixteen days short of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the successful West Ridge summit and traverse. He died on his terms– at home, with Kathy, and surrounded by family and friends.

Hiking with Tom Hornbein near his home in Estes Park, Colorado.

In 2013, Mountaineers Books hosted Tom Hornbein for a special event, where he was interviewed by his friend Jon Krakauer on the 50th Anniversary of the American ascents of Mt. Everest at a standing room only event at The Mountaineers Program Center. They were introduced by Willi Unsoeld’s widow Jolene, and joined for a book signing after the event by Jim Whittaker, who signed copies of his book: A Life on the Edge: Memoirs of Everest and Beyond.

A brief recap: https://vimeo.com/74502315

A personal reflection by Helen Cherullo

Executive Director, Braider River

Publisher, Mountaineers Books, 2000-2020