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K2: Triumph and Tragedy
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K2: Triumph and Tragedy description
Before the 1996 Everest disaster made that mountain synonymous with tragedy at 8,000 meters, there was K2. More technical in most routes than Everest, the world's second-highest peak is considered the ultimate achievement by many mountaineers. In 1986 K2 claimed the lives of 13 climbers in nine different parties attempting its summit. Author Jim Curran was on the mountain during the ordeal, and through narrative and photographs, Curran documents the sagas of success, failure, and tragedy in a fateful year that captured the world's attention. Alongside the terror of avalanches, crevasses, and horrific storms are stories of bravery and the indomitable human spirit. |
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K2: Triumph and Tragedy Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
A so so effort - too much self pity
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This book, which details the tragic summer of 1986 when 13 people died on K2, is a somewhat tepid story, that is filled with too much of the author's marginalized attempts at self-pity, but does manage to capture a trace of the tragedy that unfolded that year.
Jim Curran never makes it far up the mountain, (only slightly higher than advanced base camp) and spends far too many pages talking about his trouble with skiing the glacier and his climbing difficulties, and far too little time capturing the drama unfolding at 8000+ meters. For instance, when Wanda Rutkiewicz decends through a storm that claims half her climbing team, we have maybe two or three paragraphs of the author's perception of her egotism and 'obsession' with 8000 meter peaks, and very, very little detail or reporting on what actually occurred on the mountain.
The later disasters, which involved his close friend Alan Rouse, are described and detailed more thoroughly, but again, too much of his own self-pity intrudes on what otherwise would have been the finest part of the book.
All in all - if you are interested in learning about some of the peopole involved in that summer of tragedy, it's worth reading. If you are looking for an adventure/mountaineering book, then there are better alternatives. |
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