Master of thin air : life and death on the world's highest peaks

Named one of the #x93;Five Adventure Books You Need to Read This Summer" by Backpacker Magazine For readers of Into Thin Air, riveting high-altitude drama and the passion and drive that inspire outsized mountaineering achievements. Master of Thin Air opens with a fall that the author very nearly could not stop down an almost vertical rock ramp leading to a three-thousand-foot drop. The qualities that saved him then on K2#x97;in addition to his mountaineering know-how and sheer good luck#x97;drove his sixteen-year journey to summit all of the world's eight-thousanders, the fourteen peaks that exceed 8,000.;Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; The 8000ers; Map; Foreword by Peter Hillary; Prologue: July 30, 1993; 1 Beginnings; 2 A Taste of Thin Air; 3 The Savage Mountain; 4 Frustration; 5 Turning the Key; 6 Summits and Betrayals; 7 A Dream Realised; 8 A Higher Goal; 9 High-Altitude Hollywood; 10 Good Days and Bad; 11 A Big Day Out; 12 The Most Dangerous Mountain in the World; 13 Getting Close; 14 Finish Line; 15 The Next Step; Epilogue; Acknowledgements; Glossary of Mountaineering Terms; Index; Photos. Named one of the “Five Adventure Books You Need to Read This Summer" by Backpacker Magazine For readers of Into Thin Air , riveting high-altitude drama and the passion and drive that inspire outsized mountaineering achievements. Master of Thin Air opens with a fall that the author very nearly could not stop down an almost vertical rock ramp leading to a three-thousand-foot drop. The qualities that saved him then on K2—in addition to his mountaineering know-how and sheer good luck—drove his sixteen-year journey to summit all of the world's eight-thousanders, the fourteen peaks that exceed 8,000 meters (26,000-plus feet) and take climbers into the death zone. Incredibly, he accomplished that feat without the aid of bottled oxygen for every mountain but one. By preference, he climbed solo or in small teams, without Sherpas. During twenty-three expeditions, he spent a total of three years clinging to the sides of dangerous mountains. He lost more than twenty climbing friends and, in April 2014, witnessed Everest's deadliest avalanche. His book is a riveting, often thrilling account of what it takes to challenge the Earth's highest peaks and survive. It tells of death-defying ascents and even riskier descents, the gut-dropping consequences of the smallest mistakes or even just bad luck, the camaraderie and human drama of expeditions, the exhilaration of altitude. It is also the inspiring story of what motivates a person to achieve an extraordinary dream, a story of passion, resourcefulness, self-motivation, and hope—even in the most dire moments. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home. The true story of a man who climbed the world’s fourteen tallest mountains—named one of Backpacker’s “Five Adventure Books You Need to Read This Summer.” On Earth, there are only fourteen mountains exceeding 8,000 meters (26,000-plus feet). Beyond that height, any climbers who dare to go on are walking into a death zone where there’s not enough oxygen for humans to breathe. But Australian mountaineer Andrew Lock wanted to do more than climb and survive just one of these killer mountains—he wanted to conquer them all. Here, he tells the harrowing, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant account of his sixteen-year journey to summit the world’s “eight-thousanders”—which he accomplished without the aid of bottled oxygen for all but one mountain. Climbing solo or in small teams without Sherpa guides, Lock went on twenty-three expeditions, spending a total of three years of his life ascending these dangerous ranges—losing more than twenty climbing friends and, in April 2014, witnessing Mount Everest’s deadliest avalanche. Master of Thin Air is the riveting, thrilling account of what it takes to challenge the planet’s highest peaks and survive. It tells of death-defying ascents and even riskier descents, the gut-dropping consequences of the smallest mistakes or plain bad luck, the camaraderie and human drama of expeditions, and the sheer exhilaration of altitude. It is also the inspiring story of what motivates a person to achieve an extraordinary dream, a story of passion, resourcefulness, self-motivation, and hope—even at the edge of death. "'Master of Thin Air' opens with a fall that the author very nearly could not stop down an almost vertical rock ramp leading to a three-thousand-foot drop. The qualities that saved him then on K2?in addition to his mountaineering know-how and sheer good luck?drove his sixteen-year journey to summit all of the world's eight-thousanders, the fourteen peaks that exceed 8,000 meters (26,000-plus feet) and take climbers into the death zone. Incredibly, he accomplished that feat without the aid of bottled oxygen for every mountain but one. By preference, he climbed solo or in small teams, without Sherpas. During twenty-three expeditions, he spent a total of three years clinging to the sides of dangerous mountains. He lost more than twenty climbing friends and, in April 2014, witnessed Everest's deadliest avalanche. His book is a riveting, often thrilling account of what it takes to challenge the Earth's highest peaks and survive. It tells of death-defying ascents and even riskier descents, the gut-dropping consequences of the smallest mistakes or even just bad luck, the camaraderie and human drama of expeditions, the exhilaration of altitude. It is also the inspiring story of what motivates a person to achieve an extraordinary dream, a story of passion, resourcefulness, self-motivation, and hope?even in the most dire moments."--Amazon.com