Purchase
Life and Death on K2
Harper
July 2010
On Sale: June 29, 2010
288 pages ISBN: 0061834785 EAN: 9780061834783 Hardcover
Add to Wish List
Non-Fiction
In this riveting work of narrative nonfiction, journalist
Graham Bowley re-creates one of the most dramatic tales of
death and survival in mountaineering history, vividly taking
readers through the tragic 2008 K2 ascent that claimed the
lives of eleven climbers, severely injured two others, and
made headlines around the world. With its near-perfect pyramid shape, the 28,251-foot K2—the
world's second-highest mountain, some 800 feet shorter than
the legendary Everest hundreds of miles to the south—has
lured serious climbers for decades. In 2008, near the end of
a brief climbing season cut even shorter by bad weather, no
fewer than ten international teams—some experienced, others
less prepared—crowded the mountain's dangerous slopes with
their Sherpas and porters, waiting to ascend. Finally, on August 1, they were able to set off. But
hindered by poor judgment, lack of equipment, and
overcrowded conditions, the last group did not summit until
nearly 8 p.m., hours later than planned. Then disaster
struck when a huge ice chunk from above the Bottleneck, a
deadly 300-foot avalanche-prone gulley just below the
summit, came loose and destroyed the fixed guide ropes. More
than a dozen climbers and porters still above the
Bottleneck—many without oxygen and some with no
headlamps—faced the near impossibility of descending in the
blackness with no guideline and no protection. Over the
course of the chaotic night, some would miraculously make it
back. Others would not. Based on in-depth interviews with surviving climbers and
many Sherpas, porters, and family and friends of the
deceased, No Way Down reveals for the first time the full
dimensions of this harrowing drama.
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|