Overview

Now in paperback, Ed Viesturs, the first American to ascend all fourteen of the world's 8,000-meter peaks, and perhaps the world's most renowned climber today, explores the history of climbing K2--including his own climbs and 2008's deadly disaster that took eleven lives in a single day. A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of The Mountain and No Shortcuts to the Top ""Gripping . . . reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering.""-TheNew York Times Ed Viesturs, one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, explores the remarkable history of K2 and of those who have attempted to conquer it. At the same time, he probes the mountain's most memorable sagas inorder to illustrate lessonsabout the fundamental questions mountaineering raises-questions of risk, ambition, loyalty to one's teammates, self-sacrifice, and the price of glory. Viesturs knows the mountain firsthand. He and renowned alpinist Scott Fischer climbed it in 1992 andgot caughtin an avalanche that sent them sliding to almost certain death beforeEd managed to get into a self-arrest position with his ice ax and stop both his fall and Scott's. Focusing on seven of the mountain's most dramatic campaigns, from his own troubled ascent to the 2008 tragedy, Viesturs crafts an edge-of-your-seat narrative that climbers and armchair travelers alike will find unforgettably compelling. With photographs from Viesturs's personal collection and from historical sources, this is the definitive account of the world's ultimate mountain, and of the lessons that can be gleaned from struggling toward its elusive summit.

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9780767932608

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Reviews

Gripping...reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering. --New York Times Viesturs illuminates K2's challanges, triumphs, tragedies, and follies...Riveting. --The Daily Beast Viesturs's you-are-there narration communicates effortlessly the enormous effort, and high adventure, of scaling K2. --Publishers Weekly Gripping...reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering. New York Times Viesturs illuminates K2's challanges, triumphs, tragedies, and follies...Riveting. The Daily Beast Viesturs's you-are-there narration communicates effortlessly the enormous effort, and high adventure, of scaling K2. Publishers Weekly

Gripping...reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering. --New York Times Viesturs illuminates K2's challanges, triumphs, tragedies, and follies...Riveting. --The Daily Beast Viesturs's you-are-there narration communicates effortlessly the enormous effort, and high adventure, of scaling K2. --Publishers Weekly

Gripping...reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering. New York Times Viesturs illuminates K2's challanges, triumphs, tragedies, and follies...Riveting. The Daily Beast Viesturs's you-are-there narration communicates effortlessly the enormous effort, and high adventure, of scaling K2. Publishers Weekly

Gripping...reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering. --New York Times Viesturs illuminates K2's challanges, triumphs, tragedies, and follies...Riveting. --The Daily Beast Viesturs's you-are-there narration communicates effortlessly the enormous effort, and high adventure, of scaling K2. --Publishers Weekly

Author Information

In May 2005 Ed Viesturs became the first American to ascend all fourteen of the world's 8,000-meter peaks. He lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington, with his wife and three children. He still climbs and seeks out new adventures. David Roberts was the author of more than twenty books on mountaineering, adventure, and history, including No Shortcuts to the Top, K2, and The Will to Climb, which he co-wrote with Ed Viesturs and a memoir OnThe Ridge Between Life and Death. He has written for National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, and Smithsonian.David Roberts passed away in 2021.

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