Search Results for k2-and-the-1939-tragedy

Sports & Recreation

K2 and the 1939 Tragedy

The story of the 1939 American K2 expedition is well known among mountaineers: world-class German-born climber Fritz Wiessner and Pasang Dawa Lama came within 800 feet of attaining the world's second-highest unclimbed summit before turning ...

Author: William Lowell Putnam

Publisher: Light Technology Publishing

ISBN: 9781622336951

Category: Sports & Recreation

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The story of the 1939 American K2 expedition is well known among mountaineers: world-class German-born climber Fritz Wiessner and Pasang Dawa Lama came within 800 feet of attaining the world's second-highest unclimbed summit before turning back for more supplies. Rejoining them on the descent was Dudley Wolfe, who had stayed not far below. Upon reaching the lower camps, the party found them stripped of supplies and deserted. Wiessner decided to descend further to investigate, and left Wolfe behind -- alone. Later, unable to descend solo, Wolfe had to be rescued; but the attempt failed, and Wolfe and Sherpas Pasang Kikuli, Pasang Kitar, and Phinsoo died. Initially, Wiessner was held responsible, but in time the blame shifted to climber Jack Durrance and another Sherpa. The disaster was considered one of the worst accidents in the climbing history of the Himalaya. It was also the subject of much speculation for years afterward. For some historians, the speculation would not rest. There were too many missing pieces, inconsistencies, and unanswered questions for a disaster of this scale. Unfortunately, reliable documentation was scarce. So was the cooperation of the remaining expedition members, who did not want to rekindle the controversy that arose from the expedition's failure. They echoed the neutral statement issued by the investigating committee of the American Alpine Club in 1940, which said, in effect, let sleeping dogs lie. When Andrew J. Kauffman and William L. Putnam later began work on Wiessner's biography, they found discrepancies in the account of the K2 incident. Intrigued, they dug deeper and began to uncover a larger tangle of events than had been previously suspected. The recent availability of Jack Durrance's own trip diary further enabled them to unravel the events of the ill-fated adventure on K2. K2: The 1939 Tragedy retraces the expedition's key elements -- the debilitating weather, the personalities and weaknesses of party members, Wiessner's "romantic vision" uncharacteristic of the climbing era --and reveals the steps that led toward catastrophe. K2: The 1939 Tragedy attempts to balance the accounts of this fifty-year-old saga.
1993-09-01 By William Lowell Putnam
American Karakoram Expedition

K2

Author: Andrew John Kauffman

Publisher:

ISBN: STANFORD:36105005118612

Category: American Karakoram Expedition

Page: 224

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1992 By Andrew John Kauffman

K2

Author: Andrew J. Kauffman

Publisher:

ISBN: OCLC:1285654984

Category:

Page: 224

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1992 By Andrew J. Kauffman

K2 the 1939 Tragedy

After an incident-packed 1938 attempt, an American team made another bid to climb the world's second highest peak the following year.

Author: Andrew Kauffman

Publisher: Mountaineers Books

ISBN: 0906371694

Category:

Page: 224

View: 237

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After an incident-packed 1938 attempt, an American team made another bid to climb the world's second highest peak the following year. The expedition was led by the mercurial Austrian emigre Fritz Wiessner. With the more experienced climbers recovering after the events of 1938, Wiessner was forced to take a weaker team that included a number of rich but inexperienced climber/adventurers. The problem was compounded by a personality clash between the leader and the second most experienced climber, Jack Durrance.
1992 By Andrew Kauffman
Sports & Recreation

K2

As they researched K2. The 1939 Tragedy Kauffman and Putnam won the trust of Jack Durrance, who was eighty years old by the time the book was published. And they made a great breakthrough when Durrance let them read and quote from his ...

Author: Ed Viesturs

Publisher: Crown

ISBN: 9780767932615

Category: Sports & Recreation

Page: 352

View: 504

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A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the bestselling authors of The Mountain and No Shortcuts to the Top “Gripping . . . reveals a good deal about the rarefied noble-gonzo world of high-altitude mountaineering.”—The New York Times Ed Viesturs, one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, explores the remarkable history of K2 and of those who have attempted to conquer it. At the same time, he probes the mountain's most memorable sagas in order to illustrate lessons about the fundamental questions mountaineering raises—questions of risk, ambition, loyalty to one's teammates, self-sacrifice, and the price of glory. Viesturs knows the mountain firsthand. He and renowned alpinist Scott Fischer climbed it in 1992 and got caught in an avalanche that sent them sliding to almost certain death before Ed managed to get into a self-arrest position with his ice ax and stop both his fall and Scott's. Focusing on seven of the mountain's most dramatic campaigns, from his own troubled ascent to the 2008 tragedy, Viesturs crafts an edge-of-your-seat narrative that climbers and armchair travelers alike will find unforgettably compelling. With photographs from Viesturs's personal collection and from historical sources, this is the definitive account of the world's ultimate mountain, and of the lessons that can be gleaned from struggling toward its elusive summit.
2009-10-13 By Ed Viesturs
Sports & Recreation

K2 The Story Of The Savage Mountain

Cowboys on K2 If a realistic attempt to climb K2 needed a fresh approach, what could be more appropriate than that it ... Andy Kauffman and Bill Putnam in their excellent account K2, the 1939 Tragedy surmised that Wiessner may well have ...

Author: Jim Curran

Publisher: Hachette UK

ISBN: 9781444778359

Category: Sports & Recreation

Page: 272

View: 517

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K2 is the world's second highest mountain, but its savage reputation is second to none. The loss of Alison Hargreaves and six companions in 1995 was a grim echo of the multiple deaths in 1986 and of earlier disasters which have become part of climbing legend. K2 has always attracted the greatest names in mountaineering. Wiessner, Houston, Bonatti, Diemberger and Bonington are among those whose lives have been permanently scarred by their experiences on it. At the same time some inspiring new routes have been achieved on the world's most difficult 8000-metre peak. Jim Curran, himself a survivor of 1986, has traced the history of the mountain from the nineteenth-century pioneer explorers down to the present, and sees a repeating pattern of naked ambition, rivalry, misjudgement and recrimination. He has also found selfless heroism and impressive route-making on the mountain that top climbers will always covet as the ultimate prize.
2013-04-11 By Jim Curran
Sports & Recreation

Ghosts of K2

When four years later, in 1992, Kauffman and Putnam's book, K2: The 1939 Tragedy, finally appeared, Fritz was presented in a far less flattering light. Quoting heavily from Jack Durrance's diary and documents from the period, ...

Author: Mick Conefrey

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

ISBN: 9781786070234

Category: Sports & Recreation

Page: 336

View: 440

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K2 is almost 800ft shorter than Everest, yet it’s a far harder climb. Many great mountaineers became obsessed with reaching its summit, not all of them lived to tell of their adventures. Capturing the depth of their obsession, the heart-stopping tension of the climb and delving into the controversy that still surrounds the first ascent, Mick Conefrey delivers the definitive account of the ‘Savage Mountain’. From drug-addicted occultist Aleister Crowley to the brilliant but tortured expedition leader Charlie Houston and, later, the Italian duo who finally made it to the top, Conefrey resurrects the tragic heroes, eccentric dreamers and uncompromising rivalries forever instilled in K2’s legacy. This is the riveting, groundbreaking story of the world’s deadliest mountain.
2016-05-05 By Mick Conefrey
Sports & Recreation

The National Outdoor Leadership School s Wilderness Guide

OBJECTIVES AND EXPEDITION PHILOSOPHY In 1939, seven Americans set out to climb K2, considered by many to be the most ... 1939 K2 expedition, see Andrew J. Kaufrman and William L. Putnam, K2: The 1939 Tragedy, Mountaineers Books, 1993.

Author: Mark Harvey

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

ISBN: 9781501196591

Category: Sports & Recreation

Page: 272

View: 738

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The classic backpacker’s handbook—revised and updated—providing expert guidelines for anyone who loves the outdoors. The Wilderness Guide brings the savvy of the world's most famous and respected outdoor organization to everyone—from the sixteen million backpacking Americans to the more than 265 million people, tenderfeet and trail-hardened hikers, who visit our national parks annually. It covers: -Selecting equipment—including discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of products such as the internal frame pack, lighter-weight boots, and freestanding tents -The latest “leave no trace” camping techniques -Traveling safely and sensibly—including vital information on maps, compasses, and tips on crossing difficult terrain -Backcountry cooking, with tips on building fires and tricks for making gourmet meals -Search-and-rescue techniques, including how to organize a self-sufficient search group and when to call in professional rescue teams Illustrated throughout with instructional drawings and photos and featuring lists of equipment, the Wilderness Guide is a must-have for anyone planning to explore the great outdoors.
2018-04-24 By Mark Harvey
History

The World Beneath Their Feet

For the 1939 expedition to K2, key published sources include: Andrew J. Kauffman and William L. Putnam, K2: The 1939 Tragedy (1992); Jennifer Jordan, The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of An American Adventurer on K2 (2010); ...

Author: Scott Ellsworth

Publisher: Hachette UK

ISBN: 9781473649637

Category: History

Page: 416

View: 796

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Longlisted for the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year 'A gripping history' THE ECONOMIST 'The World Beneath Their Feet contains plenty of rollicking stories' THE TIMES 'Gripping' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'So far as adventure stories go, this book is tops.' Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump '[Ellsworth] recasts the era as a great Himalayan race...[and] it works brilliantly...his account of the 1953 ascent of Everest...feels unusually fresh' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Like if Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air met Lauren Hillenbrand's Unbroken ... an inviting and engrossing read' SPORTS ILLUSTRATED One of the most compelling international dramas of the 20th century and an unforgettable saga of survival, technological innovation, and breathtaking human physical achievement-all set against the backdrop of a world headed toward war. While tension steadily rose between European powers in the 1930s, a different kind of battle was raging across the Himalayas. Contingents from Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the United States had set up rival camps at the base of the mountains, all hoping to become recognized as the fastest, strongest, and bravest climbers in the world. Carried on across nearly the entire sweep of the Himalayas, this contest involved not only the greatest mountain climbers of the era, but statesmen and millionaires, world-class athletes and bona fide eccentrics, scientists and generals, obscure villagers and national heroes. Centered in the 1930s, with one brief, shining postwar coda, the contest was a struggle between hidebound traditionalists and unknown innovators, one that featured new techniques and equipment, unbelievable courage and physical achievement, and unparalleled valor. And death. One Himalayan peak alone, Nanga Parbat in Kashmir, claimed twenty-five lives in less than three years. Climbing the Himalayas was the Greatest Generation's moonshot--one shrouded in the onset of war, interrupted by it, and then fully accomplished. A gritty, fascinating history that promises to enrapture fans of Hampton Side, Jon Krakauer, and Laura Hillenbrand, The World Beneath Their Feet brings this forgotten story back to life.
2020-02-20 By Scott Ellsworth
Sports & Recreation

One Mountain Thousand Summits

Camp after Tragedy on K2,” Matthew Pennington for the Associated Press, August 5, 2008; “K2 Survivor Wilco van Rooijen, ... Excellent accounts of the 1939 American expedition can be found in K2: The 1939 Tragedy, by Andrew Kaufman and ...

Author: Freddie Wilkinson

Publisher: Penguin

ISBN: 9781101456132

Category: Sports & Recreation

Page: 352

View: 829

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The account of one of the deadliest and most mysterious tragedies in mountaineering history-the 2008 K2 disaster. One Mountain Thousand Summits reveals the true story of the K2 tragedy that claimed the lives of eleven men. Based on his numerous trips to Nepal and in-depth interviews he conducted with the survivors, the families of the lost climbers, and the Sherpa guides whose heroic efforts saved the lives of at least four climbers, Freddie Wilkinson's narrative uncovers what actually occurred on the mountain, while delivering a criticism of the mainstream press's incomplete coverage of the event, and an insightful look into the lives of the six Sherpas who were involved.
2010-07-06 By Freddie Wilkinson

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