AREE GREUL - Buchversand - Antiquariat

Robert Marshall /  232 pages, 6 b/w photos / 22,5x15,0cm / Edition: 2009

The 1954 ascent of K2, the second highest mountain in the world, by an Italian expedition was one of the most significant in the history of climbing on the world's highest peaks. Much harder than Everest, and only 230m lower, the mountain had already repelled attempts by several strong teams, expeditions on which five men had died. Back home in Italy news of the success was triumphantly greeted by a nation keen to re-establish itself on the world's stage after the destruction and humiliation of the Second World War. When they returned the climbers, and in particular the two who had reached the summit, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, together with expedition leader Ardito Desio, were hailed as heroes and showered with honours. Desio's book of the climb became a best-seller and was translated into many languages.

• But the expedition had a dark side, one which Italian officialdom attempted to conceal. Success had been achieved because two men, team member Walter Bonatti and the Hunza porter Mahdi, had risked their lives in taking the oxygen equipment needed for the final climb to Camp 9 late in the day before the summit climb. Unable to find the camp, which had not been placed at the agreed position, the two men had spent a night in the open at over 8000m. They were lucky to survive the ordeal, and Mahdi sustained dreadful frostbite injuries. The incident was crucial to the final success, but was barely mentioned in official account. Bonatti's attempts to discover why Camp 9 had been moved ultimately led to his being accused of having attempted to usurp the summit team's position on the mountain and having used the oxygen himself during his bivouac, usage which meant the summit team ran short and had to complete the climb without the aid of the precious gas. Appalled by the accusations, Bonatti sued for libel - and won. The court case led to further accusations and counter-accusations as Bonatti fought to have the official record of the expedition amended to include the true story of the summit climb. Then, in 2004, to mark the 50-th anniversary of the climb Lino Lacedelli finally admitted that the official account of the summit climb was false, though he still did not admit that Bonatti's story was correct. Only in 2008 was Bonatti's account finally accepted as correct and the official version of the story of the ascent of K2 finally rewritten by the Italian Alpine Club.
  
• Author: Robert Marshall, an Australian surgeon became interested in the story many years ago. He taught himself Italian to follow the machinations directly, corresponded with Bonatti and eventually translated Bonatti's biography into English. Now he has painstakingly reconstructed the dark, extraordinary story of the bivouac, the summit climb and its aftermath - a tale of lies and treachery.

Marion Fantin / 320 pagine with b/w photos, maps, / Edition: 2003 / Softcover / in italy

Giorno per giorno, l´opera ripercorre quei gloriosi quanto drammatici momenti: dal decollo da Genova a quel " Fotto!" che sanci la conquista, passandro per la terribile disgrazie occorsa a Mario Puchoz che lassú restó per sempre. Un diario affascinante, privo di retorica perché non ve n´era necessitá, ricchissmo delle emozioni che il Chogori riservó metro dopo metro ai suoi conquistatori...

Alexandro Gogna/Alexandra Raggio / 128 pages , con fotografie a colori e immagini d´epoca / Cartonato con sovraccoperta plastificata a colori, formato cm 22,5x29, / Editioni: 2009  

“Uno splendido volume fotografico che ripercorre la storia di una delle più suggestive montagne del mondo. Ad un prezzo imbattibile

L.Lacedelli / G.Cenacchi / 129 pages, colour photos / Softcover / US-Edition (2006)

On July 31, 1954, two Italians, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, became the first humans to stand atop K2, the world's second highest mountain. The event was celebrated all over Italy with great pride, but when the team led by Ardito Desio returned home a terrible accusation was leveled at them. One of the members of the expedition, 20-year-old Walter Bonatti, insisted that the two climbers who reached the summit had put his life in danger by abandoning him before the final stretch so that they could reach the top without him.

According to the official version of the facts, written by Desio and confirmed by all the other members of the expedition, nothing untoward had happened during the climb; Bonatti's accusations were unfounded and the result of a misunderstanding. Today, more than fifty years after the event, Lino Lacedelli tells his own terrible version of the truth: in the night between July 30 and 31, he and Compagnoni deliberately failed to make their rendezvous with Bonatti, forcing him to abandon the final ascent so that they could use the two oxygen tanks that he carried with him. This is a story of courage and ambition, of glory and guilt, of more than fifty years of hiding the truth that became Lino Lacedelli's Price of Conquest.

• The truth regarding one of mountaineering's great controversies is revealed after more than fifty years
• Photos from the historical first ascent of K2
• Uncovers personalities previously confined to the shadows, forgotten and erased incidents, and the intense emotions surrounding this event
  
  

L.Lacedelli / Cenacchi / 129 pages, with b/w and 16 pages colour photos / Hardcover / UK-Edition (2006)

After 50 years of silence, at last a full account of what really happened during the legendary 1954 K2 expedition, an epic achievement that has always been clouded in mystery. On July 31, 1954, two Italians, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, became the first humans to summit K2. The event was celebrated in Italy with great pride, but when the team, led by Ardito Desio, returned home a terrible accusation was leveled at them.

• One of the members of the expedition, Walter Bonatti, said the two climbers who summitted had put his life in danger by abandoning him before the final stretch so that they could reach the top without him. But the official version of the climb, written by leader Desio and confirmed by all other members of the expedition, said that hadn't happened, that Bonatti's accusations were unfounded, the result of a misunderstanding.
  
• Today, more than 50 years after the event, summiter Achille Lacedelli tells his own terrible version of the truth: in the night before the summit attempt, he and Compagnoni deliberately failed to make their rendezvous with Bonatti, forcing him to abandon the final ascent so they could have the oxygen tanks he carried with him.
  

Richard Sale / 256 pages; colour photos, / Edition: 2011

K2 is one of the most demanding mountaineering challenges in the world and one of the most treacherous – K2 is a legend. Extreme, unpredictable weather and the acutely difficult climbing conditions test the technique, endurance and psychological strength of the most experienced mountaineers to the limit – and often beyond. Many of the men and women who have sought to reach the summit have failed, often with tragic consequences - over 70 of them have died or disappeared. Yet this, the second highest mountain on Earth, continues to exercise for the world’s top mountaineers a special – all too often lethal – attraction, and this is the subject of Richard Sale’s fascinating new book.

• As he traces the climbing history of K2 over the last 150 years, he shows in graphic detail how it acquired this awesome reputation: it was during the first serious attempts on the summit in the 1930s and 1950s that K2 became known as the Savage Mountain