K2_ Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain - Ed Viesturs [160]
It was, I have to admit, a bit hard telling the kids that I’d be gone for all of April and May. But they’re troupers. When I told Gil, he got a slightly stricken look on his face; then he said, “Oh, yeah, Dad, I’ll be okay.” But I knew already that I was going to miss the three of them as I never had before.
It’s been seventeen years since I climbed K2, but in a sense, that great mountain has never been far from my thoughts. And writing this book has plunged me back into the fascination with K2 that had me in its grips when I read everything I could as homework for our 1992 expedition.
No mountain in the world has a more interesting history. And even though the cynics feel that the second-highest mountain is about to be tarnished by the kinds of commercialization that have tainted Everest, I’m optimistic about the future of K2. In 2009, the mountain remains an ultimate test of the ambitions of the best climbers in the world. The gold that gilds the holy grail is still intact.
One way I know this to be true comes from having sat in on the chat of high-altitude climbers all around the world. In their company, if you mention climbing Everest, the remark may elicit nothing more than a shrug. But if you let on that you’ve reached the top of K2, a hush comes over the room. And then, invariably, someone will say, “Tell us about it.”
Acknowledgments
In 1992, when I went to Pakistan to attempt K2, I traveled there with friend and partner Scott Fischer. Young, ambitious, filled with energy and enthusiasm, we committed ourselves to giving all we had to climbing this test piece among mountains. We had nothing to lose, everything to gain, and no limit of time. In the throes of our campaign to climb the second highest peak in the world we teamed up with climbers who also aspired to do what we were doing. The climbers I connected with, related to, and enjoyed climbing with became lifelong friends, who still bring back the fondest memories of that difficult yet successful season. The friends and partners whom I wish to thank specifically are Charley Mace, Neal Beidleman, the late Scott Fischer, Rob Hall, and Gary Ball. I enjoyed their companionship immensely and had the pleasure of climbing as partners with them on K2 and elsewhere. There were others on the mountain that season, and they all contributed in some way. I acknowledge them as well.
I would also like to thank those who forged the way on K2, specifically the 1953 American Expedition. Those men displayed to me the indelible example of team work, camaraderie, trust, and commitment in expedition climbing. When someone mentions “the brotherhood of the rope,” that band of mountaineers instantly comes to mind.
One member of that expedition I wish to thank specially and with my utmost gratitude and respect is Dee Molenaar. After my ascent of K2, Dee presented me with a bound and illustrated copy of his private expedition journal. For this book, he allowed me to quote passages from the journal that I thought were important in highlighting details of the 1953 expedition.
K2 in 1992 came quite early in my career, when I still had very little in the way of support or sponsors. But to everyone who supported our K2 climb, I say thank you.
Thanks also to family and friends who gave me emotional support and waited for word to trickle out from the Baltoro about our expedition. Those were the “good old days” when we often got home before anyone received word as to how things had gone on an expedition. We literally walked off the map and then a few months later, walked back on.
There are certain events in one’s life that are cornerstones. My climb of K2 was one such event. I believe that one becomes a better, more rounded climber, and also a