The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2

The Mountaineers, Published 1980. Hardcover, vii, 301 pp., 16 unnumbered leaves of plates, plus 2 pp. publisher's advertisements; 26 cm; no statement of later printing on copyright page; illustrated with colour photographs throughout the plate sections. In Very Good condition with a Good dust jacket. Black cloth boards, silver lettering on spine, mild shelf and edge wear. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Pictorial dust jacket not price clipped, retaining the dual price of $19.95 to December 31, 1980 over $25.00; 1 inch triangular chip to head of spine, with smaller chips and tears increasing along edges; mild to moderate shelf and edge wear, color loss along edges and spine hinges, creasing to rear panel. Now in an archival quality (removable) Brodart cover. Account of the 1978 American K2 Expedition, the first American ascent of the world's second-highest mountain after five failed attempts and five deaths. Ridgeway, Jim Wickwire, Lou Reichardt and John Roskelley reached the summit; Wickwire lingered too long and was forced into an unplanned bivouac just below the top at minus 40 degrees without food, oxygen or shelter, coming down with pneumonia, pleurisy and frostbite. Fourteen men and women and some 350 Balti porters carried the expedition 110 miles to Base Camp. Colour plates by Dianne Roberts, John Roskelley, Jim Wickwire, Craig Anderson and Lou Reichardt, with a portrait gallery of the full team. Dedicated to Al Givler, Dusan Jagersky and Leif-Norman Patterson. Contents: Introduction by Edward M. Kennedy; Prelude by James W. Whittaker; Dust from the Road; Bridge over the Dumordo; The Book of Marvels; The Crystal Ball; The Snow Butterfly; Storms and Tempers; The Snow Dome; Problemas Grandes; Into the Death Zone; At the Edge; No Conquerors, Only Survivors; The Griffon.…