The Endless Knot: K2 Mountain of Dreams and Destiny

Kurt Diemberger

Aug 2014 · Vertebrate Publishing

About this ebook

'A monumental book ... I defy anyone to read it and remain unmoved.' Stephen Venables, Alpine Journal Acclaimed as one of the most powerful accounts of mountain adventure and tragedy ever written, The Endless Knot is a harrowing account of the 1986 K2 disaster. A rare first-hand account from a survivor at the very epicentre of the drama, The Endless Knot describes the disaster in frank detail. Kurt Diemberger's account of the final days of success, accident, storm and escape during which five climbers died, including his partner Julie Tullis and the great British mountaineer Al Rouse, is lacerating in its sense of tragedy, loss and dogged survival. Only Diemberger and Willi Bauer escaped the mountain. K2 had claimed the lives of 13 climbers that summer. Kurt Diemberger is one of only two climbers to have made first ascents of two 8000-metre peaks, Broad Peak and Dhaulagiri. A superb mountaineer, the K2 trauma left him physically and emotionally ravaged, but it also marked him out as an instinctive and tenacious survivor. After a long period of recovery Diemberger published The Endless Knot and resumed life as a mountaineer, filmmaker and international lecturer.

Ratings and reviews

Tragedies & Triumphs, climbing K2 and trying to reach the summit within the death zone of thin air and where small mistakes and sudden weather changes could lead to death. Reaching the summit is only half the battle. Descending the summit and returning to base camp alive is what it takes to "own" this mountain! Great book!

Great book...perhaps too detailed. But nonetheless, felt like I was THERE.

Great book