The Contest

The first book in Gordon Korman's Everest trilogy opens with a prologue set at a funeral. The deceased, a young climber, lies frozen at 27,000 feet on Mount Everest in a region known as the Death Zone. The young teammates who mourn are physically present but mentally still on the mountain, foreshadowing the trauma to come.

Thirteen-year-old Dominic Alexis has been collecting letters from Summit Athletic drink caps and energy bar wrappers, trying to spell EVEREST to win a wild-card spot at a mountaineering boot camp. The camp is part of SummitQuest, an expedition sponsored by Summit Athletic that aims to put the youngest team ever on Everest's summit. Dominic's older brother, Christian (Chris) Alexis, already has a guaranteed spot as the second-ranked under-17 climber in the country, behind the famous Ethan Zaph. Dominic cannot find a V, the rarest letter. He secretly borrows Chris's good-luck charm, a glass vial of Dead Sea sand from their grandmother, and makes one last purchase. The cap yields another E, but an SUV driver nearby discards a wrapper containing the elusive V, completing the word and earning Dominic his spot.

At the training facility in High Falls, Colorado, team leader Cap Cicero, a legendary 47-year-old alpinist, surveys the 20 candidates. Though Cicero has survived decades of extreme climbs, the prospect of leading teenagers up Everest unsettles him. Tony Devlin, who manages the facility, points to the adult-sized Zaph and Chris, but Cicero is dismayed that Chris has brought Dominic, whom he considers far too small. Among the standouts are Norman "Tilt" Crowley, a strong 14-year-old whose youth could break Zaph's age record; Bryn Fiedler, the top-rated female alpinist under 17; and Samantha "Sammi" Moon, a 15-year-old thrill-seeker. Devlin also insists that 15-year-old Perry Noonan remain in the running, on orders from Summit Athletic's leadership.

Boot camp proves brutal: three-hour gym sessions and six-hour hikes daily. Lenny "Sneezy" Tkakzuk, a cameraman and guide, documents the training for the SummitQuest website. Cicero forces the candidates to camp outside during a blizzard to simulate Everest's South Col, a camp at roughly 26,000 feet, and silences complaints by revealing two missing toes lost to frostbite on Annapurna, a Himalayan peak, in 1989. Perry's backstory emerges: His billionaire uncle introduced him to climbing years ago, and Perry has been faking enthusiasm ever since, unable to disappoint his uncle but hoping Cicero will cut him. Unexplained vandalism, including a smashed lamp and a destroyed cabinet of dishes, raises suspicions. After several candidates quit or are cut, the group shrinks to 10.

Cicero intends to cut Dominic in the first round, but Devlin intervenes because removing every contest winner would damage publicity. Reviewing X-rays, Cicero notices Dominic has the lung capacity of a much larger person and agrees to keep him temporarily. Competition intensifies among the remaining candidates. Bryn and Sammi, both convinced only one female spot exists, grow wary of each other. A damaging article in the National Daily reveals embarrassing personal details about the candidates, and Chris concludes someone has been leaking information. Fellow candidate Cameron Mackie falls 15 feet from a mushroom-shaped boulder the group has been trying to climb, sustaining injuries that eliminate him.

Unable to sleep one night, Dominic sneaks out to study the mushroom boulder and discovers Cicero climbing it solo. Cicero allows Dominic to try, and the boy duplicates an advanced technique and executes a reverse dismount of remarkable control. Deeply impressed, Cicero cannot bring himself to cut Dominic. Meanwhile, Bryn's secret is revealed: She has been sleepwalking and is responsible for all the vandalism. Sammi confronts her but decides to cover for her roommate rather than report her to secure her own spot.

With six candidates remaining, Cicero announces the final team: Zaph, Chris, Bryn, and Perry. Sammi, Tilt, and Dominic are cut. Perry is terrified, having always relied on Cicero to end his ordeal before it went this far. That night, both roommates cry: Tilt because he is not going, Perry because he is. Before Dominic departs, Chris tells him he will get his own shot someday.

On the drive to Denver, the radio announces that Zaph has quit SummitQuest to join a different expedition. Sneezy gets a call from Cicero ordering the van back. Summit Athletic restructures the team to prioritize youth records. Devlin insists on including Tilt and delivers the most painful blow: Chris must be replaced because, at nearly 16, he is too old for the publicity Summit needs. Cicero adds Sammi, whom he regrets cutting, but resists replacing Chris with Tilt and delays his decision. From the observation lounge, he watches Dominic return to the mushroom boulder, take three running steps, and execute a dyno, a daring midair leap, pulling himself to the top. The move crystallizes Cicero's choice: He selects Dominic over Tilt. The final team becomes Bryn, Sammi, Perry, and Dominic.

Chris presses the vial of Dead Sea sand into Dominic's hand, asking him to leave it on the summit, from the bottom of the world to the top, and reminding him that summiting is optional but coming home is mandatory. Tilt, cut for the second time in two days, departs in silent rage.

The team flies to Alaska for a practice ascent of Lucifer's Claw, a 9,500-foot ice-covered peak. After climbing its 4,000-foot ice wall and camping on the shoulder, Perry reveals that his uncle is Joe Sullivan, the founder and chairman of Summit Athletic, the expedition's sponsor. Perry was not cut, and did not quit, for the same reason: Joe Sullivan always gets what he wants.

After 3 A.M., Perry finds Bryn sleepwalking toward the edge of the shoulder. He grabs her at the rim, but she shrugs him off, and both go over the edge. Perry catches rock and hauls himself back, but Bryn falls 30 feet into a narrow gap between the rock face and a sheet of ice. Cicero is too large to reach her. Sammi confesses that she knew Bryn was a sleepwalker.

Dominic volunteers to descend because he is the only person small enough to fit. He reaches Bryn and rigs slings to haul her up, but she snags on protruding ice. Dominic hacks at the obstruction for hours while a rescue helicopter waits with only a 30-minute window before a storm grounds all aircraft. Cicero orders Dominic to leave, threatening to remove him from the Everest team, but Dominic refuses. At 10:25 A.M., Cicero breaks through the last ice. Dominic pushes Bryn upward and into the helicopter, but a violent gust forces him back into the crevice. When the helicopter returns in a brief lull, Dominic leaps off the mountain, catches a rope dangled by Cicero, and is hauled aboard.

Bryn is hospitalized in Juneau with multiple fractures but is expected to recover. She thanks Dominic, noting that Chris, being too large for the chasm, could not have saved her. Cicero announces SummitQuest is still on and reinstates Dominic. When Sammi asks who will replace Bryn, Dominic suggests Chris, but Cicero says no.

A closing e-mail reveals the identity of the spy who leaked information to the National Daily: Tilt Crowley. Summit Athletic has forced Cicero to reinstate Tilt as Bryn's replacement. The book ends with the team, Sammi, Perry, Dominic, and Tilt, preparing to depart for Nepal on March 15.