K2 : Life and Death on the Worlds Most Dangerous Mountain

English

ISBN: 0767932609

EAN: 9780767932608

Category: Sports & Recreation / Mountaineering/Nature / Mountains/Travel / Asia / Southwest/

Publisher: Broadway Books

Release Date: 08/07/2010

Synopsis: A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing K2, the worlds most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of No Shortcuts to the Top At 28,251 feet, the worlds second-tallest mountain, K2 thrusts skyward out of the Karakoram Range of northern Pakistan. Climbers regard it as the ultimate achievement in mountaineering, with good reason. Four times as deadly as Everest, K2 has claimed the lives of seventy-seven climbers since 1954. In August 2008 eleven climbers died in a single thirty-six-hour period on K2#x13;the worst single-event tragedy in the mountains history and the second-worst in the long chronicle of mountaineering in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges. Yet summiting K2 remains a cherished goal for climbers from all over the globe. Before he faced the challenge of K2 himself, Ed Viesturs, one of the worlds premier high-altitude mountaineers, thought of it as the holy grail of mountaineering. In K2: Life and Death on the Worlds Most Dangerous Mountain,Viesturs explores the remarkable history of the mountain and of those who have attempted to conquer it. At the same time he probes K2s most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering#x13;questions of risk, ambition, loyalty to ones teammates, self-sacrifice, and the price of glory. Viesturs knows the mountain firsthand. He and renowned alpinist Scott Fischer climbed it in 1992 and were nearly killed in an avalanche that sent them sliding to almost certain death. Fortunately, Ed 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 mountains most dramatic campaigns, from his own troubled ascent to the 2008 tragedy, Viesturs and Roberts crafts an edge-of-your-seat narrative that climbers and armchair travelers alike will find unforgettably compelling. With photographs from Viesturss personal collection and from historical sources, this is the definitive account of the worlds ultimate mountain, and of the lessons that can be gleaned from struggling toward its elusive summit. From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

K2 : Life and Death on the Worlds Most Dangerous Mountain

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Paperback

Height: 0.97 inches

Width: 5.17 inches

Length: 7.96 inches

Weight: 11.04 oz

Pages: 352