Should I Not Return: The Most Controversial Tragedy in the History of North American Mountaineering!

Babcock, and his brother, were members of the Mountaineering Club of Alaska (MCA) expedition to Mount McKinley in 1967. Their expedition came on the heels of the disasterous Wilcox-Snyder expedition which saw seven climbers perish in a storm high on the mountain. Although billed as a ‘non-fiction novel’, blending his experiences on both the 1967 expedition and his 1977 Anderson Pass Expedition, Babcock’s book traces the story of the MCA expedition and their assistance to the Wilcox-Snyder expedition in the aftermath of the storm. Prior to July of 1967 only four men had ever perished on Denali. The brothers survive one danger after another: a terrible train accident, a near drowning in the McKinley River, an encounter with a large grizzly, a 60 foot plunge into a gaping crevasse, swept away by a massive avalanche, and finally a climactic escape from the terror of 100 mph winds while descending from the summit. This is a one of a kind cliffhanger packed with danger, survival under the worst conditions, and heroism on the icy slopes of Denali. This is an important addition to the other literature of this expedition written by Howard Snyder, Joe Wicox, James Tabor, and Andy Hall. This is the fourth, of five, books to cover the Wilcox-Snyder story. See also Babcock’s DVD ‘Death on Denali’ (#27023).