num_pages: 336
description: Downright thrilling; [Conefrey] really gives us a sense of what it must have been like battling exhaustion and frigid temperatures to get to the top of the world. A must-read. BooklistAt 28251 ft K2 might be almost 800 ft shorter than Everest but its a far harder climb. In this definitive account Mick Conefrey grippingly describes the early attempts to reach the summit and provides a fascinating exploration of the first ascents complex legacy. From the drug-addicted occultist Aleister Crowley to Achille Compagnoni and Lindo Lacedelli the Italian duo who finally made it to the summit The Ghosts of K2 charts how a slew of great men became fixated on this legendary mountain.Through exclusive interviews with surviving team members and their families and unrivalled access to diaries and letters that have been archived around the world Conefrey evokes the true atmosphere of the Savage Mountain and explores why it remains the mountaineers mountain despite a history steeped in controversy and death. Wrought with tension and populated by tragic heroes and eccentric dreamers The Ghosts of K2 is a masterpiece of mountaineering literature.
language: English
title: The Ghosts of K2: The Epic Saga of the First Ascent
publisher: Oneworld Publications