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K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain
A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing K2, the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of No Shortcuts to the Top
At 28,251 feet, the world's 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–the worst single-event tragedy in the mountain's 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 world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, thought of it as "the holy grail of mountaineering."
In Life and Death on the World's 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 K2's most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering–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 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 mountain's 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 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.
At 28,251 feet, the world's 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–the worst single-event tragedy in the mountain's 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 world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, thought of it as "the holy grail of mountaineering."
In Life and Death on the World's 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 K2's most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering–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 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 mountain's 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 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.
342 pages, Hardcover
First published October 13, 2009
335 people are currently reading
5,515 people want to read
About the author
Ed Viesturs
11books185followersEd Viesturs is America's leading high altitude mountaineer, having climbed many of the world's most challenging summits, including ascending Mount Everest seven times. He recently completed a 16-year quest to climb all 14 of the world's highest mountains (above 8,000 meters) without the use of supplemental oxygen. In doing so, he became the first American and the 5th person in the world to accomplish this. He reached the summit of his 14th peak, Annapurna, on May 12, 2005.
"When I first attempt a Himalayan peak," Viesturs explains, "I climb without bottled oxygen, even if it keeps me from reaching the summit. My personal goal is to see how I can perform, to experience the mountain as it is without reducing it to my level. For me, how I reach the top is more important than whether I do.
"When I first attempt a Himalayan peak," Viesturs explains, "I climb without bottled oxygen, even if it keeps me from reaching the summit. My personal goal is to see how I can perform, to experience the mountain as it is without reducing it to my level. For me, how I reach the top is more important than whether I do.
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September 10, 2020
I have a big passion for everything related to extreme mountaineering and climbing. I am a beginner but daughter of two crazy mountain lovers and climbers.
In these last years I have found myself often to read the deeds of many climbers of the 8000, this is born above all after having listened in person Nives Meroi and her conquests without oxygen of all the 8000' Himalaians.
I read this book by Ed Viesturs because I wanted to better understand what really happened in the 2008 K2 tragedy, especially to have a complete impression beyond the testimony of Marco Confortola, great Italian alpinist.
Ed expresses his point of view very clearly, without moral constraints and without judging and condemning the mistakes that unfortunately were made. I consider him a very deep and careful person because in the book are exposed all the weaknesses and fragilities committed without shame.
And therefore he testifies with serenity a truth that often goes against the versions of the big famous stars of extreme mountaineering. Only for the sake of objectivity and respect for those who died.
Simple and fluent writing, absolutely very interesting.
Io ho una estrema passione per tutto quello che riguarda l' alpinismo estremo e l' arrampicata. Sono una principiante ma figlia di due pazzi amanti della montagna e scalatori.
In questi ultimi anni mi sono trovata spesso a leggere le gesta di molti alpinisti degli 8000, questo e' nato soprattutto dopo aver ascoltato di persona Nives Meroi e le sue conquiste senza ossigeno di tutti gli ottomila himalaiani.
Ho letto questo libro di Ed Viesturs perchè volevo capire meglio cosa sia realmente successo nella tragedia del K2 del 2008., soprattutto per avere una impressione completa oltre la testimonianza di Marco Confortola, grande alpinista italiano.
Ed esprime il suo punto di vista molto chiaramente, senza vincoli morali e senza giudicare e condannare gli errori che purtroppo sono stati commessi. Lo ritengo una persona veramente molto profonda e attenta perchè nel libro vengono esposti tutti i punti deboli e le fragilità commesse senza vergogna.
Ed quindi testimonia con serenita' una verita' che spesso va contro alle versioni dei big star dell' alpinismo estremo. Solo unicamente per amore dell' obiettivita' e del rispetto per chi è morto.
Scrittura semplice e scorrevole, assolutamente molto interessante.
In these last years I have found myself often to read the deeds of many climbers of the 8000, this is born above all after having listened in person Nives Meroi and her conquests without oxygen of all the 8000' Himalaians.
I read this book by Ed Viesturs because I wanted to better understand what really happened in the 2008 K2 tragedy, especially to have a complete impression beyond the testimony of Marco Confortola, great Italian alpinist.
Ed expresses his point of view very clearly, without moral constraints and without judging and condemning the mistakes that unfortunately were made. I consider him a very deep and careful person because in the book are exposed all the weaknesses and fragilities committed without shame.
And therefore he testifies with serenity a truth that often goes against the versions of the big famous stars of extreme mountaineering. Only for the sake of objectivity and respect for those who died.
Simple and fluent writing, absolutely very interesting.
Io ho una estrema passione per tutto quello che riguarda l' alpinismo estremo e l' arrampicata. Sono una principiante ma figlia di due pazzi amanti della montagna e scalatori.
In questi ultimi anni mi sono trovata spesso a leggere le gesta di molti alpinisti degli 8000, questo e' nato soprattutto dopo aver ascoltato di persona Nives Meroi e le sue conquiste senza ossigeno di tutti gli ottomila himalaiani.
Ho letto questo libro di Ed Viesturs perchè volevo capire meglio cosa sia realmente successo nella tragedia del K2 del 2008., soprattutto per avere una impressione completa oltre la testimonianza di Marco Confortola, grande alpinista italiano.
Ed esprime il suo punto di vista molto chiaramente, senza vincoli morali e senza giudicare e condannare gli errori che purtroppo sono stati commessi. Lo ritengo una persona veramente molto profonda e attenta perchè nel libro vengono esposti tutti i punti deboli e le fragilità commesse senza vergogna.
Ed quindi testimonia con serenita' una verita' che spesso va contro alle versioni dei big star dell' alpinismo estremo. Solo unicamente per amore dell' obiettivita' e del rispetto per chi è morto.
Scrittura semplice e scorrevole, assolutamente molto interessante.
June 26, 2020
برای یادآوری به خودم و البته دوستانی که ریویوو های منو دنبال میکنند، اگر دنبال کتابی ماجراجویی و احساسی برای کوه نوردی میگردید، شاید این کتاب زندگی و مرگ در کی 2، کتاب زیاد مناسبی نباشه. چون کتاب مربوط به یک اکسپدیشن و اتفاقات داخل اون نیست. کتاب تحلیل بیش از 5 اکسپدیشن با نگاه تحلیلی و رویکرد فنی و سعی در توضیح علل شکست اون ها داره و اون حس همذات پنداری رو با شخصیت ها و اتفاقات از خواننده میگیرد. الته ناگفته نماند که همانطور که در ادامه عرض میکنم ، جنبه های بسیار قدرتمند و خواندنی دیگری دارد.
بگذارید واضح عرض کنم خدمتتون؛ هیچ وقت فکرشم نمیکردم که ممکنه رقابت برای اول رسیدن به قله منجر به قتل ناخواسته و یا درنگاه بدبیناننه، قتل عمد کوهنورد دیگری بشه. و یا اینکه صعود به اورست بلندترن کوه دنیا مربوط به مشتری های پولدار و کوهنورد های کم تجربه باشه! و یا اینکه افرادی که زمانی دوست یکدیگر بودند بعد از یک ماجراجویی به دشمنان خونی هم تا آخر عمرشان تبدیل شوند
نقش آفرینی سیاست، پول، اختراعات علمی، جامعه شناسی، و مدیریت رو بسیار کمتر از اون چیزی تصور میکردم که در کتاب به تصویر کشیده و مایه ی حیرت زدگی من بود
من متوجه شدم که کوهنوردی و تلاش برای فتح قله بی شباهت به تلاش های ما در شهر برای نیل به اهداف والا و رسیدن به قله های موفقیت نیست. فقط جنس قله ها ممکن هست فرق کنه. ولی ماهیتشان یکی هست.
اما در مورد اطلاعات عمومی در مورد کوهنوردی
1. اینکه K2 در واقع نام نیست و چون کوهنوردان نتونستند نامی مناسب و درخور برای دومین کوه بلند دنیا پیدا کنند، از علامتی که اولین بار یک نقشه بردار برای مشخص کردن کوه های قره قوروم (kharakoroom) با حرف اول k و متاعقبا شماره گذاری بعد حرف k استفاده کرده. از آن زمان همچنان به این صورت باقی مانده و نام نیست. و در عین همین بینامی، نامی عجیب در عالم و دنیای نام های انتخاب شده برای کوه هاست. نامی به عجیبی ویژگی های خود کوه K2!
2. اینکه در گذشته میله هایی که کوهنوردان برای ایجاد کارگاه در صخره ایجاد میکردند، نسبتا مقاومت کمی داشته و به راحتی خم میشده و ولی با پیشرفت تکنولوژی ساخت آلیاژ، تقریبا این مشکل بر طرف شده. فقط فرض کنید کوه نورد جایی بین زمین و هوا هست و میخ هاش خم میشن و وارد صخره نمیشن. خدای من!
3. اینکه طناب های کوه نوردی در گذشته کتانی و یا کنافی بودند، کلفت و سنگین بودند و با این حال مقاومت و کشسانی پایینی داشتند. الان طناب های پلاستیک ظریف و 7 برابر مقاوم تر اومده
4. در گذشته گوشت گاو و حیوانات رو بصورت شقه بالا میبردند. الان از پودر های مکمل استفاده میکنند
5. انواع گره هایی که الان استفاده میشه اختراع محسوب میشوند. چیزی که باربرهای پاکستانی بلد نبودند و آمریکایی ها باید یادشون میدادند!
6. اینکه حتی در ارتفاع چند هزار متری، غربی ها کتاب میخونن و دفتر خاطرات مینویسن و ما در خونه هامون اندر خم یک کوچه باقی موندیم
7. اینکه کبریت های معمولی در ارتفاع بالای 6000 متری کار نمیکنه و ژله هم نمیتونید بخورید
خواندن این کتاب تجربه ی نابی و تازه ای رو برایم در برداشت. محتوای ناب که درباره ی اکسپدیشن های واقعی در دنیای ماست، قطعا وزنه ی سنگینی برای این تجربه ی تازه است. همچنین سبک نوشتار نویسنده، جزییاتی که بیان میکند و برداشت های وی از وقایع اکسپدیشن های مختلفی که در طول قرن 20 انجام شده به گیرایی کتاب اضافه میکند.
کتاب های زیر به گفته ی نویسنده، احساسی تر هستند و شما را در مسیر اتفاقات قرار میدن
کتاب کی2: کوه وحشی
کتاب "آناپورنا" نوشته ی موریس هرزاگ
کتاب " در اتاق سلطنتی خدایان کوه ها" نوشته ی گالن روول
کتاب" آخرین گام" نوشته ی ریج وی
کلمه ها و عباراتی که دوست داشتم رو بعدا در گروهم میارم. ولی این سه تا رو داشته باشید
"کی2 کوه وحشی"
"کی2 جام مقدس"
"برادری طناب"
خوشحال میشم با من دوست بشید و کامنت بگذارید. آدرس گروه کتابخوانی من در زیر اومده. فیلتر شکن یادتون نره!
لینک گروه ققنوس در گودریدز
رشاد حسن نژاد
بگذارید واضح عرض کنم خدمتتون؛ هیچ وقت فکرشم نمیکردم که ممکنه رقابت برای اول رسیدن به قله منجر به قتل ناخواسته و یا درنگاه بدبیناننه، قتل عمد کوهنورد دیگری بشه. و یا اینکه صعود به اورست بلندترن کوه دنیا مربوط به مشتری های پولدار و کوهنورد های کم تجربه باشه! و یا اینکه افرادی که زمانی دوست یکدیگر بودند بعد از یک ماجراجویی به دشمنان خونی هم تا آخر عمرشان تبدیل شوند
نقش آفرینی سیاست، پول، اختراعات علمی، جامعه شناسی، و مدیریت رو بسیار کمتر از اون چیزی تصور میکردم که در کتاب به تصویر کشیده و مایه ی حیرت زدگی من بود
من متوجه شدم که کوهنوردی و تلاش برای فتح قله بی شباهت به تلاش های ما در شهر برای نیل به اهداف والا و رسیدن به قله های موفقیت نیست. فقط جنس قله ها ممکن هست فرق کنه. ولی ماهیتشان یکی هست.
اما در مورد اطلاعات عمومی در مورد کوهنوردی
1. اینکه K2 در واقع نام نیست و چون کوهنوردان نتونستند نامی مناسب و درخور برای دومین کوه بلند دنیا پیدا کنند، از علامتی که اولین بار یک نقشه بردار برای مشخص کردن کوه های قره قوروم (kharakoroom) با حرف اول k و متاعقبا شماره گذاری بعد حرف k استفاده کرده. از آن زمان همچنان به این صورت باقی مانده و نام نیست. و در عین همین بینامی، نامی عجیب در عالم و دنیای نام های انتخاب شده برای کوه هاست. نامی به عجیبی ویژگی های خود کوه K2!
2. اینکه در گذشته میله هایی که کوهنوردان برای ایجاد کارگاه در صخره ایجاد میکردند، نسبتا مقاومت کمی داشته و به راحتی خم میشده و ولی با پیشرفت تکنولوژی ساخت آلیاژ، تقریبا این مشکل بر طرف شده. فقط فرض کنید کوه نورد جایی بین زمین و هوا هست و میخ هاش خم میشن و وارد صخره نمیشن. خدای من!
3. اینکه طناب های کوه نوردی در گذشته کتانی و یا کنافی بودند، کلفت و سنگین بودند و با این حال مقاومت و کشسانی پایینی داشتند. الان طناب های پلاستیک ظریف و 7 برابر مقاوم تر اومده
4. در گذشته گوشت گاو و حیوانات رو بصورت شقه بالا میبردند. الان از پودر های مکمل استفاده میکنند
5. انواع گره هایی که الان استفاده میشه اختراع محسوب میشوند. چیزی که باربرهای پاکستانی بلد نبودند و آمریکایی ها باید یادشون میدادند!
6. اینکه حتی در ارتفاع چند هزار متری، غربی ها کتاب میخونن و دفتر خاطرات مینویسن و ما در خونه هامون اندر خم یک کوچه باقی موندیم
7. اینکه کبریت های معمولی در ارتفاع بالای 6000 متری کار نمیکنه و ژله هم نمیتونید بخورید
خواندن این کتاب تجربه ی نابی و تازه ای رو برایم در برداشت. محتوای ناب که درباره ی اکسپدیشن های واقعی در دنیای ماست، قطعا وزنه ی سنگینی برای این تجربه ی تازه است. همچنین سبک نوشتار نویسنده، جزییاتی که بیان میکند و برداشت های وی از وقایع اکسپدیشن های مختلفی که در طول قرن 20 انجام شده به گیرایی کتاب اضافه میکند.
کتاب های زیر به گفته ی نویسنده، احساسی تر هستند و شما را در مسیر اتفاقات قرار میدن
کتاب کی2: کوه وحشی
کتاب "آناپورنا" نوشته ی موریس هرزاگ
کتاب " در اتاق سلطنتی خدایان کوه ها" نوشته ی گالن روول
کتاب" آخرین گام" نوشته ی ریج وی
کلمه ها و عباراتی که دوست داشتم رو بعدا در گروهم میارم. ولی این سه تا رو داشته باشید
"کی2 کوه وحشی"
"کی2 جام مقدس"
"برادری طناب"
خوشحال میشم با من دوست بشید و کامنت بگذارید. آدرس گروه کتابخوانی من در زیر اومده. فیلتر شکن یادتون نره!
لینک گروه ققنوس در گودریدز
رشاد حسن نژاد
July 10, 2019
Ed Viesturs is an accomplished high-altitude mountaineer who has summited all fourteen of the world’s peaks over 8000 meters. K2, the world’s second highest peak at 8,611 meters (28,251 feet), is located in the Korakoram Range of northern Pakistan. It is considered one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks to climb. This book not only tells of Viesturs� ascent of K2 in 1992, but also recounts the history of six other K2 expeditions up to 2009, including an assessment of successes, catastrophes, and controversies. It gives the reader a good idea of what it would have been like to be part of such an expedition. It provides an interesting look at the improvements in climbing materials and the evolution of climbing strategies over the years. A couple of the more riveting sections include an account of the avalanche that sent Viesturs and climbing partner Scott Fisher plummeting down the mountain, and the analysis of the 2008 tragedy that resulted in the deaths of eleven climbers.
Viesturs expresses pointed opinions about his philosophy of climbing as well as what may have gone wrong in expeditions that resulted in tragedy. He concentrates on lessons that can be applied to high altitude climbing, with an emphasis on getting back safely. He illustrates the value of weighing risks, relying on instincts, showing loyalty to the team, leading from the front, and taking prompt action to save others in distress. He takes exception to some of the analyses provided by the press and other “armchair adventurers� and backs up his opinions drawing on a mix of logic, common sense, and experience. The narrative moves between materials written by others and Viesturs� own experiences, weaving them together to make his points.
It assumes the reader already possesses at least a rudimentary knowledge of climbing terminology. Recommended to those interested in the history of mountaineering, active climbers who want to learn from the experiences of others, or fans of extreme adventures.
Viesturs expresses pointed opinions about his philosophy of climbing as well as what may have gone wrong in expeditions that resulted in tragedy. He concentrates on lessons that can be applied to high altitude climbing, with an emphasis on getting back safely. He illustrates the value of weighing risks, relying on instincts, showing loyalty to the team, leading from the front, and taking prompt action to save others in distress. He takes exception to some of the analyses provided by the press and other “armchair adventurers� and backs up his opinions drawing on a mix of logic, common sense, and experience. The narrative moves between materials written by others and Viesturs� own experiences, weaving them together to make his points.
It assumes the reader already possesses at least a rudimentary knowledge of climbing terminology. Recommended to those interested in the history of mountaineering, active climbers who want to learn from the experiences of others, or fans of extreme adventures.
January 7, 2011
I loved the stories of the various climing attempts on K2 as well as some of the history of the mountain and climbing in general. It was really hard to get over the smugness of the author and his insistence (regarding every climbing mishap in history) that things like that would never happen to him because he is (apparently) the smartest, safest, strongest, and most educated climber in the universe. Got old fast.
February 12, 2012
My interest in high mountain climbing from an armchair perspective goes back in earnest to Jon Krakauer's controversial "Into Thin Air", chronicling the disastrous events of May 1996 when two guided expeditions to the summit of Everest came a cropper in a twilight blizzard as they were coming late off the summit. Eight climbers died that day, the controversy over guided high mountain expeditions spilled over into popular culture, and dozens of books were launched. I learned as I explored the literary aftermath of that event that big mountain climbing is a contentious business.
But as I delved deeper into 'alpine' literature I discovered the dissension, finger-pointing, and little mistakes that lead to disaster go right along with the amazing tales of courage and derring-do at the end of a rope at 8000 meters. I've read probably a dozen or more books on the subject over the years and there are plenty more out there, going back to the early 20th century tales of such icons of the "sport" as Mallory, Irvine, and the Duke of Abruzzi. The two best writers I've read are Krakauer and Ed Viesturs.
Krakauer is a gifted writer who happens to have climbed, Viesturs is a modern climbing icon turned effective writer. He made it back safely from all 14 eight thousand meter peaks, yet has also watched climbers, including friends and climbing partners, die in the many and various ways it can happen in that otherworldly environment above 25,000 feet. He professes a philosophy backed up with his own boots on the ground that it is better to safely fail at a summit attempt than to risk dying by making rash decisions at the golden moment when a summit seems in reach but things can easily go sideways for a hundred different reasons.
Viesturs summitted K2 in 1992 during a season in which numerous climbers died trying, and this book is a look back at that expedition, as well as the earlier famed Italian and American expeditions that resulted in the early attempts at the summit. Just getting to K2 is an amazing ordeal. But the climbing, avalanche and altitude dangers once you reach base camp are grinding. Big mountain climbers can tolerate pain and terror and cold and boredom at a level that you or I cannot process. Viesturs writes in a fluid and compelling way about the psychological dynamics of climbing and climbers as much as he does about routes and pitches and itineraries which are often the meat of books like these. His comparison of his experiences in 1992 with those of the pioneers in the Karakoram from generations before give an expansive view of the differences and similarities in men who climbed in flannel and hob nail boots and those who used Gore-Tex and called home on satellite phones.
As an aside, Viesturs writes predominantly about men in this book, although he climbed with women on K2 and helped rescue the tragic and erotic Chantal Mauduit from high on the mountain before his own summit.
Controversy in 8000 meter climbing has existed from the beginning, and these people are such freakish athletes that they live long lives when they aren't killed climbing. So the grudges and recriminations endure. Viesters manages this minefield with an even hand and generous spirit. This is a good read whether you are fascinated by climbing or just curious. I hope to get to meet Viesturs some day. He has retained his humanity at the high levels of a community that often strips it away.
But as I delved deeper into 'alpine' literature I discovered the dissension, finger-pointing, and little mistakes that lead to disaster go right along with the amazing tales of courage and derring-do at the end of a rope at 8000 meters. I've read probably a dozen or more books on the subject over the years and there are plenty more out there, going back to the early 20th century tales of such icons of the "sport" as Mallory, Irvine, and the Duke of Abruzzi. The two best writers I've read are Krakauer and Ed Viesturs.
Krakauer is a gifted writer who happens to have climbed, Viesturs is a modern climbing icon turned effective writer. He made it back safely from all 14 eight thousand meter peaks, yet has also watched climbers, including friends and climbing partners, die in the many and various ways it can happen in that otherworldly environment above 25,000 feet. He professes a philosophy backed up with his own boots on the ground that it is better to safely fail at a summit attempt than to risk dying by making rash decisions at the golden moment when a summit seems in reach but things can easily go sideways for a hundred different reasons.
Viesturs summitted K2 in 1992 during a season in which numerous climbers died trying, and this book is a look back at that expedition, as well as the earlier famed Italian and American expeditions that resulted in the early attempts at the summit. Just getting to K2 is an amazing ordeal. But the climbing, avalanche and altitude dangers once you reach base camp are grinding. Big mountain climbers can tolerate pain and terror and cold and boredom at a level that you or I cannot process. Viesturs writes in a fluid and compelling way about the psychological dynamics of climbing and climbers as much as he does about routes and pitches and itineraries which are often the meat of books like these. His comparison of his experiences in 1992 with those of the pioneers in the Karakoram from generations before give an expansive view of the differences and similarities in men who climbed in flannel and hob nail boots and those who used Gore-Tex and called home on satellite phones.
As an aside, Viesturs writes predominantly about men in this book, although he climbed with women on K2 and helped rescue the tragic and erotic Chantal Mauduit from high on the mountain before his own summit.
Controversy in 8000 meter climbing has existed from the beginning, and these people are such freakish athletes that they live long lives when they aren't killed climbing. So the grudges and recriminations endure. Viesters manages this minefield with an even hand and generous spirit. This is a good read whether you are fascinated by climbing or just curious. I hope to get to meet Viesturs some day. He has retained his humanity at the high levels of a community that often strips it away.
May 19, 2014
I could not finish this book and I always just try to plow through to the end. It's astounding to me how Viesturs can take such amazing stories about K2 and somehow make them boring. I found the writing lacking (what the heck was Roberts contributing?) and at times the book was all over the place, which left me confused and disconnected from any momentum. Viesturs also came across as kind of a know it all. He said several times that he didn't like people passing judgment on expeditions when they were not there; yet, that is exactly what he did and it was annoying. I saw an interview done with him and he didn't seem arrogant at all. If that's the case, I think his editor did him a disservice by letting this go to print. He should let the writers do the writing and stick to HA mountain climbing, which he's clearly very gifted in.
February 20, 2022
I've gone backwards in Ed Viesturs' canon and definitely started with the wrong book! (alas, library holds) I enjoyed K2 immensely more than his Everest book, which left me lukewarm on the writing/storytelling duo of Viesturs and Roberts. This is a better outing across the board, a trend which continued with his Annapurna book (also excellent).
I love how this book jumps around in time, first weaving together the tragic 2008 season with Ed's own climb of K2 in 1992, then jumping back in time to cover several historic/notable K2 climbs. The whole book comes together as a fascinating and insightful portrait of why K2 is "the world's most dangerous mountain." I wouldn't (and didn't) recommend his Everest book as a must-read in the canon of that mountain (read The Third Pole for Everest history/psychology, imo), but I would easily recommend someone wanting a primer on K2 pick this up.
That said, the thing about Ed and his mountaineering books is that he is SO NICE. A stand up guy. I'd want to climb with him, absolutely. I relate to his risk aversion and sensibilities. I really like the guy. But sometimes he's just TOO even-handed. He also reminds you repeatedly he doesn't like talking about the thornier side (read: gossipy) of expeditions which, again, makes him an amazing guy, but means I couldn't help feeling like he was keeping certain things close to the vest. 100% his right (I would do if I were still-living and had to work in my industry lol). But it created a fascinating disparity between this and another K2 book I read, and also meant very often Ed simply will not critically call out a fellow mountaineer--so sometimes you won't get the critical analysis you crave. (That said when Ed DOES call someone out, you know they fucked up!)
Notably I read Jennifer Jordan's K2 book in December, which explicitly said/alleged that Ed had a romantic relationship with Chantal Mauduit. But Ed just... avoids that entirely. I don't know I find it pretty relevant that this huge rescue you're famous for on K2 you skip the part where maybe you were romantically entangled w/ the controversial woman climber whose life you saved (whose ex was also on the climb and also played a part in the rescue? He glosses over Thor as well.). Then again, I wouldn't really want to lay that out in a book my current-wife would read either lol. He does mention flirting later in the book, but I don't know. It just reminds you a LOT get left out of the stories, clearly. I did catch a tiny bit of... friction in a passage where he does reference Jennifer Jordan, so I can't help wondering if there's behind the scenes drama. But Jordan is also a journalist: I'd think she wouldn't include that tidbit about Ed and Chantal unless it was corroborated by multiple climbers?
Anyway: much like with The Mountain, and it holds true with K2 and Annapurna: read Ed's canon for pretty straightforward interesting histories of historic climbs and climbers on 8000 meter peaks. Many of the sections and portraits are fantastic reads, and I definitely appreciate Ed's experience, insights, and professionalism. Love the glimpses into other notable mountaineers and Ed's respect for fellow climbers leaps off the page. He's a very fair and even-handed person, which is a strength to a point. But if you want juicier tales that scrape into the thornier aspects of human natures and divisive personalities, I've enjoyed the more journalistic approaches by other parties more. It's the line between memoir and journalism, and these of course are more like memoirs--but with enough journalism/history in there to make them compelling must-reads in the case of K2 and Annapurna.
I love how this book jumps around in time, first weaving together the tragic 2008 season with Ed's own climb of K2 in 1992, then jumping back in time to cover several historic/notable K2 climbs. The whole book comes together as a fascinating and insightful portrait of why K2 is "the world's most dangerous mountain." I wouldn't (and didn't) recommend his Everest book as a must-read in the canon of that mountain (read The Third Pole for Everest history/psychology, imo), but I would easily recommend someone wanting a primer on K2 pick this up.
That said, the thing about Ed and his mountaineering books is that he is SO NICE. A stand up guy. I'd want to climb with him, absolutely. I relate to his risk aversion and sensibilities. I really like the guy. But sometimes he's just TOO even-handed. He also reminds you repeatedly he doesn't like talking about the thornier side (read: gossipy) of expeditions which, again, makes him an amazing guy, but means I couldn't help feeling like he was keeping certain things close to the vest. 100% his right (I would do if I were still-living and had to work in my industry lol). But it created a fascinating disparity between this and another K2 book I read, and also meant very often Ed simply will not critically call out a fellow mountaineer--so sometimes you won't get the critical analysis you crave. (That said when Ed DOES call someone out, you know they fucked up!)
Notably I read Jennifer Jordan's K2 book in December, which explicitly said/alleged that Ed had a romantic relationship with Chantal Mauduit. But Ed just... avoids that entirely. I don't know I find it pretty relevant that this huge rescue you're famous for on K2 you skip the part where maybe you were romantically entangled w/ the controversial woman climber whose life you saved (whose ex was also on the climb and also played a part in the rescue? He glosses over Thor as well.). Then again, I wouldn't really want to lay that out in a book my current-wife would read either lol. He does mention flirting later in the book, but I don't know. It just reminds you a LOT get left out of the stories, clearly. I did catch a tiny bit of... friction in a passage where he does reference Jennifer Jordan, so I can't help wondering if there's behind the scenes drama. But Jordan is also a journalist: I'd think she wouldn't include that tidbit about Ed and Chantal unless it was corroborated by multiple climbers?
Anyway: much like with The Mountain, and it holds true with K2 and Annapurna: read Ed's canon for pretty straightforward interesting histories of historic climbs and climbers on 8000 meter peaks. Many of the sections and portraits are fantastic reads, and I definitely appreciate Ed's experience, insights, and professionalism. Love the glimpses into other notable mountaineers and Ed's respect for fellow climbers leaps off the page. He's a very fair and even-handed person, which is a strength to a point. But if you want juicier tales that scrape into the thornier aspects of human natures and divisive personalities, I've enjoyed the more journalistic approaches by other parties more. It's the line between memoir and journalism, and these of course are more like memoirs--but with enough journalism/history in there to make them compelling must-reads in the case of K2 and Annapurna.
April 15, 2023
An engrossing look at the tragic and fascinating history of K2, sullied somewhat by the author's hypocrisy and tendency to interject with boasts about his own achievements on and off of the world's most dangerous mountain. I can't help but think the stuff about others' failure to honour and name the climbers of K2 and Everest who weren't white Europeans or Americans -- and who were integral to the success of, or tragic losses in, many expeditions -- was shoehorned in as a way to tout Viesturs' own credentials as a better sort of person than those earlier mountaineers with more direct links to colonialism, especially since he seldom deigns to name them himself (as another reviewer has pointed out, Junko Tabei is only mentioned in passing because she became the first woman to summit Everest, while other Asian climbers are identified merely by nationality). Sticking to the facts and sparing us the self-aggrandisement and insincerity that creeps in would have made a mostly excellent history of K2 even better. As is it's still a worthy, if at times frustrating, read.
December 24, 2022
Fascinating account of classic K2 ascents. Including his own in 1992. Mesmerizing to read how the early attemps paved the path for later success. Because of his own climb, Viesturs can compare how it was for him and how and why earlier and later ascents where successful or ended in disaster. Very insightful. And all very well researched.
Ed Viesturs comes across as a reasonable guy. Giving credit where it belongs. Risk adverse. Not grandstanding. But also critical where it seems warranted.
And the disaster on K2 of 2008 gave him pause to question is own expedition to K2 in 1992: That campaign “was the one most marked by ecstatic highs alternating with abysmal lows. And it was also the most morally complicated.�
The first chapter mainly describes the 2008 disaster on K2. 11 people died. Viesturs analyses what happened and why it went so horrible wrong. Very revealing.
Chapter two chronicals his own asceent of K2 in August 1992. The description of his preparations, struggles, frustrations with team members, the rescue of 2 climbers which thwarted his own first summit attempt, was mesmerizing to read.
It’s laced with diary notes from his own climb. And as he acknowledged, he is much more direct and critical there than he was on the mountain. It gives a very good perspective how mountaineers are. Some take huge risks. And then others have to rescue them. Viesturs is highly risk adverse, but he is well aware of “summit fever�. And many people died on their descent after reaching the top.
From here on Viesturs chronicles classic ascents. One might think that each chapter is about the same. All about ascent of the same mountain. And also of the same route: the Abruzzi Ridge. But they are very different. Different people make for different group dynamic. Each chapter had it’s own tidbits of mountaineering background.
What’s neat is that he compares those with his own experiences on the mountain. It gives a wonderful perspective.
He comments on group dynamics and leadership. Risk assessment and physical fitness. He gives explanations of why things went wrong or why people succeeded.
Those early expeditions (1938 and 1939), had to hike in 360 miles. A month long trek. Today it’s much shorter, but Viesturs confesses “that we moderns have lost some of the richness of the full expedition experience.�
Of course there is no way these expeditions can be compared with current ones. Today’s equipment is so much better. Getting to basecamp is peanuts. And the gear used to climb makes it so much easier.
In chaper 3 and 4 these early attempts are described. They would pave the way for all the subsequent (succesful) expeditions.
Chapter 4: The Great Mystery is fascinating. It’s mainly the story of Fritz Weissner. An amazing strong climber. Viesturs considers him one of the heroes of K2.
Then chapter 5: Brotherhood, emphasis the importance of team work. Team spirit. Expedition members were specifically selected for their social skill. They should be able to get along together. Viesturs calls it “a stroke of genius�. People who trust and like each other will be more successful than a team solely build upon skill. And it would appear that this was what saved them from disaster in the end. Totally different from the 1939 expedition. And also from the first successful Italian expedition descripbed in the next chapter: the Price of Conquest.
It’s sad to read about that Italian expedition. Seemingly the worst in the mountaineers urge to get to the top at all costs came to the foreground. With the unsung hero and renowned mountaineer Walter Bonatti as the victim.
My least favorite chapter.
The book ends with yet another disaster year: 1986: the Dangerous Summer.
This is a chapter that describes multiple ascents, by multiple teams. And much went wrong that summer.
I quote Viesturs, quoting Charles Houston: “outragious behaviour, intense rivalry, and disregard of mountain ethics..� is what caused many deaths.
As such a bit disjointed. I liked the chapters where only one expedition is described better.
In the final chapter; Epilogue: the Holy Grail, Viesters comments on current (2008) trends in mountaineering. And he is not happy what he observes. It should be about the beauty of the high country and the comradeship. Not about first this or first that. Like first winter ascents, or fastest ascent.
I really liked this book!
Ed Viesturs comes across as a reasonable guy. Giving credit where it belongs. Risk adverse. Not grandstanding. But also critical where it seems warranted.
And the disaster on K2 of 2008 gave him pause to question is own expedition to K2 in 1992: That campaign “was the one most marked by ecstatic highs alternating with abysmal lows. And it was also the most morally complicated.�
The first chapter mainly describes the 2008 disaster on K2. 11 people died. Viesturs analyses what happened and why it went so horrible wrong. Very revealing.
Chapter two chronicals his own asceent of K2 in August 1992. The description of his preparations, struggles, frustrations with team members, the rescue of 2 climbers which thwarted his own first summit attempt, was mesmerizing to read.
It’s laced with diary notes from his own climb. And as he acknowledged, he is much more direct and critical there than he was on the mountain. It gives a very good perspective how mountaineers are. Some take huge risks. And then others have to rescue them. Viesturs is highly risk adverse, but he is well aware of “summit fever�. And many people died on their descent after reaching the top.
From here on Viesturs chronicles classic ascents. One might think that each chapter is about the same. All about ascent of the same mountain. And also of the same route: the Abruzzi Ridge. But they are very different. Different people make for different group dynamic. Each chapter had it’s own tidbits of mountaineering background.
What’s neat is that he compares those with his own experiences on the mountain. It gives a wonderful perspective.
He comments on group dynamics and leadership. Risk assessment and physical fitness. He gives explanations of why things went wrong or why people succeeded.
Those early expeditions (1938 and 1939), had to hike in 360 miles. A month long trek. Today it’s much shorter, but Viesturs confesses “that we moderns have lost some of the richness of the full expedition experience.�
Of course there is no way these expeditions can be compared with current ones. Today’s equipment is so much better. Getting to basecamp is peanuts. And the gear used to climb makes it so much easier.
In chaper 3 and 4 these early attempts are described. They would pave the way for all the subsequent (succesful) expeditions.
Chapter 4: The Great Mystery is fascinating. It’s mainly the story of Fritz Weissner. An amazing strong climber. Viesturs considers him one of the heroes of K2.
Then chapter 5: Brotherhood, emphasis the importance of team work. Team spirit. Expedition members were specifically selected for their social skill. They should be able to get along together. Viesturs calls it “a stroke of genius�. People who trust and like each other will be more successful than a team solely build upon skill. And it would appear that this was what saved them from disaster in the end. Totally different from the 1939 expedition. And also from the first successful Italian expedition descripbed in the next chapter: the Price of Conquest.
It’s sad to read about that Italian expedition. Seemingly the worst in the mountaineers urge to get to the top at all costs came to the foreground. With the unsung hero and renowned mountaineer Walter Bonatti as the victim.
My least favorite chapter.
The book ends with yet another disaster year: 1986: the Dangerous Summer.
This is a chapter that describes multiple ascents, by multiple teams. And much went wrong that summer.
I quote Viesturs, quoting Charles Houston: “outragious behaviour, intense rivalry, and disregard of mountain ethics..� is what caused many deaths.
As such a bit disjointed. I liked the chapters where only one expedition is described better.
In the final chapter; Epilogue: the Holy Grail, Viesters comments on current (2008) trends in mountaineering. And he is not happy what he observes. It should be about the beauty of the high country and the comradeship. Not about first this or first that. Like first winter ascents, or fastest ascent.
I really liked this book!
May 3, 2021
Overall an interesting overview of the history of K2 and the plethora of teams that have tried to summit. It would have made a bigger impression and seemed more groundbreaking if I hadn't read In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods right after.
My largest problem with the book was that Viesturs made a huge deal about how Western society ignores the role that the Sherpas play in mountain climbing (which is true and I admire him for making it an issue) and points out how they are never named in press releases. Yet, he never names Asian climbers by name (except for Junko Tabei, but that was due to her being the first woman up Everest, rather than her Asian heritage). They are regulated to being "the Korean team", "the Chinese team" or "the Japanese team".
It just seemed to be a strange discrepancy in an otherwise informative book.
My largest problem with the book was that Viesturs made a huge deal about how Western society ignores the role that the Sherpas play in mountain climbing (which is true and I admire him for making it an issue) and points out how they are never named in press releases. Yet, he never names Asian climbers by name (except for Junko Tabei, but that was due to her being the first woman up Everest, rather than her Asian heritage). They are regulated to being "the Korean team", "the Chinese team" or "the Japanese team".
It just seemed to be a strange discrepancy in an otherwise informative book.
March 11, 2017
"As they forged on down into the darkness, the two Austrians lost track of Mrufka. They assumed she was just behind them, but they would never see her again."
As a clumsy person afraid of heights the closest I have gotten to mountaineering was to conquer Orla Perć, a difficult tourist hike in Polish Tatra Mountains. Yet since childhood I have had a love for mountains and have always enjoyed reading climbing books. K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain (2009) by Ed Viesturs and David Roberts is an important book for me for another reason. My wife and I used to be friends with Dobrosława "Mrufka" Wolf, one of the climbers who perished on K2 during the disastrous 1986 season, and the authors shed some additional light on the tragedy.
Mr. Viesturs is one of the very few people who managed to conquer K2, the "Savage Mountain", considered the hardest mountain on Earth to climb: he certainly is the right person to write about the history of K2 expeditions. He focuses on six most dramatic seasons in the K2 history, but also recounts his own successful ascent during the 1992 expedition. Of the perhaps 50 or so authors of mountaineering books I have read, Mr. Viesturs comes across as the most cautious. In fact he keeps insisting that his decision to continue the 1992 climb that resulted in reaching the summit had been wrong and that he is alive just because of luck. This was the only time that he violated the motto he used to live by:
The next American attempt turned into what the authors describe as "one of the most enigmatic expeditions of all time." The climbers reached the height of 8400 meters, but three team members died in a still not completely explained tragedy, with conflicting versions of critical events in existence. In deep contrast, yet another American attempt in 1953 was, in the authors' words, an "embodiment of team spirit and the standard to which all expeditions should aspire." Only an unusually brutal storm prevented the expedition from succeeding. It was finally in 1954 that an Italian team conquered K2: again there had been some controversial events during that attempt and the revelations that emerged fifty years after the climb justify the authors' viciously funny critique of the failed leadership in that successful endeavor.
My friend, Dobrosława Wolf, known as "Mrufka" (phonetic transcription of the Polish word for "ant"), died in August 1986. 13 climbers died on K2 that summer and the authors describe the tragedy and try to cast light on its reasons. Unusual crowding of the route, unequal technical skills of multi-national climbers, lack of permits and resulting haste all might have contributed to the drama.
K2 is one of the best mountaineering books I have ever read. I like the authors' serious, even-handed approach, their staying away from cheap sensationalism and "macabre delight in tragedy" while not avoiding sarcasm and humor when they are called for. And I truly appreciate Mr. Viestur's insistent emphasis on safety to the extent possible in the extreme conditions of high-altitude climbing. The book ends with a fragment about Mr. Viestur's family, sweet but incongruous with the entire work.
Four stars.
As a clumsy person afraid of heights the closest I have gotten to mountaineering was to conquer Orla Perć, a difficult tourist hike in Polish Tatra Mountains. Yet since childhood I have had a love for mountains and have always enjoyed reading climbing books. K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain (2009) by Ed Viesturs and David Roberts is an important book for me for another reason. My wife and I used to be friends with Dobrosława "Mrufka" Wolf, one of the climbers who perished on K2 during the disastrous 1986 season, and the authors shed some additional light on the tragedy.
Mr. Viesturs is one of the very few people who managed to conquer K2, the "Savage Mountain", considered the hardest mountain on Earth to climb: he certainly is the right person to write about the history of K2 expeditions. He focuses on six most dramatic seasons in the K2 history, but also recounts his own successful ascent during the 1992 expedition. Of the perhaps 50 or so authors of mountaineering books I have read, Mr. Viesturs comes across as the most cautious. In fact he keeps insisting that his decision to continue the 1992 climb that resulted in reaching the summit had been wrong and that he is alive just because of luck. This was the only time that he violated the motto he used to live by:
Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.The first two attempts to conquer K2 date back to the beginning of the 20th century: one of them involved the famous "occultist and egomaniac" Aleister Crowley. The other attempt, led by the Italian Duke of Abruzzi had been more serious: the climbers had found the now classic route. The members of the 1938 American expedition led by Charles Houston achieved the elevation over 7900 meters. One is unable to refrain from smiling when the authors quote Houston's enjoyment of a "restful cigarette, which seemed especially welcome at these high altitudes." I wonder which activities that we now consider as perfectly normal will be considered suicidal 79 years from now - eating chocolate?
The next American attempt turned into what the authors describe as "one of the most enigmatic expeditions of all time." The climbers reached the height of 8400 meters, but three team members died in a still not completely explained tragedy, with conflicting versions of critical events in existence. In deep contrast, yet another American attempt in 1953 was, in the authors' words, an "embodiment of team spirit and the standard to which all expeditions should aspire." Only an unusually brutal storm prevented the expedition from succeeding. It was finally in 1954 that an Italian team conquered K2: again there had been some controversial events during that attempt and the revelations that emerged fifty years after the climb justify the authors' viciously funny critique of the failed leadership in that successful endeavor.
My friend, Dobrosława Wolf, known as "Mrufka" (phonetic transcription of the Polish word for "ant"), died in August 1986. 13 climbers died on K2 that summer and the authors describe the tragedy and try to cast light on its reasons. Unusual crowding of the route, unequal technical skills of multi-national climbers, lack of permits and resulting haste all might have contributed to the drama.
K2 is one of the best mountaineering books I have ever read. I like the authors' serious, even-handed approach, their staying away from cheap sensationalism and "macabre delight in tragedy" while not avoiding sarcasm and humor when they are called for. And I truly appreciate Mr. Viestur's insistent emphasis on safety to the extent possible in the extreme conditions of high-altitude climbing. The book ends with a fragment about Mr. Viestur's family, sweet but incongruous with the entire work.
Four stars.
December 10, 2010
Ed Viesturs is one of the 18 people ever (and the only American) to have climbed all fourteen eight thousanders. It's a very rare feat- no woman has achieved it as yet. Yet, he is surprisingly level headed and devoid of ego. He ascribes his success to hard work, common sense and lack of bravura. He doesn't put it that way and it's not that blunt but this is what can be read between the lines. This cannot be said about all climbers though, and it's is especially visible when climbing the world's most treacherous mountain- K2. Many lose their lives in 'getting to the top fever', by being ill prepared, overconfident or blindly ambitious.
K2 is the world's second tallest mountain and four times as deadly as Everest. One in four climbers dies there. Viesturs almost lost his life there in 1992 when he and his partner Scott Fisher (he later lost his life on the infamous Everest climb described by Krakauer in Into Thin Air) were swept away by an avalanche, and it was Viesturs who managed to save them both. Viesturs explores the remarkable history of the mountain by examining eight different expeditions to the top, and of those who wanted to conquer it.
Viesturs has a remarkably high opinion of Polish climbers, which I, being Polish, duly note.
K2 is the world's second tallest mountain and four times as deadly as Everest. One in four climbers dies there. Viesturs almost lost his life there in 1992 when he and his partner Scott Fisher (he later lost his life on the infamous Everest climb described by Krakauer in Into Thin Air) were swept away by an avalanche, and it was Viesturs who managed to save them both. Viesturs explores the remarkable history of the mountain by examining eight different expeditions to the top, and of those who wanted to conquer it.
Viesturs has a remarkably high opinion of Polish climbers, which I, being Polish, duly note.
November 15, 2019
Yes, Viesturs is completely full of himself. He can't even praise his children's skiing skills without interjecting "I'm a pretty good skier myself." But, I suppose, at least the book comes across as authentic to that aspect of his personality. Overall, I thought this was a great history of K2 climbs, especially of the 2008 disaster. It is highly opinionated, with Viesturs trying to draw lessons and willing to place blame for mistakes. (Mistakes that he would never have made himself, of course.) It is focused and not overly long. There are some great climbing stories.
> � There's no viable analogy between Everest in 1996 and K2 in 2008. Not a single one of the eleven climbers who died that August on the world's second-highest mountain was a true client in the sense that Scott Fischer’s Mountain Madness or Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants customers were. None of them were paying big bucks to have a commercial guiding company get them up the mountain. They were almost uniformly experienced climbers in their own right.
> Yet in one respect, 2008's mountaineers allowed themselves to slip closer to the status of clients than nearly anyone had on previous K2 campaigns. This had to do with their dependence on fixed ropes. In the aftermath of the tragedy, too much focus has been put on the collapse of the serac, too little on the whole business of the fixed ropes.
> Even Jim Wickwire in 1978, though near death after his bivouac, summoned the nerve and the technique to climb down the traverse and the Bottleneck unaided by fixed ropes or partners. No one even thought of fixing ropes all the way through the Bottleneck until about two years ago. How quickly, though, the comfort of fixed ropes gets taken for granted
> The second ascent of Mount Everest came in 1956, only three years after Hillary and Tenzing, when a Swiss party climbed the highest peak in the world and made the first ascent of neighboring Lhotse, the fourth-highest. The second ascent of K2 came only in 1977, twenty-three years after Lacedelli and Compagnoni
> The 1978 team was likewise torn with dissension, but finally placed four Americans on top. Jim Wickwire, John Roskelley, Lou Reichardt, and Rick Ridgeway—superb mountaineers, all four—made the third ascent of K2 via the long and intricate northeast ridge, which had been attempted before but never completed. (For the top 2,000 feet, the Americans' route coincided with the Abruzzi route.) Three of the four reached the summit without supplementary oxygen.
> Achille Compagnoni, must go down in history as one of the indelible bad guys of mountaineering. For fear of sharing the triumph with the younger, better climber, Compagnoni was apparently willing to let Bonatti and Amir Mahdi freeze to death in an open bivouac. And the premeditated ruse Compagnoni devised to prevent that sharing—hiding Camp IX behind rocks above a dangerous traverse—turned the bravest Hunza climber of his day into a frostbite victim
> On Everest, every spring you can usually count on a stable window of clear weather, when the high jet-stream winds start to get pushed away by the approaching monsoon. But the monsoon doesn’t reach the Karakoram. Instead, you have to throw the dice with the weather.
> I believe it will be the Poles, with their legendary stamina, tolerance for pain, and tenacity, who will be the first to get up K2 in winter.
> � There's no viable analogy between Everest in 1996 and K2 in 2008. Not a single one of the eleven climbers who died that August on the world's second-highest mountain was a true client in the sense that Scott Fischer’s Mountain Madness or Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants customers were. None of them were paying big bucks to have a commercial guiding company get them up the mountain. They were almost uniformly experienced climbers in their own right.
> Yet in one respect, 2008's mountaineers allowed themselves to slip closer to the status of clients than nearly anyone had on previous K2 campaigns. This had to do with their dependence on fixed ropes. In the aftermath of the tragedy, too much focus has been put on the collapse of the serac, too little on the whole business of the fixed ropes.
> Even Jim Wickwire in 1978, though near death after his bivouac, summoned the nerve and the technique to climb down the traverse and the Bottleneck unaided by fixed ropes or partners. No one even thought of fixing ropes all the way through the Bottleneck until about two years ago. How quickly, though, the comfort of fixed ropes gets taken for granted
> The second ascent of Mount Everest came in 1956, only three years after Hillary and Tenzing, when a Swiss party climbed the highest peak in the world and made the first ascent of neighboring Lhotse, the fourth-highest. The second ascent of K2 came only in 1977, twenty-three years after Lacedelli and Compagnoni
> The 1978 team was likewise torn with dissension, but finally placed four Americans on top. Jim Wickwire, John Roskelley, Lou Reichardt, and Rick Ridgeway—superb mountaineers, all four—made the third ascent of K2 via the long and intricate northeast ridge, which had been attempted before but never completed. (For the top 2,000 feet, the Americans' route coincided with the Abruzzi route.) Three of the four reached the summit without supplementary oxygen.
> Achille Compagnoni, must go down in history as one of the indelible bad guys of mountaineering. For fear of sharing the triumph with the younger, better climber, Compagnoni was apparently willing to let Bonatti and Amir Mahdi freeze to death in an open bivouac. And the premeditated ruse Compagnoni devised to prevent that sharing—hiding Camp IX behind rocks above a dangerous traverse—turned the bravest Hunza climber of his day into a frostbite victim
> On Everest, every spring you can usually count on a stable window of clear weather, when the high jet-stream winds start to get pushed away by the approaching monsoon. But the monsoon doesn’t reach the Karakoram. Instead, you have to throw the dice with the weather.
> I believe it will be the Poles, with their legendary stamina, tolerance for pain, and tenacity, who will be the first to get up K2 in winter.
June 3, 2010
This book works well for two reasons: Ed Viesturs� authority as a top mountain climber and the comprehensive retellings of the most monumental K2 climbs. Viesturs reexamines pivotal events on K2 and considers lessons that can be learned from each tragedy. When I first started reading the book, I thought Viesturs was a bit pretentious, but when I did my own investigations into his accomplishments and the danger of K2, I was in awe of what he has achieved and I realized he has every right to offer his opinion on mistakes and methods. That being said, he often compares the K2 narratives with his own experiences on various mountains and makes many references to Everest, though how you can tell the history of the second highest mountain in the world WITHOUT paralleling it to the tallest is beyond me. There are also comparisons between the 1996 Everest and the 2008 K2 tragedies, the former of which Viesturs was present, thus, there are also references to Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air. I think the overall history of the mountain, its exploration, the daring ascents and misfortunes are what make this book great. The use of quotes from the diaries and books of preceding climbers adds a great deal to the narrative as a whole. I love that K2 is virtually regarded as a villain, a murderous giant that needs to be vanquished, though Viesturs reminds us that it is just an inanimate object. Upon completing the book, I had to watch my DVD of Viesturs� 1996 expedition to Everest for IMAX, and I was captivated by this legendary man and his amazing skills.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine Program.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine Program.
March 3, 2020
کوهنوردان بخوانند.....
مقدمه کتاب نوشته ای داشت که خیلی جالب بود:همان طور که در ایران علم کوه برای کوهنوردان کوه مورد علاقه هست و برای غیر کوهنوردان دماوند در دنیا هم کوه دوست داشتنی کوهنوردان کی ۲ هست و برای غیر کوهنوردان اورست :)
مقدمه کتاب نوشته ای داشت که خیلی جالب بود:همان طور که در ایران علم کوه برای کوهنوردان کوه مورد علاقه هست و برای غیر کوهنوردان دماوند در دنیا هم کوه دوست داشتنی کوهنوردان کی ۲ هست و برای غیر کوهنوردان اورست :)
November 26, 2014
Disclaimer, I didn't finish it. I found the author to be quite smug, which I could have possibly handled if the storytelling had been not so lackluster and he didn't jump around so much. I'll go read my well-worn copy of Into Thin Air again to get a bit of a mountaineering fix.
June 3, 2022
این بعد از «گرگ دریا» دومین کتابیه که دوست دارم فیلمی که در موردش ساخته شده رو ببینم ولی هنوز ندیدم.
June 24, 2019
I think what is most captivating about this book is just how rational and fair Viesturs is with his narrative. It did not take long for me to develop a great respect for him as he chronicled the bloody history of K2. To quote Viesturs himself "no mountain in the world has a more interesting history." I couldn't agree more.
April 10, 2025
I liked learning about the history and tragedy on K2
February 6, 2025
Had me locked in for the first 20%, lost me thereafter. Kind of bonkers the proportion of climbers that die on K2. Ed is very American. Couldn’t help but read it in an accent.
April 1, 2014
cc:
A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing K2, the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of No Shortcuts to the Top
At 28,251 feet, the world's 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–the worst single-event tragedy in the mountain's 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 world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, thought of it as "the holy grail of mountaineering."
In K2: Life and Death on the World's 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 K2's most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering–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 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 mountain's 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 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.
by Ed Viesturs
A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing K2, the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of No Shortcuts to the Top
At 28,251 feet, the world's 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–the worst single-event tragedy in the mountain's 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 world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, thought of it as "the holy grail of mountaineering."
In K2: Life and Death on the World's 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 K2's most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering–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 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 mountain's 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 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.
by Ed Viesturs
February 8, 2010
Ed Viesturs is a climbing legend - for example, he's the only American to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter mountains without supplemental oxygen - and a good memoirist, but this book is mostly about others' experiences on the world's second highest peak. It chronicles seven famous expeditions, including the author's own ascent in 1992, most of which are tinged with tragedy in some meaningful way (which is a hallmark of even the most gifted climbers' experiences of the mountain generally considered to be the most challenging to climb of the 14 "8000ers" as Viesturs calls them).
The stories related are interesting and well-told, so even readers who are not mountaineering enthusiasts will be surprised, appalled and gratified by the incredible tales of the people who have attempted the hardest ascent in high altitude climbing. As thrilling as the technical aspects of these efforts are, the real stories are of the "human angle" - of the triumphs, tragedies, boldly-taken risks, foolish or careless mistakes, petty jealousies, selfless rescues and unsung heroics of mountaineers both famous and anonymous.
Viesturs has to be congratulated for being quite even-handed in his evaluation of others' treatments of these stories, as the book is part description of the various expeditions, part review of the previous renderings of these stories and part the author's own take on them. It's clear that he has some opinions, but he is fair in assessing alternative viewpoints before offering his own.
Accordingly, I recommend this book highly, including for readers who may not be that familiar with mountaineering. It is really a series of morality plays woven together by an expert in the field. What it creates is an appreciation for the natural beauty and wonder of the mountains as well as for that unique subset of humanity whose connection to these natural wonders is at once visceral and spiritual.
The stories related are interesting and well-told, so even readers who are not mountaineering enthusiasts will be surprised, appalled and gratified by the incredible tales of the people who have attempted the hardest ascent in high altitude climbing. As thrilling as the technical aspects of these efforts are, the real stories are of the "human angle" - of the triumphs, tragedies, boldly-taken risks, foolish or careless mistakes, petty jealousies, selfless rescues and unsung heroics of mountaineers both famous and anonymous.
Viesturs has to be congratulated for being quite even-handed in his evaluation of others' treatments of these stories, as the book is part description of the various expeditions, part review of the previous renderings of these stories and part the author's own take on them. It's clear that he has some opinions, but he is fair in assessing alternative viewpoints before offering his own.
Accordingly, I recommend this book highly, including for readers who may not be that familiar with mountaineering. It is really a series of morality plays woven together by an expert in the field. What it creates is an appreciation for the natural beauty and wonder of the mountains as well as for that unique subset of humanity whose connection to these natural wonders is at once visceral and spiritual.
May 16, 2011
Pretty good book. Some of it was very interesting but as someone else said his own commentary is ok but gets repeatative by the end. Early on I got the idea he's more conservative than most people, so he didn't have to keep drilling it in. I really enjoyed the beginning the best. How he talks a bit about how groups' mentality affects the expedition and can lead to death when people quit thinking for themselves. By the end I was tired of all his commentary though. I guess if I ever somehow find myself on K2 I"ll bring willow wands though.
K2 is the backdrop of many epic stories and I enjoyed being able to concisely read about many of them in one book as I don't plan on reading books on all the expeditions myself. I think that books on moutaineering expeditions are interesting as I know I will never be part of one but its interesting to read about all the hard work, dedication, fatalities, injuries, hardships, and disputes that eventually resulted on people being able to summit. I just didn't like how Viesturs seemed to be the Monday morning quarterback.
Although Viesturs is not my favorite narrator of nonfiction, it is still worth reading. I think anyone can learn things from it, not just about mountaineering but about working together and overcoming obstacles in life. Additionally its fascinating nonfiction.
K2 is the backdrop of many epic stories and I enjoyed being able to concisely read about many of them in one book as I don't plan on reading books on all the expeditions myself. I think that books on moutaineering expeditions are interesting as I know I will never be part of one but its interesting to read about all the hard work, dedication, fatalities, injuries, hardships, and disputes that eventually resulted on people being able to summit. I just didn't like how Viesturs seemed to be the Monday morning quarterback.
Although Viesturs is not my favorite narrator of nonfiction, it is still worth reading. I think anyone can learn things from it, not just about mountaineering but about working together and overcoming obstacles in life. Additionally its fascinating nonfiction.
July 28, 2024
2.5 ⭐️ (audio) - I found the collection of summit attempt stories (both successful and not) very informative and interesting. However, I do think the book would have been better structured as a collection of essays about these summits - it didn’t feel super cohesive as a single story and it often felt jumbled and meandering. I also think the editing on Ed’s narrating voice did the biggest disservice to the story - he is very obviously a super skilled and experienced high elevation mountaineer, and as so has (in my opinion) earned the right to provide his literal professional opinion to how certain expeditions may have gone wrong. However, the tone that I experienced in the book felt judgmental. I feel like editing some of the delivery would have avoided this feeling. I also think setting forth throughout the book that no one can judge an expedition you weren’t on so strongly, but still providing such strong thoughts on some of the actions of these expeditions made it feel hypocritical.
August 27, 2021
Really great book about the history of K2, as well as a discussion of mountaineering in general and disasters on Everest. The author is little hard on people who are not overly cautious, but then again he has not died on a lot of mountains where other people have. A great read in the pantheon of "Everest"-type literature.
March 29, 2015
Complete arrogance. Forgetting the shocking omissions he makes vis-a-vis the 1996 Everest disaster (I'm not even going there), I have never seen such an unjustified sense of grandeur in a mountaineer. If you want the real story on the 1996 disaster, read Graham Ratcliffe's book.
December 6, 2019
All mountain climbers are liars, says Ed Viesturs, mountain climber. The sanctimony is strong in this one. Unlike, unfortunately, the quality of prose. At least now I have an answer to that eternal question, what would Shakespeare look like when paraphrased for a CNN newcaster. Lyrical descriptions bordering on the mystic qualities of light, snow, rock, and air belong in the realm of Robert Macfarlane, Ed Viesturs is here to impart some knowledge for your ignorant sea-level ass, and he does it with the force of an all-knowing avalanche disguised as your disapproving mother glaring at you because you went out in the cold without layers and are now on your deathbed with pneumonia. I don't know why I'm complaining, I didn't come here for transcendental poetry, I came here for technicality-soaked pages of mountain geology with all the dryness of a really good climbing boot, and there is certainly something refreshing about an adventure book that doesn't resort to cliched mysticism and gaia-porn. The reality of these stories is irresistibly full of drama, thrills, and pathos, and a robotic retelling feels like it would actually accentuate the drama, like Arnold as the Terminator narrating the historical events of Judgment day, something that deserves 5stars. Unfortunately, it isn't robotic, it is distractingly self-righteous and preachy, although in all fairness it's got such a solid dose of that right at the end that there's a recency effect in emotional reaction while writing this review. Most of the review might have been a scathing attack on his astonishingly graceless anti-normies tirade with all the sneering superiority that has characterized many mountain-guides I've met. As a dutiful non-irritating normie citizen with absolutely no inflated sense of my own importance in the grand scheme of things, let me just say, um my taxes pay your salary buddy.
Assorted thoughts
Early mountain literature were very diplomatic. Counter-culture revolution 60s/70s, literature started airing dirty linen: "Galen Rowell’s In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods and Rick Ridgeway’s The Last Step, which chronicled, respectively, the 1975 and 1978 American K2 expeditions, highlighted every interpersonal showdown among their teammates, they remembered (or recreated) blistering dialogues to dramatize them" - How much is just money and increased competition for the few professionals who can afford to live off their mountaineering careers? Later in the book is this "In the perverse logic of the day, that tarred the Wyoming cowboy with a certain unworthiness in the eyes of his Ivy League teammates. And Petzoldt’s profession as a guide, just as perversely, could be seen as a detriment on an expedition, not as an asset."
Dolorous Edd: The frustration of taking on more than my share of the work, of having other climbers shirk their responsibilities, and of having no leader who would assign tasks built inside me into a towering resentment. But I kept it all inside; I never blew up and chewed anybody else out. (That’s typical for me, I’m afraid—I tend to avoid overt conflict.)
The Russians don't come out too well in this book. I continually get the feeling they are the godsent White Asians whose Asian qualities of rudeness, unprofessionalism, parsimony, selfishness etc can be criticized with great glee by white people without the pesky danger of being accused of racism. There is quite a bit of internalized racism that the author obviously can't be blamed for, for instance trying to describe how expeditions had completely blown up in number, ranging 'From India (!!!!) to..', exclamations my own gratuitous addition of course. Poor Koreans and Japanese climbers are always just Koreans or Japanese, how dare they ask for names. Sherpa and Hunzas on the other hand are graciously named to demonstrate the generous liberal attitude of the author.
Chantal sounds like a real peach. The damaged kind that makes you sick and whose pit stabs the roof of your mouth.
I find myself very cynical when reading stuff like "Scott’s wife had wanted me to try to retrieve the wedding ring that he carried on a cord around his neck, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.", I can't see why anyone wouldn't do it, so I think best case scenario he was exhausted and walked straight by and did none of the 'looked for corpse, sat with him and spoke of better days, gone but not forgotten' nonsense. Worst case, he kept the precious :+
There is a K1. It's called Masherbrum now. Lt Montgomorie of Great Trigonometric Survey took theodolite to Srinagar mountain, Other K-peaks, the beautiful tower K7. Chomolungma is so much nicer a name than Everest 'Goddess mother of the world'. Unofficially should just use that, like Denali instead of McKinley. Balti people called K2 Chogori, which just means Great Mountain. So it seems like another kangaroo 'I don't understand you' story. On the name, Ed suddenly cracks out all the skills last used in high-school English lit class - K2 may owe its origin to chance, but it is a name in itself, and one of striking originality. Sibylline, magical, with a slight touch of fantasy. A short name but one that is pure and peremptory, so charged with evocation that it threatens to break through its bleak syllabic bonds. And at the same time a name instinct with mystery and suggestion: a name that scraps race, religion, history and past. No country claims it, no latitudes and longitudes and geography, no dictionary words. No, just the bare bones of a name, all rock and ice and storm and abyss. It makes no attempt to sound human. It is atoms and stars.
First ever K2 expedition in 1902 had a familiar name whose over-long twitter bio would need to read Avid Climber. Magician. Drug cultist. Sex Demon. Poet. Bibliophile. Aleister Crowley.
Geopolitical revisionist historian: In the years since Pakistan had won its independence from India, the approaches to the Karakoram had become a region of military importance
Germans attempting Eiger north face - 'the last great problem' of the Alps, all were thought deranged. Nationalistic fervor. Hitler gave first climbers medals (2 Austrian, 2 German)
The logistical complexity and thoroughness of Wiessner's plan is a lovely throwback to exploration of that time, and reminiscent of Robert Scott's expedition
Crumper Extraordinaire that I am, couldn't help note this passage “Eyes turned away from the hardships of K2 and toward the comforts of home.� There’s a term some mountaineers use for this phenomenon. It’s called “crumping.� To crump is to let the hardship and danger of expedition life drain you of all your mountaineering ambitions, so that all you want to do is get the hell out of there.
Contextualizing just how progressive John Hunt's decision was for the times: Had Wiessner climbed K2 with a Sherpa, it would have set a glorious example, one not realized until 1953 on Everest, when John Hunt, recognizing Tenzing Norgay’s vast experience and bold ambition, paired him with Hillary for the May 29 assault.
Epicness: only Pete Schoening’s “miracle belay� in 1953 is more legendary than Wiessner’s self-arrest, which saved himself and his two teammates - Pete Schoening’s “miracle belay� has become a legend. Nothing like it, before or since, has ever been performed in the mountains—one man with a single ax and a grip of steel stopping the otherwise fatal falls of six teammates and of himself. Schoening’s deed, which as a superbly trained climber he performed by instinct in a split-second reflex, is, simply, the most famous belay in mountaineering history.
Other side of epicness: The three Sherpa found Wolfe lying in his sleeping bag, completely apathetic. He did not even read the note Wiessner had written to him. He had again run out of matches, and had eaten or drunk nothing for days. He had not even gone outside to defecate, so his sleeping bag and the tent floor were smeared with feces.
The entire aftermath of Wiessner's expedition was very intriguing. For example: Cynical observers would later suggest that had only Sherpa been killed on K2 in 1939, the AAC wouldn’t have lifted an eyebrow. But Dudley Wolfe was a Boston Brahmin, a blue blood from New England—as were many of the AAC’s luminaries and officers. And Fritz Wiessner was a German-American, at perhaps the worst time in the twentieth century to be one.
And: Beginning in the 1960s, and accelerating through the �70s and �80s, American climbing underwent a cultural revolution. A new generation, reexamining the 1939 expedition, saw armchair critics such as Kenneth Mason as reactionary old fogeys, while Wiessner was in effect reborn as one of the greatest climbers in history, his deeds on K2 considered heroic rather than foolish or neglectful.
And: By the time Thompson wrote the biography, he hated Frost. In that three-volume life, Frost comes across as a great poet but a monster in human terms. One reviewer called it ‘a big fat voodoo doll of a biography, with Thompson puncturing Frost from every angle.� But that’s still the public image
Context of Time: Robert Falcon Scott’s diary of his fatal trip to the south pole or the various books about Ernest Shackleton’s heroic expedition when his ship, the Endurance, was trapped in the ice off Antarctica and sank—I was taken aback by a recurrent theme: those guys were sure they’d been born too late.
guys who, like me, have specialized in 8,000-meter peaks know very little about Red River Gorge, or Hueco Tanks in Texas, or Mount Charleston in Nevada. We’re all still “climbers,� but our fraternities (and sororities) are so specialized that we scarcely understand one another’s jargon.
They f***ing love science: When his teammates finally discovered Scott’s last camp on his return from the south pole, eight months after the leader and his four brave comrades had starved and frozen to death, they found more than thirty pounds of rocks—geological specimens—still loaded on Scott’s sledge. By 1954, however, that tradition was almost obsolete.
Mandatory Herzog reference: “There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men�
Pedantic Ed antics making a case that I couldn't quite understand: When I first read that paragraph, I had to look up “orographical.� It means “having to do with the branch of physical geography dealing with mountains.� I rest my case.
Gracious Ed laying down some anti-racist rhetoric that postmodernism will gleefully deconstruct to reveal all its inherent racist glory: Hunza terror on steep terrain may well have looked to the Italians like mere laziness. It’s also possible that these high-altitude porters bridled every bit as much as Lacedelli and his disaffected teammates did under Desio’s stern dictatorship.
Everest vs K2 is fascinating to read.
Mountain stuff I picked out
A sharp pyramid of black rock, sheer snow gullies and ridges, and ominous hanging glaciers, K2 has a symmetry and grace that make it the most striking of the fourteen 8,000ers. Rising from the Baltoro Glacier in the heart of the Karakoram, K2 is flanked by five other of the world’s seventeen highest peaks. That range, in fact, holds the densest constellation of skyscraping mountains anywhere in the world—even denser than the Himalaya around Everest. Yet K2 soars in proud isolation over Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, and its other formidable neighbors.
the weather the next morning was decidedly iffy, with lenticular cloud caps covering all the major peaks—almost always a sign of a coming storm.
in 1938, climbers who wanted the best mountaineering footwear available wore relatively thin leather boots, their soles reinforced with hobnails—little metal cleats affixed to the undersurface. The nails gave you better purchase on ice and snow, but they were a real liability on rock slabs, because your feet tended to skitter off their holds. What’s more, at altitude the hobnails conducted cold straight to your feet, contributing directly to the risk of frostbite all early climbers faced in the Himalaya. It would be decades before Vibram rubber soles got invented, not to mention double boots—especially the kind of combination plastic outer shell and foam inner I wore on most of my 8,000-ers.
Climbing ropes, at that time, were still made out of hemp or manila. Nylon ropes, which are many times stronger and have a stretchiness that absorbs much of the impact of a fall, were still nearly a decade in the future. The ice axes of the day were three to four feet long and had shafts of hickory or ash, with a straight metal pick and an opposing adze for a handle. They looked more like Victorian alpenstocks (glorified walking sticks) than the short, fanged chrome-molybdenum ice tools we used in 1992.
the rock strata on the northwest ridge inclined upward, promising staircase-like steps. On the southeast spur on the diametrically opposite side of the mountain, the Italians found just the reverse: downward-sloping slabs and ledges that made for treacherous climbing and insecure campsites.
In 1938, ascenders were still a quarter century away from being invented. Instead, the climbers tied knots and overhand loops in their hemp fixed ropes, then simply hauled themselves up with their hands. Descending the steeper passages today, we clip our harnesses to the fixed rope with a figure-eight device and rappel the line. In 1938, the climbers also rappelled, but they did so with the traditional dulfersitz, a simple and ingenious method of wrapping the rope in an S-bend through the crotch, around one hip, up across the chest, and over the opposite shoulder, invented shortly after the turn of the twentieth century by the great German climber Hans Dülfer.
Bates set up a belay by draping a loop of rope over a prong of rock, then passing the rope behind the prong. That technique harkened back to Victorian times, but by today’s standards it seems pretty marginal. If House had fallen off the cliff, the hemp rope might well have severed as it came tight on the sharp rock.
classic chimney position, feet flat against one wall, back against the other.
bergschrund—a crevasse where the rocky core of the mountain is separated from the glacial mass that lies on top of it. Here the slope steepened, and though the crevasse itself was crossable on a snow bridge, the texture of the snow grew even softer and less stable.
For nine hours, Wiessner climbed the rock bands, hammering in pitons as he went. In succession, Wiessner mastered a short couloir of black ice, a short overhang of iced-up rock, and many rope lengths of shattered, friable rock, much of it covered with a treacherous skin of ice called verglas.
Gilkey was wrapped in a sleeping bag, with his feet in a rucksack. This makeshift litter was cradled by a network of ropes. Four men, each tending a separate rope try to pull and steer the immobile victim down
Assorted thoughts
Early mountain literature were very diplomatic. Counter-culture revolution 60s/70s, literature started airing dirty linen: "Galen Rowell’s In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods and Rick Ridgeway’s The Last Step, which chronicled, respectively, the 1975 and 1978 American K2 expeditions, highlighted every interpersonal showdown among their teammates, they remembered (or recreated) blistering dialogues to dramatize them" - How much is just money and increased competition for the few professionals who can afford to live off their mountaineering careers? Later in the book is this "In the perverse logic of the day, that tarred the Wyoming cowboy with a certain unworthiness in the eyes of his Ivy League teammates. And Petzoldt’s profession as a guide, just as perversely, could be seen as a detriment on an expedition, not as an asset."
Dolorous Edd: The frustration of taking on more than my share of the work, of having other climbers shirk their responsibilities, and of having no leader who would assign tasks built inside me into a towering resentment. But I kept it all inside; I never blew up and chewed anybody else out. (That’s typical for me, I’m afraid—I tend to avoid overt conflict.)
The Russians don't come out too well in this book. I continually get the feeling they are the godsent White Asians whose Asian qualities of rudeness, unprofessionalism, parsimony, selfishness etc can be criticized with great glee by white people without the pesky danger of being accused of racism. There is quite a bit of internalized racism that the author obviously can't be blamed for, for instance trying to describe how expeditions had completely blown up in number, ranging 'From India (!!!!) to..', exclamations my own gratuitous addition of course. Poor Koreans and Japanese climbers are always just Koreans or Japanese, how dare they ask for names. Sherpa and Hunzas on the other hand are graciously named to demonstrate the generous liberal attitude of the author.
Chantal sounds like a real peach. The damaged kind that makes you sick and whose pit stabs the roof of your mouth.
I find myself very cynical when reading stuff like "Scott’s wife had wanted me to try to retrieve the wedding ring that he carried on a cord around his neck, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.", I can't see why anyone wouldn't do it, so I think best case scenario he was exhausted and walked straight by and did none of the 'looked for corpse, sat with him and spoke of better days, gone but not forgotten' nonsense. Worst case, he kept the precious :+
There is a K1. It's called Masherbrum now. Lt Montgomorie of Great Trigonometric Survey took theodolite to Srinagar mountain, Other K-peaks, the beautiful tower K7. Chomolungma is so much nicer a name than Everest 'Goddess mother of the world'. Unofficially should just use that, like Denali instead of McKinley. Balti people called K2 Chogori, which just means Great Mountain. So it seems like another kangaroo 'I don't understand you' story. On the name, Ed suddenly cracks out all the skills last used in high-school English lit class - K2 may owe its origin to chance, but it is a name in itself, and one of striking originality. Sibylline, magical, with a slight touch of fantasy. A short name but one that is pure and peremptory, so charged with evocation that it threatens to break through its bleak syllabic bonds. And at the same time a name instinct with mystery and suggestion: a name that scraps race, religion, history and past. No country claims it, no latitudes and longitudes and geography, no dictionary words. No, just the bare bones of a name, all rock and ice and storm and abyss. It makes no attempt to sound human. It is atoms and stars.
First ever K2 expedition in 1902 had a familiar name whose over-long twitter bio would need to read Avid Climber. Magician. Drug cultist. Sex Demon. Poet. Bibliophile. Aleister Crowley.
Geopolitical revisionist historian: In the years since Pakistan had won its independence from India, the approaches to the Karakoram had become a region of military importance
Germans attempting Eiger north face - 'the last great problem' of the Alps, all were thought deranged. Nationalistic fervor. Hitler gave first climbers medals (2 Austrian, 2 German)
The logistical complexity and thoroughness of Wiessner's plan is a lovely throwback to exploration of that time, and reminiscent of Robert Scott's expedition
Crumper Extraordinaire that I am, couldn't help note this passage “Eyes turned away from the hardships of K2 and toward the comforts of home.� There’s a term some mountaineers use for this phenomenon. It’s called “crumping.� To crump is to let the hardship and danger of expedition life drain you of all your mountaineering ambitions, so that all you want to do is get the hell out of there.
Contextualizing just how progressive John Hunt's decision was for the times: Had Wiessner climbed K2 with a Sherpa, it would have set a glorious example, one not realized until 1953 on Everest, when John Hunt, recognizing Tenzing Norgay’s vast experience and bold ambition, paired him with Hillary for the May 29 assault.
Epicness: only Pete Schoening’s “miracle belay� in 1953 is more legendary than Wiessner’s self-arrest, which saved himself and his two teammates - Pete Schoening’s “miracle belay� has become a legend. Nothing like it, before or since, has ever been performed in the mountains—one man with a single ax and a grip of steel stopping the otherwise fatal falls of six teammates and of himself. Schoening’s deed, which as a superbly trained climber he performed by instinct in a split-second reflex, is, simply, the most famous belay in mountaineering history.
Other side of epicness: The three Sherpa found Wolfe lying in his sleeping bag, completely apathetic. He did not even read the note Wiessner had written to him. He had again run out of matches, and had eaten or drunk nothing for days. He had not even gone outside to defecate, so his sleeping bag and the tent floor were smeared with feces.
The entire aftermath of Wiessner's expedition was very intriguing. For example: Cynical observers would later suggest that had only Sherpa been killed on K2 in 1939, the AAC wouldn’t have lifted an eyebrow. But Dudley Wolfe was a Boston Brahmin, a blue blood from New England—as were many of the AAC’s luminaries and officers. And Fritz Wiessner was a German-American, at perhaps the worst time in the twentieth century to be one.
And: Beginning in the 1960s, and accelerating through the �70s and �80s, American climbing underwent a cultural revolution. A new generation, reexamining the 1939 expedition, saw armchair critics such as Kenneth Mason as reactionary old fogeys, while Wiessner was in effect reborn as one of the greatest climbers in history, his deeds on K2 considered heroic rather than foolish or neglectful.
And: By the time Thompson wrote the biography, he hated Frost. In that three-volume life, Frost comes across as a great poet but a monster in human terms. One reviewer called it ‘a big fat voodoo doll of a biography, with Thompson puncturing Frost from every angle.� But that’s still the public image
Context of Time: Robert Falcon Scott’s diary of his fatal trip to the south pole or the various books about Ernest Shackleton’s heroic expedition when his ship, the Endurance, was trapped in the ice off Antarctica and sank—I was taken aback by a recurrent theme: those guys were sure they’d been born too late.
guys who, like me, have specialized in 8,000-meter peaks know very little about Red River Gorge, or Hueco Tanks in Texas, or Mount Charleston in Nevada. We’re all still “climbers,� but our fraternities (and sororities) are so specialized that we scarcely understand one another’s jargon.
They f***ing love science: When his teammates finally discovered Scott’s last camp on his return from the south pole, eight months after the leader and his four brave comrades had starved and frozen to death, they found more than thirty pounds of rocks—geological specimens—still loaded on Scott’s sledge. By 1954, however, that tradition was almost obsolete.
Mandatory Herzog reference: “There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men�
Pedantic Ed antics making a case that I couldn't quite understand: When I first read that paragraph, I had to look up “orographical.� It means “having to do with the branch of physical geography dealing with mountains.� I rest my case.
Gracious Ed laying down some anti-racist rhetoric that postmodernism will gleefully deconstruct to reveal all its inherent racist glory: Hunza terror on steep terrain may well have looked to the Italians like mere laziness. It’s also possible that these high-altitude porters bridled every bit as much as Lacedelli and his disaffected teammates did under Desio’s stern dictatorship.
Everest vs K2 is fascinating to read.
Mountain stuff I picked out
A sharp pyramid of black rock, sheer snow gullies and ridges, and ominous hanging glaciers, K2 has a symmetry and grace that make it the most striking of the fourteen 8,000ers. Rising from the Baltoro Glacier in the heart of the Karakoram, K2 is flanked by five other of the world’s seventeen highest peaks. That range, in fact, holds the densest constellation of skyscraping mountains anywhere in the world—even denser than the Himalaya around Everest. Yet K2 soars in proud isolation over Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, and its other formidable neighbors.
the weather the next morning was decidedly iffy, with lenticular cloud caps covering all the major peaks—almost always a sign of a coming storm.
in 1938, climbers who wanted the best mountaineering footwear available wore relatively thin leather boots, their soles reinforced with hobnails—little metal cleats affixed to the undersurface. The nails gave you better purchase on ice and snow, but they were a real liability on rock slabs, because your feet tended to skitter off their holds. What’s more, at altitude the hobnails conducted cold straight to your feet, contributing directly to the risk of frostbite all early climbers faced in the Himalaya. It would be decades before Vibram rubber soles got invented, not to mention double boots—especially the kind of combination plastic outer shell and foam inner I wore on most of my 8,000-ers.
Climbing ropes, at that time, were still made out of hemp or manila. Nylon ropes, which are many times stronger and have a stretchiness that absorbs much of the impact of a fall, were still nearly a decade in the future. The ice axes of the day were three to four feet long and had shafts of hickory or ash, with a straight metal pick and an opposing adze for a handle. They looked more like Victorian alpenstocks (glorified walking sticks) than the short, fanged chrome-molybdenum ice tools we used in 1992.
the rock strata on the northwest ridge inclined upward, promising staircase-like steps. On the southeast spur on the diametrically opposite side of the mountain, the Italians found just the reverse: downward-sloping slabs and ledges that made for treacherous climbing and insecure campsites.
In 1938, ascenders were still a quarter century away from being invented. Instead, the climbers tied knots and overhand loops in their hemp fixed ropes, then simply hauled themselves up with their hands. Descending the steeper passages today, we clip our harnesses to the fixed rope with a figure-eight device and rappel the line. In 1938, the climbers also rappelled, but they did so with the traditional dulfersitz, a simple and ingenious method of wrapping the rope in an S-bend through the crotch, around one hip, up across the chest, and over the opposite shoulder, invented shortly after the turn of the twentieth century by the great German climber Hans Dülfer.
Bates set up a belay by draping a loop of rope over a prong of rock, then passing the rope behind the prong. That technique harkened back to Victorian times, but by today’s standards it seems pretty marginal. If House had fallen off the cliff, the hemp rope might well have severed as it came tight on the sharp rock.
classic chimney position, feet flat against one wall, back against the other.
bergschrund—a crevasse where the rocky core of the mountain is separated from the glacial mass that lies on top of it. Here the slope steepened, and though the crevasse itself was crossable on a snow bridge, the texture of the snow grew even softer and less stable.
For nine hours, Wiessner climbed the rock bands, hammering in pitons as he went. In succession, Wiessner mastered a short couloir of black ice, a short overhang of iced-up rock, and many rope lengths of shattered, friable rock, much of it covered with a treacherous skin of ice called verglas.
Gilkey was wrapped in a sleeping bag, with his feet in a rucksack. This makeshift litter was cradled by a network of ropes. Four men, each tending a separate rope try to pull and steer the immobile victim down
December 25, 2020
This is such a good introduction to Karakoram-Himalayan mountaineering history. It discusses the 2008 K2 disaster but it really tries to put that year into context, focusing on the 1930's American expeditions, the early 1950's competition between the Italians and Americans, and finally the 1986 disaster year. All of this is told from the personal experience of Viesturs during the 1991/2 (can't remember) summiting of the mountain. In the end, you come away with a sense that Viesturs respects people who put human life above the summit (especially those who give up their summit chance in order to save someone in need). The stories he focuses on the most are not the miraculous, danger-filled efforts like the Polish accent of the Eastern Face of K2 (I think it was that face) in 1986 or Hermann Buhl's solo summit push on Nanga Parbat. The mountaineer he holds in highest regard is Fritz Wiessner especially because he gave up his summit opportunity in 1939 because it was getting late and his partner, Pasang Lama, could not go up any further (and had lost his crampons). The best mountaineers are not those who boldly conquer regardless of consequence, but push themselves as far as they can without needlessly endangering themselves or others in their efforts. Viesturs puts a high premium on climbers caring about one another.
March 24, 2025
I am fascinated by people who undertake extreme mountain expeditions such as Everest and K2. Knowing that one person in every four who summits K2 will ultimately loose their life in the process (one in every 20 for Everest), the risks are immense. The author has climbed all 14 8000 meter mountains so is certainly an authority on high altitude mountaineering. However I found his writing jarring. He reviews his own K2 attempts and critiques those of others with a healthy dose of superiority and American exceptionalism which I found irritating. A good portion of the book chronicles the attempts on K2 back to 1902 when expeditions mirrored the society of the day with Shaibs (aka white masters) and Sherpas(Nepalese porters who doubled as servants for their Shaibs). Sherpas got no recognition for the significant contributions they played in expeditions with historical accounts failing to even record their names and this took some time to change. While this is interesting, it’s far too technical and detailed for non climbers to appreciate. I know a lot more about willow wands than I need to and we delved into the details of multiple expeditions to see what lessons could be extrapolated by the author who wasn’t there and relied upon third party accounts.
If I took anything from this book it’s that the best laid plans are meaningless at that altitude and nature has the ultimate say. The combination of hypoxia, altitude sickness, sleep deprivation and extreme conditions result in such differing recollections and narratives that it’s impossible to have a clear picture of events and rationale for decisions that were made.
If I took anything from this book it’s that the best laid plans are meaningless at that altitude and nature has the ultimate say. The combination of hypoxia, altitude sickness, sleep deprivation and extreme conditions result in such differing recollections and narratives that it’s impossible to have a clear picture of events and rationale for decisions that were made.
December 4, 2023
I love reading about the daring expeditions to reach the top of K2. The history is fascinating. I have climbed quite a few mountains, but I don't have any desire to climb above 8000m. There is some amount of suffering while climbing mountains, but at those extreme heights the risk to reward ratio does not measure up for me. There is just too much luck involved in some of these long expeditions. Weather is nearly impossible to predict reliably enough to make some of these ascents practical for me. I am happy to read of the adventures of others.
Viesturs does not feel good about his summit of K2. He feels like he got lucky and that he went to the summit against his better judgement, he thought he should have turned back. It is really interesting that he thought he and Scott Fischer were so compatible. They are both experienced and very strong climbers, but their risk tolerances where not aligned and they never climbed together again. It is also telling that of the few people who had summitted K2 by the time of this book, very few of them are still alive. Many died in other mountaineering accidents.
Viesturs does not feel good about his summit of K2. He feels like he got lucky and that he went to the summit against his better judgement, he thought he should have turned back. It is really interesting that he thought he and Scott Fischer were so compatible. They are both experienced and very strong climbers, but their risk tolerances where not aligned and they never climbed together again. It is also telling that of the few people who had summitted K2 by the time of this book, very few of them are still alive. Many died in other mountaineering accidents.
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