Ghosts of K2: The Race for the Summit of the World's Most Deadly Mountain by Mick Conefrey

About The Book

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.

Editorial Reviews

An absorbing chronicle of K2's early history that all fans of mountaineering will enjoy..... This exhilarating book traces the climbing history of K2, the world's second tallest peak at 28,251 feet, and offers a new twist to its controversial first ascent.— Library Journal

Conefrey has a thriller-writer's eye, capturing the tension...and the horrors...A fine study of a deadly obsession― Geographical Magazine

The amateur and professional climbers Conefrey chronicles are so uniformly interesting―and in some cases strange―that they each deserve a separate book, but together they suggest the obsession of the lure of mountains. In the end, The Ghosts of K2 is a history of more than a half-century of mountain climbing.―Choice magazine

I had to remind myself that this was history, not a thriller. I read till the unwise hours of the night, promising myself that I would just get to the end of the chapter, but then found myself beginning a new one.

― Daily Mail

About Author

Mick Conefrey

Mick Conefrey is the author of the award-winning Adventurer’s Handbook and How to Climb Mont Blanc in a Skirt. An internationally recognised filmmaker, he has produced several BBC documentaries on mountaineering and exploration, including The Race for Everest. He lives in north Oxford with his family.