In 1978 Jim Wickwire became the first American to top 28,250-foot K2,
the second highest peak after Mt. Everest (for some, his solo bivouac
near the summit the same night is an even greater feat). But it is a
previous expedition to K2 three years earlier--and the author's
unflinching assessment of that trip--which sets the tone for the
book. "K2, the mountain that would one day represent my greatest
success," he writes, "was in 1975 the scene of my greatest failure.
It was a failure not because someone died or suffered a serious
injury, but because my obsession to reach the summit helped doom our
expedition to disappointment, discord, and, for a time, disgrace."
Wickwire's memoir of a climbing life is riveting when he sticks to
the mountains--including attempts on Everest, Denali, and
Aconcagua--and particularly fascinating for its candid look at the
internal machinations of big-time climbing expeditions: the planning,
logistics, and training as well as the egos and rivalries that can
derail an expedition. The lugubrious details are also here. More than
one climbing partner doesn't escape from a crevasse, but it is a
price exacted by the mountains, and Wickwire treats both his lost
friends and the terrain with due respect.
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