For someone like me who doesn't understand the appeal of mountaineering, this is as good an introduction to the alpinists' mindset as any. Each chapter gives a solid accounting of an expedition up K2, the second highest, first deadliest mountain on Earth. The writing is accessible for folks lik...
When, as a teenager, I read the classic books of polar exploration—like Robert Falcon Scott’s diary of his fatal trip to the south pole or the various books about Ernest Shackleton’s heroic expedition when his ship, the Endurance, was trapped in the ice off Antarctica and sank—I was taken aback b...