K2: Triumph And Tragedy
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
K2 is the second highest mountain in the world, at 8611 metres only a couple of hundred metres lower than Everest. It is one of the most unrelenting and testing of the worlds 8000-metre peaks.
Jim Curran came to K2 as a climbing cameraman with an unsuccessful British expedition, but stayed on through the climbing season. This is his account of the dramatic events of that summer, a story of ambitions both achieved and thwarted on a mountain which all high-altitude climbers take the most pride in overcoming. In 1986 K2 took its toll of those ambitions.
Curran vividly describes the moments that contribute to the exhilaration of climbing on the world's most demanding mountain, and he assesses the tragedy of that summer with compassion and impartiality.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the summer of 1986, nine expeditions representing 10 nationalities converged in Pakistan at Base Camp ("the Strip'') on K-2, the world's second-highest mountain. Twenty-seven people reached the summit; 13 perished. Climber-photographer Curran accompanied the British expedition to film a pioneer route on the Northwest Ridge. When that attempt failed, he stayed on to support his friend Al Rouse, who joined forces with Mrufhastet sp Wolf for a summit try via the Abruzzi Ridge. Curran was among the first to arrive, last to depart and the only English-speaking person at the site for the entire series of events. The easy camaraderie at Base Camp was first shaken by the deaths of two Americans in an avalanche June 21. Four climbers reached the summit on the 24th; two disappeared on the way down and a third was talked down by radio contact with another expedition. K-2 claimed two more climbers in July. On August 3, 10 South Koreans reached the top and three started back down, leaving the others poised for the summit attempt. Five made it, but then all were trapped at the highest camp in a severe storm. Curran rescued one of the two survivors. He has told a gripping story that belongs with the classics of mountaineering. Photos.
