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The Last Step

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The American Ascent of K2

By Rick Ridgeway,   With an Introduction by Senator Edward M Kennedy and a Prelude by James W Whittaker

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Published by The Mountaineers, Seattle, 1980, 1st US Edition, some foxing top edge, D/w (slight nicks), Nr. Fine.   This is Rick Ridgeway’s inside story of the remarkable American Expedition, led by Jim Whittaker, which put the first Americans on the top of K2, the Savage Mountain, in 1978 via a new route incorporating the NorthEast Ridge – some 24 years after the first ascent by the Italians Lacedelli and Compagnoni in 1954. Indeed, this was only the third ascent of the mountain in all that time, a Japanese team having made the second ascent only a year earlier in 1977.  K2 holds a special place in American Himalayan history going back to Houston’s 1938 Expedition, then through the attempts in 1953, 1960 and 1975 before success put Lou Reichardt and Jim Wickwire (September 6th) and John Roskelley and Rick Ridgeway (September 7th) on the summit in 1978.  It was not easy though, with the team spending 67 days on the mountain, most of it above 18,000 feet, in stressful and frustrating stormy conditions for much of the time. A major success and an excellent book.

Additional information

Weight1.1 kg