The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2

Front Cover
W. W. Norton & Company, Aug 1, 2011 - Sports & Recreation - 320 pages

"A fascinating tale…Readers who are into high-altitude adventure stories won’t be disappointed." —Associated Press

In 1939 the Savage Mountain claimed its first victim. Born into vast wealth yet uneasy with a life of leisure, Dudley Wolfe, of Boston and Rockport, Maine, set out to become the first man to climb K2, the world’s second-highest mountain and, in the opinion of mountaineers, an even more formidable challenge than Mt. Everest. Although close to middle age and inexperienced at high altitude, Wolfe, with the team leader, made it higher than any other members of the expedition, but he couldn’t get back down. Suffering from altitude sickness and severe dehydration, he was abandoned at nearly 25,000 feet; it would be another sixty-three years before the author discovered his remains.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Preface
11
Prologue The GodwinAusten Glacier K2 July 2002
15
An Invitation to the Ends of the Earth
19
The Gentleman Soldier and Sailor
27
Climbings Controversial Genius
57
The 1939 American K2 Expedition Team
76
The Getting There
99
The Climb
133
The Highest Men on Earth
179
The Descent
194
The Last Man on the Mountain
208
Dudleys Vigil
221
Coming Home
233
The Reckoning
267
Postscript The Worlds Highest Graveyard
276
Index
291

A Family Waits
172
Copyright

Other editions - View all

The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2
Jennifer Jordan
Limited preview - 2011
The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2
Jennifer Jordan
No preview available - 2010
The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death Of An American Adventurer On K2
Jennifer Jordan
No preview available - 2011

Common terms and phrases

able Alice altitude American Alpine Club ascent asked Askole avalanche base camp began Bestor Robinson boots brother Camp VII Chap Charlie Houston Clifford Smith climbers climbing Courtesy crampons Cranmer crevasse Dawa death descend Dudley F Dudley Wolfe Dudley’s Europe expedition face feet felt film finally French Foreign Legion Fritz and Pasang Fritz Wiessner frostbite gear George Sheldon glacier Godwin-Austen Glacier head high camps high-altitude Himalayan ice axe Jack and Tony Jack Durrance Jack’s Kikuli Kitar knew later letters loads looked Mabel months moun mountain Nanga Parbat never night oxygen pack Paul Petzoldt peaks Petzoldt Phinsoo porters pulled reached rest returned rope route Sahib sailing Sheldon Family Sherpas sleeping bags slope snow Srinagar summit bid summit team team’s teammates Tendrup tent thought tion told Tony Cromwell Tony’s took Trench trip Tsering VIII waiting walked watched weeks wrote York

About the author (2011)

Jennifer Jordan, an award-winning author, filmmaker, and screenwriter, has twice lived at the base of K2, where in 2002 she found the remains of Dudley Wolfe, the hero of The Last Man on the Mountain, her second book. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2
AuthorJennifer Jordan
Editionreprint
PublisherW. W. Norton & Company, 2011
ISBN0393079198, 9780393079197
Length320 pages
Subjects › 

Sports & Recreation / History
Sports & Recreation / Mountaineering
  
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